Linking to wrong clips

Thanks for the help with this!

After investigating it turns out that the media was in the correct location in ProTools in the AAF X2Pro had created but it wasn't in Logic. This is an issue with Logic when same named assets are used in an AAF.

Dear Jesse,

We have downloaded the clips you provided, and will investigate.

Yours sincerely

James

Ok, I updated to High Sierra and FPCX 10.4.3, and output an 1.8 FCPXML, and it seems to be doing the same thing with the same clips. I don't have the ability to test all these in Protools, so I'm using Logic. But when I was in the protools studio it seemed to be the same. This time, I even noticed that one of the clips I sent you starts out with sound from the wrong clip, and then switches to the correct sound halfway through the clip!!! I have no idea if that behavior is happening in Protools as well, I only noticed it in Logic.

This XML was made from a timeline that hadn't been prepped the way the previous one was, this one still had all the video clips and transitions in the timeline when I exported the XML. I don't know how important that really is, but it's not seeming to make a difference with this issue one way or another.

I really don't know what to do next...

I think I'll try to delete all the video, export a clean XML, and take it to the local protools studio tomorrow for another test.

It's worth noting, the same clip swapping seems to happen in both Protools and Logic. Although confusingly, making an AAF with and without trim handles seems to have some effect on how many mistakes come through. But from what you are saying, I'd suspect its a problem with the XML, then. OK, I'm going to start uploading.

OK, thanks, sending some over, it will take a while to upload, internet here is not great.

Dear Jesse,

Thoughts here are either:

FCPX is generating an invalid xml (it is rare but it has happened, hence our request to see if you could generate from a higher version of FCPX and XML).

Or

X2Pro is generating a good AAF but ProTools is getting confused by the conflicting clip names, as essentially X2Pro should not have a problem with duplicate file names as we don't use the file name internally as any sort of identifier.

We need to somehow reproduce what you are seeing in our lab here. Would you be able to upload (I will forward a separate mail with details of our ftp site) two of the clips which have the same name, and you see this issue in Pro Tools with.

Yours Sincerely

James

It's not really possible, because I'm on location in India, with only one computer, which is running Sierra. No one is using FCPX here, half of them are still trying to make FCP7 work. And I stopped updating when I got deeper into the edit on this project last year, as it's a four-year documentary with 10 Tb of footage and multiple complex versions.

Using Arctic Whiteness Final Cut Library Manager, I was able to track down all the clips with Duplicate filenames, about 57 total.

My idea has been to consolidate the project onto a new drive in a library containing only the used media, go through and individually rename the clips in the finder, and then update the Alias names inside the Library Package and re-export. I did a small test on a new three-clip project, and the new names seemed to come through. But I just tried a few clips in the main project, and they are still coming across as "Clip 1.1" etc.

Dear Jesse,

Apologies for the delay in getting back, would you be able to re-import the XML into a newer version of FCPX (i.e 10.4.3) and as a test try to relink, and export as 1.8 version XML.

Please advise.

Yours sincerely

James

Sorry for posting in the wrong section, this should have been in problem reports.

I am trying to export a 76 min feature documentary for the first time, and early on in the process the naming convention wasn't looked after, and I made the huge mistake of not batch renaming before import to FCPX (I've never sent to Protools before, and it's not an issue within FCPX), so there are quite a few clips from the first year of shooting that have the same filename in the finder (NINJABLD_S001_S001_T016 for example, or even Clip #3, if it was shot internally). In the AAF X2Pro is getting confused and often swapping the audio from one shot to another. Is there anything I can do?? I know people say never to rename the source clips in the finder after import, but I'm really in a bad position, and the sound post house wanted me to send them the AAF several days ago at this point. Could I rename the problem clips one by one in the finder, and relink in FCPX before the XML output? I tried renaming one clip in the finder as a test, but it didn't seem to work, the new AAF I make from an XML output after the change is still showing the original file name, and still getting confused. It seems to only be affecting camera audio, because the sound guy was renaming his stuff correctly, but it isn't all dual system, and quite a bit of the camera audio is essential.

I've been making the AAF with the tracks included internally and tried both trimming with six second handles, and not trimming at all. Each time I make an AAF from the FCPXML, it seems to actually reference different clips, and different camera audio will be incorrect.

Examples:

at 01:00:07:23 the first clip that comes in NINJABLD_S001_S001_T041 is sometimes correct, sometimes replaced with a clip of a cellphone ringing from.

at 01:00:36:10 the camera audio of the dog in the alley- Clip #2 is sometimes replaced with loud traffic from the shot with the same name at 01:09:04:03 And sometimes the shots from Clip #2 in that other scene are replaced with audio from a Clip #2 somewhere else.

at 01:18:04:00 NINJABLD_S001_S001_T018 is often swapped with another clip

at 01:48:15:13 Clip #9 is replaced with a different section from the Clip #9 at 02:04:56:02

Of course, there are a lot more examples. Also, sometimes the duration of the clip changes when they are swapped out as well.

What are my options?

MAC OS 10.12.6
FCPX 10.3.4
Testing in Protools (unknown version, brought it to a local studio to check the AAF)
And Logic 10.4.1 just for clarity

Additionally, the Track (Role) names didn't seem to transfer to Pro Tools, although they are showing up in Logic. I tried the work around you mention in the "known issue" section, but as someone else in the forum said, I can't understand how to open an FCPXML in Wave Agent, it doesn't seem to be possible.

It's urgent, as I am holding up the post process at this point.

Thanks!!