Imported EDL into FCP, but reconnected media loses original timecode

[Thomas Torrey]

I exported an EDL from Premiere Pro and imported it into FCP 6. That went fine and FCP reconfigured my timeline just like it looked in Premiere. It imported my source file names into my bin, and had their respective timecodes and other details correct. Of course, the files were offline and I was prompted to reconnect the media.

The files are all AVI files, which is what Premiere uses and which I realize are not "optimized" for FCP. When I reconnect each AVI to its corresponding filename in my bin I get an error from FCP saying: "Some attributes of the file you chose did not match the original... The attributes that differed are: Media start and end time; reel; number of audio and video tracks."

If I click "connect" I can successfully reconnect my AVI media to my FCP bin files, but, as the error states, the media start and end times are erased pushing back every AVI file to begin at 00;00;00. This of course ruins the use of my EDL-imported timeline because all my edits are wrong, which makes the whole thing useless.

QUESTION: is there a way to reattribute the correct timecode start and end times to my imported AVI files? (I've tried converting from AVI to MOV with Compressor, and it loses the original timecode).

Any help of resolving my issue is appreciated.

Thanks

Thomas

[Robert Lane]

The only way (that I'm aware of) to successfully transfer clips and retain TC and other main data-specific code is to use Automatic Duck, otherwise FCP will take control of the clip and assign it new meta-data.

[Bart Walczak]

No good news from me either. I tried the same thing and failed. Automatic Duck is pretty expensive unfortunately.

[Thomas Torrey]

I found a workable (albeit not ideal) solution to my above problem. I share it here in case others will benefit. The below is sufficient if Automatic Duck is too expensive, or if it will take days to reconstruct a new edit from scratch. The method below will take time (and some monotonous work), but depending on the length of your timeline and number of edits, it could be done within an afternoon.

1) Import EDL into FCP which was exported from Premiere

2) Uncheck "make file names unique" in the EDL import pop up window

3) A new sequence is generated with your Premiere edits, and all the media (which will be AVI files) are put into your master bin off line.

4) Reconnect the media. If your AVI files are grayed out and you are unable to click on them to reconnect, uncheck "match name and reel only".

5) FCP will reconnect your AVI files to their corresponding file names in your bin. You will be warned that the media is not optimized for FCP and that some data will be lost. This is fine, click continue to reconnect.

6) Upon the reconnect FCP loses the Media Start/End timecode, and will reset each source file in your bin to 00:00:00;00. What FCP will do, which will help our process, is to adjust the in/out timecode of each edit (which is preserved) on the timeline, which compensates for the Media reset. For some reason, however, during the reconnect, the timecode for my edits is off. I determined that each clip was off by 00:01:14;16. With this information, I can manually reattribute new in/out points to my timeline clips, thus saving me from the work of building a new edit from scratch.

7) Right click on a clip in your timeline that you want to adjust. Under "item properties / timing" note that clip's In Point and Duration.

8) Using this great Timecode Calculator:
http://chxo.com/scripts/pTCcalc.php
Add 00:01:14;16 (this assumes that your clips are offset by the same margin as mine; if not, determine your own offset amount) to the amount of your clip's In Point. This will you give you a new, adjusted In Point.

9) Double click on the corresponding source file in your bin. In the top right of the canvas window enter in your new In Point timecode.

10) In the top left of the canvas window enter in the Duration amount for the clip. This will automatically make an Out Point at the right spot. You should now have your new, adjusted clip as it was originally edited in Premiere.

11) making sure your timeline marker is located at the beginning of the clip you have been working on (press the up or down arrow to jump between edits), press F10 which is the "Overwrite Edit" button. Your new, adjusted clip will replace the offset one.

12) Repeat this process for each edit and you will reconstructed your whole timeline. It will be long and monotonous, but could be a lot shorter than starting over.

Hope this helps.

Thomas