Compressor mysteriously closes my FCP project.

For some reason, when I hit 'submit' in compressor, it closes my Final Cut Pro Project. At the same time, it creates a new sequnce with a long numerical file name. This just started happening out of the blue. Does anyone know what's happening?

hey Michael
are you exporting directly from your FCP sequence, using a *.mov reference file or are you using a self-contained *.mov?
i have a feeling that it would be one of the first 2 options i mentioned above.
i would strongly recommend exporting a QT movie from your sequence and making sure that it is a self-contained *.mov with the highest possible setting.
if you are already doing this, then check the *.mov and make sure that all your dissolves and effects are there. if you are using a reference *.mov, then i would say re-export a self contained *.mov.
the benefit of a self-contained file that every frame, every effect, everything is included in this file. it doesnt reference any video from anywhere. it is an indepent file that relies on nothing. the con of course is that it takes up a lot of space, much more than a reference file and or staright from your FCP sequence.
anyway, let us know.
Mikey M.

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FCP Project closes and Compressor only gives black render

hi
apologies if this has been covered, my extensive search of about 10 seconds found nothing.
Recently on certain projects when i try to export via compressor two things happen. Firstly the rendered file is made up of black only, audio is fine though. And secondly the fcp project closes itself, leaving only the temp project open, that creates itself when you export via compressor. The one sequence in this temp project is the one i want to export and it plays fine in the timeline. Of course this is annoying since the project closes itself without asking if you want to save.
I do have some odd footage in the project. It came from some dodgy video camera device, but I had converted them to dv specs. Mind you none of these clips are in the sequence in question.
any ideas anyone
thanks
adam

exporting to compressor directly from FCP will re-process all your rendered material, so if your sequence has lots of filters, generators, stills or non-native clips, this can greatly add to the time it takes.
Also, exporting video for iPod most likely involves changing the frame size and frame rate, and possibly pixel aspect ratio (are those files square pixel?) Depending on the frame Controls settings for the preset you are using, this can make it take a lot longer.

Compressor 2.0 Crashes, Closes Final Cut Project

Now, details will be sketchy on this, but a friend of mine just sent me a text message saying his editing machine is having issues with Compressor 2.0. When he loads up a project, and it starts to encode, Compressor crashes, and then the project closes on its own in Final Cut. He is running Mac OS X v10.3.9, and Final Cut 5.0.4. I asked him if the studio he is at has the Final Cut setup discs and they do not.
Does anyone have any ideas? I'm familar with the internals of OS X, but not really the Pro Apps. My first idea was to reload Final Cut on the machine, but if he doesn't have the discs, I'm not sure where to go.

Before deciding to go for extreme solutions tell your friend to export the edit as QT movie self-contained (NOT QT conversion) or reference (self-containe unchecked).
Then import that into compressor, this way FCP and Compressor will work independently.
Let us know if that works,
If not tell us what format you are working with and what QT version you have as that might reveal important clues.
G.

FCP Projects Converted To .m2v In Compressor Are Not Accepted ?

Normally I export my FCP projects as QuickTime Movies and drop them into iDVD 08.
I have just exported to Compressor and ended up with a .m2v and a .ac3 file which work in Toast and DVD Studio Pro but cannot be dropped into the iDVD window.
They jump straight out !
I have also tried importing them via the File menu with no success.
What am I doing wrong ?
I have just searched the iDVD Help menu again and discovered this:-
"MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 files, QuickTime VR movies, and movies with sprite or Flash tracks cannot be added".
Does that mean that my .m2v files (which I believe are MPEG-2) will not work and the best I can do is to export from FCP as QT Movie ?
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

That is what it means. iDVD will not accept pre-encoded files. However, I would be curious to know why you would want to use iDVD when you have and know how to use DVD Studio Pro? IMHO, on big disadvantage to iDVD is that it doesn't use AC3 or compressed audio, it uses uncompressed PCM.
Mike

I still distribute most FCP projects via DVD. No matter which MPEG2 setting I use in Compressor 4 I get an error - even Apple's default DVD setting. Has anybody successfully output an FCP X project to compressor and then out on a DVD?

I still distribute most FCP projects via DVD. No matter which MPEG2 setting I use in Compressor 4 I get an error - even Apple's default DVD setting. Has anybody successfully output an FCP X project to compressor and then out on a DVD?

Anthony, thank you very much - this works, though I thought I had tried your process previously without success. I've tried so many things who knows. I've had zero luck going with the Send to Compressor or Export Using Compressor Settings under the Share menu. I'm also finding Compressor 4 to be a real dog on my system even though I have a brand new quad core machine with 8G of RAM. Prior to receiving your post I did come up with a different work process. Using Export Movie from FCP X and then loading the result in Compressor 3 works flawlessly. Thanks again!

How do I import old FCP projects that have mysteriously changed to Linux Executable files? Is it as simple as renaming the files with the.fcp extension?

I had some FCP projects on an old G3 tower that I finally want to finish. I was able to grab everything, media, etc. to my macbook pro but all of the Final Cut Pro actual movies/projects have turned into "linux executable files" that FCP X won't import.
I tried googling this issue but didn't really see any good answers. Would it be as simple as renaming the files with the .fcp extension? I can't recall if my old version (really old) of FCP saves projects as .mov or .fcp files, but I'm assuming I'm not the only person this has happened to.
Thanks for your help!

I had some FCP projects on an old G3 tower that I finally want to finish.
What version of FCP was this? The project files can probably no longer be opened in the newer version of the OS. You could try adding the .fcp suffix, but I don't think it will help for this. Projects files are .fcp.
Regardless of the version, no legacy FCP projects will import into FCPX.
Media is a different matter. These are probably QuickTime .mov files. If these are appearing as Unix ececutables, they're probably not recoverable either.

Recording standard dvd from completed FCP project thru DVD STUDIO PRO...

OH, kind geniuses...
it boils down to this...I'm very FCP friendly...production is done...I'm aware of "compressor" issue...one question tho
...is it easier to compress thru Quicktime movie or the
standard compressor functions when project is completed...
BOTTOM LINE...is it possible to crank out a standard DVD copy of a completed FCP project QUICKLY/ EASILY...thru
DVD STUDIO PRO? i've went thru the manuals for ALL, and am
affraid I'm reading T.M.I. into it... THE question..."is there a simple Wham-Bam-Thank You-Maam way to get a simple
DVD copy from a completed FCP project THRU, (the dreaded)
DVD STUDIO PRO??? I don't need to re-learn digital electronic theory...just crank out a gawl-dern DVD I can
present to a perspective employer that needs a FCP editor...
"much gnashing of teeth & lament",
thanks folks!
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

whoaohohohohohohoh nnnnnnneleeeee(a keith jacksonism)
silal..............
way too much info, amigo....I have one track (2min total...
including "live-type" graphics)....we don' have no marks....
we don' need no marks....we don' got to cho you any steenking marks!!!!! (Alfonso Bedoya from "treasure of Sierra Madre"..adaptation)...I love that guy/scene...back to the problem at hand...waaaay too involved it seems, my
friend....tho, I high 5 you for the extensive work & effort.
I'm lookin' for quick & dirty...did get a response that basically gives me that...still left out some "see spot run"
info that my "little grey cells" aren't absorbing...I'm
sure it's MY ignorance & comprehension skills that are in question here...I guess I wanna' get outa' th' gate & grab th' hole shot before I dial in my ride...like I said..."see spot run"....another try would be appreciated but not necessary...thanks for you're valuable time...
they're in.......everybody's eggs...
DOH!....
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

Sharing FCP projects between user accounts problem

Hello!
I'm working on a project with several other colleagues. Each of us has his own User account on the computer (dual G5 / 10.4.7) because we have different preferecnes regarding keyboard layouts, desktop colour etc. We would like to have our FCP project files accessible to each of us.
I have tried different approaches to solve this task, but haven't fully succeded yet (I tried creating the project file within the /Users/Shared foler; putting it into a dedicated /Users/FCPProjects folder and applying chmod/chown commands; creating a Editors group with NetInfo and assigning those foders to this group; I even tried to work around this using ACLs).
The problem is that when we click "Save All" command in FCP, we get three or four OK-only dialog boxes in a row saying "Access denied". The project file is in fact saved (I can see it by checking the Modified time in Finder), but FCP seems not to be aware of this and doesn't want to quit. It's an unpleasent situation because it allways makes us worry about losing our work.
Could someone please give us instructions on the correct procedures for resolving the issue.
Thank you
Best regards
Mato Ilijic

matoid,
ACLs should work for you, and it seems that they are. You shouldn't have to deal with the error dialogue either, so let's see if we can't get rid of it.
First, let's talk about groups. I have looked at your "step by step," and I notice that you didn't bother to change the group ownership of the "shared" folder that you created. Fine, ACLs still work, but the group ownership of "wheel" might be the cause of your error messages. ACLs are a more advanced system of access controls than the older POSIX system, but POSIX still exists, and might affect your work.
Let's assume that you have your standard users that will be using FCP placed properly into a common group. For this discussion, I'll call that group "fcpusers." Under the POSIX paradigm, any "shared" folder can be owned by any one of the users in this group, but it must have a group ownership of "fcpusers" in order to work properly for everyone. When it does, every new file or folder created in it will "inherit" that group ownership.
Now, every user on a given machine will have read access to that shared folder. If a non-member of group "fcpusers" attempts to save a file there, however, an error message is likely to appear. One other possibility is that the file is saved, but with an "unknown" group ownership. This is because of a conflict between the groups the saving user is a member of and the attempted "inheritance" from the enclosing folder.
I want you to try the following. Please do this exactly as I outline it:
1) Create a new group in Netinfo Manager. Duplicate the "admin" group. Change the name of the duplicate to "fcpusers," then delete the "realname," "generateduid," and "smb_sid" properties. Change the GID to "101." Select the "users" property, then choose Directory>Insert Value. Type the short name of one of your users. Repeat this procedure for every user of FCP. Select any admin users in this group who will not be using FCP, and click the "Delete" icon. Finally, choose Domain>Save Changes.
2) Create a new folder in /Users/Shared. For this discussion we will assume that you will call it "FCP_Data." Further, we will assume that one of your FCP users is named "usera" (your terminology ;-)). Open Terminal. Since you seem to be well-versed in the use of Terminal, I will simply post the commands needed:
<pre style="overflow:auto; font-family: 'Monaco'; font-size: 10px">sudo chown usera:fcpusers /Users/Shared/FCP_Data
sudo chmod g+w /Users/Shared/FCP_Data</pre>
3) Before anyone begins saving files in this directory, make sure that their umask is changed using TinkerTool. Also, I recommend that all media gets saved here, too. I'm not sure how close FCP is to iMovie, if it doesn't save all data in a "package," but it is likely that media is being referenced using "placeholders." If this is the case, and media for a given project is scattered all over the file system, there could indeed be ownership issues. If media needs to be on externals, this same "shared" folder can be created there. Just make sure that #1, the volume has "ownership and permissions" in effect, and #2 all media is kept within the "shared" directory structure.
You must use TinkerTool to change the umask such that members of the group have read/write permission. TinkerTool doesn't specifically say this, but the corresponding umask is "002" (the OS X default is "022"). BTW, umask is subtracted from the "full permissions" value of "666" when saving non-executable files ("777" for folders and executables).
Once you have a properly configured "shared" folder and a proper umask in place, your users can begin to populate the shared directory. If any existing projects are to be added, they must be copied by a user into the shared directory, not simply moved. Only when a copy is made will the new copy inherit the proper group ownership. Just to be sure, I will include one more set of commands to use, once the shared directory has been populated:
<pre style="overflow:auto; font-family: 'Monaco'; font-size: 10px">sudo chown -R usera:fcpusers /Users/Shared/FCP_Data
sudo chmod -R g+w /Users/Shared/FCP_Data</pre>
Please follow these instructions carefully, then report the results. This should work, and without using ACLs.
Scott

PLZ HELP.. How can i make dvd from FCP project..

Can someone plz help..
I have FCPPRHD and DVD Pro..
I got lost trying to make a dvd out of fcp project
Can someone plz help in easy 123.. steps how to make a dvd for my client to view..
Thnx ever so much
awaitng ur reply

I don't want to sound too harsh, but you really need to read the manual and do the tutorials.
You shoot, capture and edit in FCP. You export that to MPEG2 using compressor and you import the resulting video and audio files into DVDSP. You add a menu and set up buttons to get to the footage, and you set up navigation so that your client can get back to the menu at any time. You build and format that (i.e. burn the disc).
That's the process, but it is very much more detailed than any of us could write here.... it's all in the manual and tutorials

FCP project not the correct aspect ratio when exporting to Quicktime

Hello All;
I am trying to export a FCP project in its native resolution (1440 X 1080) to Quicktime but everytime I try, the aspect ratio is messed up and people look taller and thinner than they should.
The project is a resolution of 1440 X 1080 as determined by examining the sequence settings in FCP.
I configure quicktime (see below) to a resolution of 1440 X 1080.
So why isn't my Quicktime video the correct resolution when I play it with the IMac's Quicktime player ? I shrink the player to 1/2 size to fit it all on the screen.
My exact settings are below ...
Export - Using Quicktime Conversion
Format - Quicktime Movie
Video Settings - Compressor - MPEG-4
Quality - Best
Not sure if I changed the framerate - if I did, I probably changed it to 29.97
I didn't touch the other settings in the video settings - left them to default
I didn't change the filter settings - I left them at default
Size - 1440 X 1080 (The actual resolution of my source video)
I checked the box - preserve aspect ratio using letterbox (If applicable)
Other settings were left at default
Sound Settings - Format - AAC
Rate - 48 KHZ
Render Settings - Quality - Best
Target Bitrate - 128 KHZ (This was left at default - I did not change it)
Prepare for Internet Streaming - Fast Start checked (This was default - I did not change it)
All other settings not specifically mentioned were left at default.
Thanks. Tim

I don't have much of an answer for you, but to test try not checking the preserve aspect ratio. Rather than reexport the entire 1 hour just export 10 seconds so that you can trouble shoot different things.
Hope that helps a bit,
Eric

FCP Project to Adobe Flash

I've been asked to provide a completed FCP project to a web administrator who operates only in Adobe Flash. Mine is a 720p 16:9 project -- his environment is 4:3 sometimes as dial-up speeds. :--(
Should I deliver just a Quicktime file? Should I deliver my project via Compressor in H.264? Best suggestions, please. Thanks very much.

David:
For Flash Video (at least up to version 8), developers have to compress to Flash standards. Usually that's OnV2, or Sorenson Spark. I think 9 and 10 have newer compressions and even HD. I'm not sure if it's h.264 as I work in Flash 8.
Either way, it'll work best with the best master you can give. So, if you have a DVCPROHD, HDV, or whatever file you can give him it'll look best when he imports/compresses the file for Flash. You would do this through the "export quicktime" command rather than "export using quicktime conversion" command in the export menu. Make sure he resizes it upon import and not in his flash project. You can import and resize to fit your project. If you resize it using the "transform" tool in Flash it can tend to get jagged. Flash doesn't seem to "soften" video you change dimensions on with the "transform" tool, but it does if you resize while compressing.
Another option, to keep the transit size down, is to compress it to flash for him. But, that'd require Flash on your system. Not sure if you have it, but you can export it via quicktime if you do. The new file will have a .flv extension and he can simply import that to the Flash library for his project.
Hope that helps.

FCP Project to .wmv file?

I have a FCP project that I have to export as a .wmv file. Can this be done?

It's Telestream converter for Windows Media. I have the HD studio version. It works out of FCP or Compressor. I was using Squeeze but they're using the new VC1 encoding instead of wm9. It caused some playback problems on our streaming server.

FCP project to DVDSP4??

I converted the FCP project to "MPEG-2" in Compressor like a lot of you recommended. The video played well, but there was no sound. Did it not convert audio? How can I include the audio? What setting do I have to use in Compressor so I can convert my FCP project (with video and audio) to a DVDSP 4 friendly format?

When encoding for a DVD, you'll need to do 2 separate encodes. Video (m2v) and Audio (ac3 or Dolby).
One of our frequent members, Drew13, has posted many links that will help you understand this process better. You can find those links here.

Convert a PREL project to a FCP project

Hi All,
I'm looking at opening up a Adobe Premiere Elements project file on Final Cut Express and wanted to know if there's a converter so Final Cut can interpret a prel file?
Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately even PrPro cannot do a full Project export to FCP - yet. It's supposed to be implemented soon, and maybe the CS4.2 update will have it. When it does come out, one could Import the .PREL into CS4.2 (or whichever update does get the FCP export module), and then Export that to a FCP Project setting. Not a simple, freeware converter, by any stretch, but then it will be doable - if one has a friend on CS4.2.
However, you can come close. Edit in PrE and then Export the resulting movie. Import that into FCP for final tweaking.
I'd use .MOV (Animation CODEC) for SD material, and .MP4 (H.264) for HD material. That is about as close as one can come right now.
Good luck,
Hunt

Can't open FCP project

Hi everyone
I encountered a problem with my FCP project and I'm not sure how to fix it.
The current workflow is like this - A project is started on FCP 4.5 and later on brought to FCP 5 for final master to BetaSP. (Reason for doing this is becoz we can only master straight to BetaSP on da FCP 5 suite)
This workflow worked for the previous 4 projects.. but it failed with the current one. The project will open till about 90% and then FCP5 will suddenly quit. The project opens fine on FCP 4.5.
Any ideas on what I can do to save this project?
Thanks for the help!
Zee~

one thing you can try is to open the main project in 4.5
duplicate the playout sequence you need to playout
then create a new project and move the duplicated sequence into it
save and close
then try and open the new project in FCP5 and see if that works for you
if thats a no go, then unmount your media drive
then try again to open the the project in FCP5
if it opens then remount the media drive and reconnect the sequence to the media

Compressor mysteriously closes my FCP project.

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