Best way to Replace/Relink clips

Hi, I would very grateful for any advice, please - I have a 3 min project which primarily features the same clip - which I've already edited alongside a few other elements. Right at the finish line, I've noticed an A/V sync issue on the main clip, which I have been able to correct using Synchonize Clips, however, I'm not sure how best to proceed in replacing the existing, edited clips on the timeline with this new 'fixed' version. What would be best? Re-editing everything from scratch, re-linking, or another method entirely?

If I understand your issue correctly, I think you should just be able to drag the corrected clip from the browser onto the faulty clip in your timeline. BEFORE you release the mouse, as the clip is hovering over your faulty clip, choose "Replace from Start" in the menu that appears.. This will match the duration of the clip in your timeline exactly. You will still need to redo any color correction, grading and/or apply any transitions or effects that you have used in your original clip, but this will be faster than doing the entire edit over from scratch.

Hmm, for me it looks like "Replace from start" just sets the starting point of the clip to the beginning of the edit. It doesnt seem to match timecode.

"Replace from Start" sets the starting point AND matches the duration of the clip you are dropping it onto. Timecode is a completely different issue.

So it seems, that wouldnt help if he has alread edited everything with one clip. Perhaps rename the clip while final cut is closed and then relink with the new one?

The OP said that he wanted to replace the clip on his timeline with the new "fixed clip", so in that case it would help. Clip relinking is very unreliable and almost certainly unlikely to work on a renamed clip.

I can suggest another way...

I took and an A-V clip and opened it, then shifted the audio out of sync. Closed the clip and edited portions of it into a new timeline/Project. Each clip in the timeline was then out of sync on playback.

I went back to the Browser and opened the source clip and fixed the sync. 

Back in the timeline, I moved the playhead over each "subclip" (range) from the source clip, typed Shift-F, then Shift-R. That opened the timeline/Project clip in the Browser, referencing the source clip range used in the timeline, and then replaced the the clip in the timeline with the corrected portion of the source clip.

Pretty fast. No need to move hands off of the keyboard. As Dan mentioned, you'll need to re-color correct the timeline clips, etc. Transitions seem to remain. I guess anything that was linked to the clip has to be re-done.

Sounds good, maybe this could even be a way to replace audio with a new processed one like in Izotope audio editor. Open in av, replace the audio and then replace edit in the timeline?

I am still wondering why relinking is not possible. FCPx seems to be the only Editor where such a basic feature does not work reliably. I have worked with AVID, Premiere and Resolve and its a main feature. 

FinalCutdown wrote:

I am still wondering why relinking is not possible. FCPx seems to be the only Editor where such a basic feature does not work reliably. I have worked with AVID, Premiere and Resolve and its a main feature.

The OP problem was he edited a sync clip into many places of a timeline, then later found the audio and video in that sync clip were out of sync. Sync clips in a timeline do not inherit from the parent sync clip in the browser. Multicam clips *do* inherit. For that reason it is generally preferable to use a multicam clip, even for a single video and single external audio source. If any changes are later needed, you simply edit the parent multicam clip (video, audio or sync), and instantly all ranges of that clip in the timeline will inherit those changes.

This has been covered many times in various posts and tutorials. Eight years ago Sam Mestman emphasized the importance of using multicam clips over sync clips. See article and video on this page:  www.fcpworks.com/sync-or-multicam-clips/

FCP can relink both original and proxy media, but only under safe conditions. Unlike all other NLEs, FCP does not require relinking when files are renamed or relocated within the same disk volume, due to inode lookup. 

There is a valid argument that FCP should provide some override capability for relink. However Resolve has that and it often causes problems. A simple query on the Blackmagic Resolve forum shows 145 posts complaining about various relink problems.