Problem with importing videos from Aperture

Question

I was able to import videos from Aperture within FCPX.  However, when I tried to import some older videos, the following error message appeared:
"No importable files
None of the selected files or folders can be imported.  Change the selection and try again."
I noticed that all the video files older than about three months didn't work, and all the newer files worked, regardless what camera it was from (D800, iPhone, m4/3 camera)
I opened up the aperture library package and compared the permission for one video file that I could import, and one that I couldn't.  They have the same permissions, so it isn't a permission issue.  I tried exporting the problem video from Aperture and importing it into FCPX, and it accepted it.
The other thing I've noticed that is for the files that I imported from Aperture library, the video files in the Original Media folder are only around 250 KB.  It seems that they are only aliases.  All the more reason I need to find a way to drag videos from Aperture into FCPX, as the files aren't duplicated.
Does anybody know a solution to this problem?
Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

Aperture drag'n'drop export only creates reference movies (which can break!)
Background of your issue:
If you simply drag your video file(s) from the Aperture window to the Desktop (in my case a MP4 from my Galaxy Nexus, the original having 70 MB), Aperture does not copy the master or the version file, but instead it creates a reference movie file, which is a very small video container file (in my case: MP4, 26 KB) with no AV-content but only a reference to your master video file in your Aperture library, ~/Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary/Masters/YYYY/MM/DD/YYYYMMDD-hhmmss/filename.
So by principle it acts like an "alias", but technically it is not a filesystem alias (filepath, ID within filesystem (inode), metadata), but a so called reference movie. If you meanwhile deleted/manipulated the master file from the Aperture Library, or changed something from the filepath (volume name, home directory name, etc) import in Final Cut Pro will fail of course, as it loads a mere reference movie, and fails to load the AV-content, as the master movie file cannot be found at the given filepath anymore.
Solution 1 (for the "tidy" users):
Make sure the filepath to your Aperture Library does not change (volume name, user name, custom library name), and hopefully Apple does not change their Aperture Library filepath scheme in future updates. Then the reference movie will remain pointing to a valid master file.
Solution 2:
In Aperture, select the file(s)
File > Export Master (CMD-SHIFT-S)
Save file(s) to your desired destination
Import them into within Final Cut Pro
Of course this creates unnecessary duplicate content, which is specially painful with video files, which tend to be large.
Solution 3 (advanced users):
Locate the master file (within the Aperture Library.aplibrary bundle) and import that in Final Cut Pro.
The import dialogue of many Mac OS X apps does not allow browsing into bundles.
A possible work around is to open the bundle in Finder (right click > Show package contents), locate the file, and then drag'n'drop it onto the import dialogue of Final Cut Pro.
Message was edited by: putzfetzenORG. Added post title.