I have a very large sequence with multiple nests and layers in FCP. When I export via Compressor from the timeline, certain areas of my final MPEG2 stream get lost to black. This process seems totally random, as it's different on each different encode. My GOP's set to open. When I set in/out points only around those areas that keep screwing up and export them by themselves, they compress just fine. It's when I export my entire 2 hour sequence that problems occur. I really don't want to break it down into small peices, since that would not maximize the efficiency of the variable 2 pass VBR method. What can I do?

Bryan,

My first recommendation is *not* to send the sequence out to Compressor via the timeline but to instead use either a reference movie or, a standalone FC movie file.

Without knowing what version of Compressor/FCP you're using it's difficult to make further suggestions.

I've created a reference movie for it and done it that way, but it doesn't preserve the quality. Also, the advantage if doing it from the timeline is that it FCP automatically adds compression markers at each cut and at the beginning and ends of each transition...

Maybe I should mention that I created these files using an old version of Photoshop Elements on a PC. But why do they encode sometimes and sometimes not?