Can't relink files

After making my project "offline" by consolidating all my media to a fold outside of my library location things have really gone south. I simply cannot reconnect about 1 quarter of my clips.

Basically the idea here is to try to overcome and issue where FCPX has become intolerably slow after the update from 10.0.9 to 10.1.

My idea was to consolidate all media outside the library into a single folder, then I wanted to export XML files from each project and import them into a the fresh library. Then I would relink the clips to the external media folder.

The trouble is that many of these clips just won't relink. I get a couple of different error messages mostly "The original file and new file have no shared media range." or "The Original file has audio and the new file does not" which is my personal favourite because it often happens when I am trying to relink a .wav file which is of course nothing but audio.

This is destroying about 9 months of work.

Any advice would be most welcome.

*Update. If I try to re-link a clip that is not in fact missing I get the same error.To clarify - I have an online clip, select it and then choose file->relink media. I then choose "all" instead of "missing". If I select the very same clip that the file is already linked to (the clip that FCPX leads me to if i right click on the clip and select reveal in finder) I will still get a message saying "The original file and new file have no shared media range." even though said clip is already linked to said file.

**Update 2. I took one event comprised mostly of Multicam clips and exported an event XML. I imported that event XML into a fresh library. In the new library many more events were created than just the event I imported - presumable because there were clips in these event who's component comprised the MC clips in the event which I export by XML. Fine. However now at least 60 percent of the Multicam clips just show up as black. Not offline, just black. When I step into these multi cam clips there are black clips among the regular clips - not offline - simply empty. They have the correct name but have no content.

I'd love to hear any advice on this. At the moment I am reduced to having to re-import each clip and manually place it back in each multi cam clip which frankly feels archaic. It works, but it should be a simple re-link. I will probably be doing this for a week.

Silly question perhaps... Do you have a backup of the Library from before you moved the media? Also, did you consolidate from within X, or manually in the Finder?

Yes - I have backups of that library but I'm trying to migrate the edits into a fresh library. Consolidation from within FCPX.

Doug Suiter wrote: Yes - I have backups of that library but I'm trying to migrate the edits into a fresh library. Consolidation from within FCPX.

And after you consolidate the media out of the Library it goes offline? Or it appears offline in the new Library after you export XML and reimport?

After I consolidate media out of the library it goes offline. Trying to relink it results in a series of errors: ""The original file and new file have no shared media range." and "The Original file has audio and the new file does not". Neither of these make senses because the audio error is saying the audio file I am reconnecting to has no audio and the other appears even if I try to relink media that is not in fact offline (IE if I try to relink media to what is is already link to - it still gives the no shared media range error)

Doug Suiter wrote: After I consolidate media out of the library it goes offline.

Yeah, that's weird... I've done that couple times and, as far as the Library is concerned, everything stays just the same. Are the problem files part of compound clips? What happens if (using a backup that contains your media) you make a new library, copy a project (and all the media as it's managed I guess) into it, and then consolidate the media out of the new library? Probably a PITA, but just wondering if that process behaves any differently...

Try this:

After backing up your library file, go in to the original media fowler inside the library and delete all the alias files. Then start up fcp x and drag and drop all your media files to the event they were in before. It may fix everything.

It's quite hard to believe that I have run out of options so fast and how suddenly i have found myself at catastrophic failure. Here's where I'm at...

I created a Fresh Library, then into that I imported all the media that was consolidated out of the old library which was updated to 10.1 and which seems to be the cause of the issues.

Then the question became how do I rescue all my work? That would be edits as well as all the compound clipping and Multicam work.

I started by exporting an project as XML. First thing that happened was the XML was damaged and FCPX couldn't import it until I ran it through XML Repair - part of the Pro Maintenance toolset from Digital Rebellion.

That fixed it and allowed it to load all be it with some errors.

Unfortunately the clips in the imported project are still offline. They don't look to the clips existing in the new library. Importing the XML brings the offline clips along for the ride and I still can't relink them. Same errors - usually : "The original file and new file have no shared media range." They are 100% the correct clips.

I have all my edits, I have all my multi cam clips I have all my key wording, I have all my media backed up and I am 3 episodes into an 8 episode project (each ep is 24 minutes and highly complex) . All the pieces are there but FCPX won't put them together. I basically need a button that says "Force Re-link" on the dialog box that tells me "The original file and new file have no shared media range." I can see the clips. I know they are correct.

If I can't find a way around this i am going to have to go back to the beginning of my project. There is literally months of work at stake. I have 26 hours of interview footage and 165 live performances to sync, keyword and edit. I will keep trying and update shortly.

This has worked for me, but it has to be done one file at a time.

telemarq.com/products/fcpxchange/

Yes i have been looking at that also. The trouble is it only works for projects, not events.

Update...

i just spent a little over an hour on the phone with an FCPX specialist at Apple. He has told me that he had never heard of the error "The original file and new file have no shared media range".

We ran through every combination of possible fix and hit the limit of his knowledge.

One hint came up. I have several audio files named similarly - 4CH004M.wav - they in fact had the same name on import so FCPX appended 4CH004M(fcp1).wav, 4CH004M(fcp2).wav etc to the end of the name. In relinking FCPX was looking at the wrong version - 4CH004M.wav when it should have been looking for 4CH004M(fcp2).wav. When I redirected FCPX to the correct file even though it had the "wrong" name FCPX allowed a relink.

However this does not work with any of the video files. They have by and large not been renamed.

But it got me to thinking that something may be scrambled in the way FCP X thinks which files are which...

I'm at a loss. Everything backed up...nothing left to chance...and here I stand like an Ikea customer without a hex key...

Hey Doug,

this sounds like a nightmare and I hope the FCP X team fixes this ASAP.

Judging by your last post I'd agree the naming and renaming of files by FCP screwed you over, so this suggestion might seem counter intuitive:

What happens if you (using the backup from before consolidating) give all the files a unique name by using the batch rename function and checking the box for rename in finder level as well? Then consolidate everything out. My hope is that FCP wouldn't get as confused.

About the black clips: I have a similar problem (and sent feedback of course) with one event in a specific library. At times when I open that library most of the clips in that specific event show up black/empty, but when I restart FCP (sometimes multiple times are necessary) they show up intact. It's quite scary...

Thanks for your support.

At the moment I have decided to manual re-import all the clips fresh and then place them back into their synchronised clip positions and multi cam positions manually.

There is little doubt in my mind that this has come about as a result of updating during a project from 10.09 to 10.1 and then consolidating my library.

I do want to say that I am very aware of the perils of updating mid project but this is a long term project and I really needed to update because of all the other projects i am working on. What bothers me is that my backups are of little use. i could step back to 10.0.9 but that was a few months work ago now.

Without wanting to sound too much like I'm displaying symptoms of Stockholm's syndrome I got to hand it to FCP X. i have almost finished manually replacing 162 multi cam/sync'd clips and it has taken me about 5 hours total. That's extremely impressive. Maybe not as impressive as being able to re-link media

This whole situation - the consolidating of media - is actually me dealing with a larger issue of sluggishness in FCP X after an upgrade to 10.1

I think that perhaps that sluggishness was due to an absolute mess behind the scenes which manually relinking all this media should fix.

Fingers crossed.

I come across this when receiving a project from another editor or form another location.

This is somewhat a pain, but what as worked for me was I would try relink all the files at once. After that I would relink each file separately that didn't relink. This has worked for me.

I just assign the Relink command to Option - Shift R and go to town.

Hello

I just found solution. First open the project (its important, cause in other case) Then, with opened project, delete alias file in Original Media folder (in finder). Next, go to the timeline, and relink to original file first. THEN do relink for proxy file. And it works PS. Its important to stay with opened project, cause in other case, FCPX will restore deleted alias file at start.