Project Or Sequence Won't Open

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There are a few possible reasons for this problem.

1. Trying to open the project in an earlier version of Final Cut Pro than the version the project was created (i.e. trying to open a FCP 5 project in FCP 4). We'll cover this issue in the next article Opening A Project In An Earlier Version Of Final Cut Pro.

2. Project file has become corrupt

3. Media file or files have become corrupt

Corrupt Media File(s)

If the project (or a sequence) won't open, this likely points to a corrupt project or corrupt media.

• If it’s a media problem (corrupt media file or files) the issue is potentially fixable.

• If it’s a corrupt project file, the issue is not fixable- at the present time, there is no known way to recover an edit from a corrupt project.

If a project won't open, the first thing to try is taking your media drives offline (powering them down and/or disconnecting them) and then try opening the project. If it opens, the edit can be retrieved as this likely points to corrupt media, not a corrupt project.

If its media, now its time to figure out which is the bad media and good media by reconnecting media until media won't reconnect- this is likely the bad or corrupt media. Another way to determine which may be the bad media is to open your media files into QuickTime Player, one at a time, until you reach the bad media.

For more detailed instructions, as well as determining whether it’s a corrupt sequence or corrupt media and how to resolve the issue, there is a great article at kenstone.net by Scott Barbour: Restoring A Corrupt Final Cut Pro Project:  http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/restore_corrupted_project.html

Preventing Project Corruption

To try and prevent project file corruption, many long time Final Cut Pro editors have used a technique that has been very successful: doing a "Save Project As" and doing this procedure often. Every day (or week at the most), when saving your project, don't just save back into the same project file. Instead choose File > Save Project As. When saving, choose a new name, like adding a version number to the name.

For example, your project is originally titled "Through The Woods.fcp". When doing the first save as, name it "Through The Woods_v2.fcp". Each day, increment the project name in the same fashion.