Can’t Open my Documentary Anymore, Help!

Hi friends,

I’ve been working on a documentary over the past two years, it’s supposed to screen next week and go to television in September (it’s August now). This week, the library began acting a bit wonky. Sometimes it would take several tries to get the main project to open. I was travelling at the time and I assumed it was my travel-drive failing and didn’t worry too much (I keep the project files on my MacBook hard disk and the media on the external disk). I continued working. In fact I got a huge amount of work done over the next few days. When I got home I connected it back to the main media drive.

However, now the Library will open, but when I open the project file within the main event, it hangs on the loading screen for a huge amount of time, until I force-quit it. It has always been a bit slow now that the project file is fairly complex, but now it will not load at all. The longest I have left it is about 25 minutes before force-quitting it. The last time I successfully opened it (to go over the audio mix with the sound guy), some clips were out of place, so I think there is some corruption in the file. 

I was on the phone with Apple for a while, we did all the usual things like trash the preferences, try a backup (none have worked so far, going back about three days, I will keep trying older ones), removing any problematic characters from file names (like emoji). 

I am sporting the M1 MacBook Air (running Big Sur) as my primary machine. I also tried it on my Mac Mini 2012 (also Big Sur) but it exhibited the same behaviour.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any insight? Could it be bad audio plug-ins or something of the like? I’m pretty desperate so any suggestions are welcome.

Open one of the library backups FCP automatically creates (User>Movies>Final Cut Backups) but lock the file or create a backup of that backup first. (Checked on this computer & found backups going back to 2016!) You may find one of the earlier versions free from the problem your most recent ones have.

Thank you for the suggestion. I have tried this, but the most recent backups seem to have the same problem. This is very strange. I will try an old backup and report back.

Won't help you now faced with a stubborn / corrupted Library situation but here's a habit that's served me well.

Before closing a project I always export an XML and tag it with the date and time exported. (e.g. Documentary 081821-1751) That way if the whole shebang goes wonky as it sometimes will I can create a new library and import any saved XML version levels. I'll also do this in leu of the Duplicate Project as Snapshot because, one again, if the entire library goes south and refuses to open there's always the 80kb XML to contend with instead of a multi GB library file. Never have had an XML that couldn't be utilized. Not so with a Library.

noah.leon wrote:

...now the Library will open, but when I open the project file within the main event, it hangs on the loading screen for a huge amount of time, until I force-quit it..

Open the library, make sure the project is not set to open automatically -- IOW open some other project. Without opening your main project file, select it in the sidebar, then export a project XML. 

Create a new test library, and import the project XML to that library. 

If that does not work, make sure you have a file-level backup of the current library. If the library uses only external media and contains no cache or transcoded files it will be quite small and can be easily duplicated in Finder. If it contains cache or other transcoded files, first delete those via File>Delete Generated Library Files>Delete Render Files>All. Turn off background rendering in FCP preferences. After doing that, duplicate the library in Finder to manually create a backup copy. That ensures that the current state (whether good or bad) can be recovered following subsequent troubleshooting.

Make sure you have at least 20% free space on all drives, including the system volume. All drives and external volumes should either be Mac OS Extended Journaled or APFS, not ExFAT, NTFS or anything else.

If it worked (at least partially) when using your travel drive but not the main drive, try plugging back in the travel drive and don't use the main drive. 

Verify that FCP has full disk access on your machine. In Mac System Preferences>Privacy & Security>Full Disk Access, verify that FCP is enabled for that.

Double check that all drives are working properly. Run Blackmagic Disk Test on each drive and ensure the performance is as expected. If using any external USB SSD drives, use only the original OEM thick cable, do not use any USB hub or other cable.

If the above method of exporting/importing the project XML does not work, and after making a library backup you could try the undocumented project repair procedure. Select the project, then while holding the OPT key, select Clip>Verify & Repair Project. That is not guaranteed to work but it's worth a try.

Apple Silicon will not normally run x86 FCP plugins. Some customers have forced FCP to run in Rosetta2 emulation to continue using x86 plugins. Verify you are not doing that.

If none of those steps work and FCP still hangs trying to open the project file, while it is hung take a spindump and send me the file. This describes the overall procedure; do this for the hung FCP process: support.kaspersky.com/15226

 Zip the spindump file and send it to me here:  www.transferbigfiles.com/dropbox/joema

Thank you all for the tips.

I DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM! But have yet to figure out a solution.

Background: I have been using iZotope plugins for many years without any problems. Recently I switched to the M1 processor and was delighted to find that the plugins run in emulation (using the AUHostingCompatibilityService, see screenshot here: files.moosefuel.media/s/Ntfkk3d2F9T4Xmo )

Something changed, some cache somewhere is full or something, because ONLY FOR THIS LIBRARY the projects will not load if these audio plugins are installed (in /Library/Audio ). Other projects from the past that use these plugins still load fine with the plugins installed. This is why even the backups of my main documentary library won't load.

I thought it might be a problem with the M1 so I tried it on my Intel Mac Mini, and it has the same behavior. It won't open the project while these plugins (specifically the "RX Denoise" plugin from the RX8 Elements package) are installed. However, other projects that use this plugin load fine. It really is just a friendship gone bad between FCPX and the RX Denoise plugin. Nothing had changed on my machine in terms of software updates, so I don't know how to fix it other than not using the plugins.

I disabled the plugins (so FCP would load), copied just the Project files I absolutely need into a new Library and re-enabled the plugins, and I can at least load the sequences. FCP will open them but is very slow.

Full disclosure, iZotope don't recommend using their plugins with FCPX for various reasons, but I haven't had a problem before today. Also, iZotope plugins are the best for denoising, if anyone has an alternative that is as good I would be very happy to hear about it.

Thanks again for the help and I will for sure try the XML backup procedure from user VTC as it sounds reliable. I had a hunch that it was an audio plugin causing my woes, and this goes to show that you should always trust your hunches. Please let me know if you have a different plugin or any more ideas on how to get this one working again.

Alternatives for Denoising are Accusonus and Crumplepop. Both sold through FXFactory.

Adding iZotope and FCPX
support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/articles/36...thin-Final-Cut-Pro-X

See the bottom of this article as well.
support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/articles/36...pple-Final-Cut-Pro-X

noah.leon wrote:

....I have been using iZotope plugins for many years without any problems. Recently I switched to the M1 processor and was delighted to find that the plugins run in emulation (using the AUHostingCompatibilityService...Something changed, some cache somewhere is full or something, because ONLY FOR THIS LIBRARY the projects will not load if these audio plugins are installed (in /Library/Audio ). Other projects from the past that use these plugins still load fine with the plugins installed....

According to iZotope those are not supposed to work on Apple Silicon:

support.izotope.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052231634

"ARM Silicon Chips: All iZotope products will require an update to be compatible with the new hardware. We’d recommend waiting for official compatibility before installing. Check back in on this article for compatibility updates as they become available."

The fact it used to sort of work is no guarantee it will continue working. E.g, a certain jet airliner might fly OK for two years, then a previously-existing problem causes a crash. With complex entities such as software or aircraft, problems may only arise under specific conditions which are difficult to recognize (esp. for software).

The main limitation on in-process plugins is Rosetta cannot emulate those. They must run out of process, which means the plugin framework must support that. In the case of FCP, the FXPlug 4 framework is still apparently being polished, but some plugin developers have already delivered native Apple Silicon versions.

There is a separate AU plugin framework which supports some out-of-process plugins. Apparently the Apple Silicon version of MacOS has a native host process called AUHostingService which loads native Apple Silicon AU plugins. There is also one intended for x86 AU plugins called AUHostingCompatibilityService. I don't know if that was intended just for Logic plugins or for FCP.

However if you search on AUHostingCompatibilityService, you will see many people reporting various problems.

In general I would recommend using iZotope RX as a stand alone app. I myself use RX8 Advanced and just round-trip the files. It is cumbersome but it exposes the full power of RX. I don't have an Apple Silicon Mac to try RX8 on but it would probably work better than the plugin method.

Re other non-iZotope audio plugins, I don't know which work best with FCP on Apple Silicon.

It is possible for small software developers to quickly port complex plugins to Apple Silicon and use the FXPlug 4 interface. Neat Video and Digital Anarchy have already ported native Apple Silicon versions, and they work very well.

Thanks Joema for your good response.

Yes I was thinking it was an Apple Silicon problem also, which is why as I mentioned I tried it on my Intel machine. It had the same behaviour.

Yes, I do usually use iZotope RX as a standard app whenever I can, i guess I got too comfortable on this project using the plugin. Definitely back to using the app next. The reason I prefer it as a plugin is that I can adjust in the chain of plugins (Linear EQ, for example) where it appears.

What I ended up doing for this project is going back to RX 7 (which I also have a license for). It also slows down FCP a bit, same as RX 8, but for now it is still working, and I know what to do if it ever stops again. This is a temporary fix until I find a better solution, as I don't want to re-do ALL the audio in this project.

My problem with some of the other solutions I've tried in the past is that they introduce a wierd, warbly, underwater background noise to the sound, which I can't stand.

I have a friend with a recording studio who was considering moving to the M1 but I advised him to stay with Intel for now until the plug-ins he needs go native. It could be a long wait, though.

Thanks again for your help. If I find something as good as iZotope that runs natively and in FCP I will try to remember to report back.