progressive exporting as interlaced

Hello good people,

I have a progressive (Canon 5d) project that I need to export from fcpx.
However, it exports it with nasty blurry horizontal lines.
Easy, I thought! Just go to the project properties and change 1080i to 1080p.
Trouble is, this didn't change anything, still exporting nasty lines.
Ah, easy one, I then thought. Delete render files, then try again.
Still same interlaced video being exported, despite project being progressive all the way.
Tried importing some clips into a new project, and it exports it fine in progressive this time.
Can anyone suggest why, oh why, is fcpx seeing my timeline as interlaced, or trying to export it as such?
Thanks for any suggestions.

p.s. exporting via compressor yields same interlaced results.
Cannot cut and paste my clips into a new project, as it's a huge feature movie timeline (120min long)

Can anyone suggest why, oh why, is fcpx seeing my timeline as interlaced, or trying to export it as such?

Because you have been editing your progressive video in an interlaced Project (1080i)?

After having changed your project settings from 1080i to 1080p, have you deleted ALL your render files (i.e. Project and Event Render files)?

To what format are you exporting your timeline?

Why can't you copy and paste? The length doesn't matter. Cmd-A. Cmd-C. Cmd-N. Cmd-V.

Hello Ronny,

As I recall I always started with a 1080p project from the word go (a window asks you, and I have never worked with anything other than 1080p).
I did notice however that, for some reason, project settings appear to have change, which I cannot explain (reason why I changed back to 1080p).
I have definitely deleted ALL render files, and I have no render files in my project file.
I am exporting to prores 422.

The odd things, and surely a clue, is that this does not happen if I create a new project and paste the offending clips there, they export fine. Somehow fcpx is not seeing this long project as progressive.
Thanks for any help towards this.

As Tom says you can copy/paste a 2 hour timeline into a new Project without any difficulty.

But for the sake of finding out what is happening: do you have any compound clips in this project?

To add to what Ronny says, another source of problems can be if the very just object entered into the timeline is not a video clip in the format you want. Adding audio, generators, stills first can cause problems.

hi guys again,

I now realize I can cut and paste my entire project to another one (in the past I had problems doing this, sometimes just refused to paste anything large at all into another project), and it does export in normal progressive.
Thanks for that.
It would be good, though, to know why it is doing this in the original project.
I do indeed have plenty of compound clips in that project.
In fact my entire project is within one big compound clip (so i can add broadcast safe).
My very first object in the film is a jpeg image, then a simple fcpx-made title.
I tried taking both out and starting project without them, but it still exports interlaced.

Good you have this solved.

Like Tom said the still at the start of your timeline will have caused you starting with a wrong project setting.

As you have created a CC from your entire edit when still working in an interlaced timeline your CC (i.e. your entire edit) is in fact one big interlaced clip. This explains the interlacing issues you have when exporting the project. Changing the Project settings to progressive does not change this CC into a progressive clip, so it won't affect your export.

Now why copy/pasting the interlaced CC into a new progressive project does seem to have an effect on your export, I wouldn't know.

Oddly, the 'still' I use as the first clip, was in fact the very last clip I ever added. It is odd because i definitely started with a progressive project, somehow it became interlaced.
Maybe at that CC stage...
Which brings me to one final question before I thank you for your help again:
once a CC is made of the entire film, can I go back to having NO CC of the film?
Best wishes

Uncompounding a CC is not an obvious task. Many people have sent requests to Apple to make this better, so it probably will be addressed in a next important update. But for the moment this is how you do it:

First duplicate your project so you have a safety net

Open the duplicate project, R-click the CC and select Open In Timeline. A new timeline will open showing every instance that is contained in the CC (i.e. your entire edit). Press CMD+A then CMD+C to copy all the instances.

Now use the left white arrow you see top left of your timeline to switch back to your duplicate project.

Select the CC and delete it from the timeline. Place your playhead at the start of your timeline and press CMD+V. The deleted CC will now be replaced by its content. Now if wish you can also delete the CC from the Event Browser.

It's a silly and complicated way of working. We should simply be able to disclose a CC in the main timeline, and to uncompound a CC in the main timeline with one click if we want this. Please send feedback to Apple and ask for this.

BTW you should not have created a CC from your entire edit to start with. You can apply one or more effects like a broadcast filter to an entire timeline by simply putting an Adjustment Layer on top of your edits and add the effect(s) to the Adjustment Layer. Much easier