Is this a FCPX design flaw?

So, I had been working on a project with a deadline, and all going well. Using an external firewire disk.

I introduced some new clips, that were a bit complicated. One was a time-lapse at 720p 30 fps (but my timeline was 1080p 25fps). So I conformed the clip. Then I had to reverse it (because the clouds needed to go the other direction), and then applied a Red Giant Look (Black & white with grain). Everything looked fine, the clip was playing ok. So I shut down FCPX to do a time-lapse sequence in Lightroom.

After that I opened FCPX, and as it started to load up the Events & Projects it immediately crashed. So I restarted the computer (thinking memory might have been used up after batch rendering a lot of RAW photos in Lightroom). Opening FCPX, and it crashed again, and again.

Took out the external disk, and put in another one and the Events & Projects loaded fine on that. So, the problem seems to be with the disk; but a quick check reveal the disk is fine.

I didn't get a chance to properly look at the crash report; but I did see that there was an issue with some renderer in FCPX.

At this point I'm guessing that the clip with all the effects is causing an issue. But I can't get to it, or delete it because FCPX crashes as soon as it opens. And that one clip is causing not only the project & event to become unstable; but every different event & project on that disk is inaccessible.

Eventually, after lots of tries I manage to click through to the project as its still loading up, and somehow get past the crash. I delete the file that I believe was causing the instability (and a number of other clips that had been recently introduced) and FCPX opened after that. Hopefully it will remain stable today.

Has anyone had a similar issue where a corrupt or unstable clip causes you to lose access to ALL the events and projects on a disk?

Not exactly. I've had libraries become corrupted so that I couldn't open it, events within it, and/or save anything. But if I had multiple libraries on a media drive (which is the norm for me), the other libraries would open.

Sometimes it turns out that the library database is the problem and trashing the flexolibrary file will fix things. Other times it was necessary to create a new "empty" library when launching FCP X, open the problem library and to move the uncorrupted events to the new library. Then I was sometimes able to isolate any problem media in the remaining event and replace it…other times not.

Russ

There does seem to be an issue with Libraries being occasionally prone to corruption, I've had it happen to me and it's not acceptable. As a result I'm not using FCPX on any large critical projects until the next round of updates hopefully makes things a little better.

Simon...Yes I have had that very problem. I had to do the same thing as well. Try to click to the proper clip and delete it before the crash.

As a matter of fact it seems that since Mavericks I have had such a host of small lil bugs such as this. Just last night I couldn't get the media to switch over to original/optimized. I had to reverse clone the whole drive to get things back to where they were working. Thank goodness I had the capability.

I'm loving FCPX...when it works. I'm kind of getting to a point though where I may start going back to Premiere. Gasp!

[quote="Don Rumsey" post=46125
I'm loving FCPX...when it works. I'm kind of getting to a point though where I may start going back to Premiere. Gasp![/quote]

Adobe are having their own issues at the moment!

Major Adobe ID problems at the moment.

HI Simon,

I know this seems obvious, but you didn't mention Libraries. What version of FCPX are you on?

Here is my 2 cent commentary:

As with everything, our experiences are different. For me, I have had smooth sailing since 10.1. The Library model has simplified our workflow and made collaborating work very well. I finished up a feature with a 8 month post production schedule (began in 10.0.8, ended in 10.1.1) and hundreds of hours logged on FCPX and it was a solid as a rock (BTW. not a studio feature, just a student film).

I have had issues with corrupted clips in the past, frankly with every NLE I have used, not to mention other design software and I don't think it is an issue that should bring us to the point of not trusting the software. File corruption is an unfortunately reality with electronic storage.

If FCPX is crashing after the UI appears, I would try the following besides the usual trashing prefs and restarting your machine:

1. Hide the media in your library - therefore, rename/move your Original Media and Transcoded Media folders and see if it launches - then replace media little by little to find the culprit

2. Start FCPX without any plugins/motion templates - this is a little tricky, as you would need to disable/move fxplug plugins in several folders as well as motion templates. Creating a fresh user and launching your library from it is the easiest way to test this out without having to move plugins.

3. Open one of the auto created 15 minute library backups. If all is well, this will hopefully set your mind at ease, and sometimes will identify your corrupted media clip.

- T.

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies so far.

TPayton; to be honest when I first got FCPX (I got it a few days after its release) I did the Ripple Training course and started working from there. Since then I have been remiss and have not really kept up to date with all the new features (still never used the muticamera thing etc).

I'm running 10.0.9, and will update it once the current project is finished.

Am I missing something with the Libraries (was that a new feature)? The problem I had was that when FCPX opens, it loads all the projects in the project library, and once that corrupted file loaded it crashed (meaning I had no access to any of the projects or events on that external disk).

Is there someway to access the libraries without opening FCPX, in order to remove stuff?

Certainly I would not consider changing my NLE based on one incident; but I was really thrown by the idea that 1 corrupted file could drag down multiple projects on multiple events.

Libraries appeared in 10.1.

Libraries can be closed and opened at will. There is no longer a need to hide projects externally.

All libraries are separate. One fail has no effect on others. There are backups to the libraries.

You can go inside libraries externally. Do not do it. You should only do that if you know what you're doing, which you don't at this stage.

Thanks Tom.

So, would it be possible to open & close libraries if FCPX keeps crashing upon opening?

Tpayton:

How do you access the auto created Library backups?

Realising I am way behind the curve at the is point....

Very likely. Trash prefs and the app will open an Untitled library.

simonpwood wrote: How do you access the auto created Library backups?

Realising I am way behind the curve at the is point....

No need to feel bad or apologize. I think some of us work so hard to "stay in the loop" that we have little time to work.

So, in answer to your question "Is FCPX have a design flaw?" the answer is "yes". However, they fixed in with 10.1.

Libraries are the big feature in 10.1 and frankly they completely change the way you work with media, it's pretty fantastic. Projects are no longer separate and Libraries do a great job of managing media and solve a lot of problems that were present in previous versions.

I'll bet the problem you are having was fixed in 10.1.

Auto backups were introduced in 10.1. They sorta exist in previous versions, but only one backup. You can find them in the event folder under "backups". You can try to open them, but frankly I don't know if it will help.

Since you got things running, I would recommend you finish up your current projects and then update later. Also, you have to be running at least 10.9 (Mavricks) to run 10.1, so it is possible updating isn't an option if you have a really old machine (but there are ways around that www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/...old-classic-mac-pros )

Although I wouldn't typically recommend this since you are mid project, you can safely "try" an update to 10.1 without modifying your old projects/events. You can even run 10.0.9 and 10.1 on the same system. Just zip up your 10.0.9, then update the app.

Here is some info on updating from Ripple Training. I sternly encourage you to watch it before updating:

www.rippletraining.com/fcpx-features.html

Yes, you can run 10.0.9 and 10.1.1 on the same install by doing the zip file thing. I said this early on in Dec. However I did find some gotchas, it does share the same preference file names, which had introduced some issues.

The safest way to do it is make a folder in Apps called FCPX Old, put 10.0.9 in there.

Make a new user called FCPX old (or whatever will help remind you what it's for) and use that whenever you need to use the older version. That won't overwrite the cache and pref files on your main install.

Cool; thanks for all tips guys.

By dumb luck I got the project moving ahead, so I can't complain. Will upgrade after this and figure out this new library feature; looks like that will be the ticket!