Nested sequences not updating after minor changes (FCP)
 

My whole understanding of nested sequences is that you can make changes to the nested sequence and those changes are automatically reflected in the "master" sequence in which the "sub" sequence is nested. However, I am not experiencing such behaviour... or should i say, i experience it sometimes, and other times not. A change as simple as altering a transition from a cross-dissolve to a Cube Spin... you would think I would see that when I play back the master sequence.

My In/Out points do not change, the sequence length is the same... I am stumped.

I am using FCP 5.1.4

FCP's nest implementation follows the same concept as their clip handling, that being that once a sequence is placed into a timeline it becomes an instance of that sequence reflecting the sequence at the time when it was nested. If you go back and edit the master sequence (from the browser) then you are not editing the nested instance. If you wish to make changes to a nest then you must the nest itself (double click the nest in the timeline to open it).

But that is contrary to what it says, or at least my understanding of what it says, in the FCP user manual (page 418):

I understand what you are saying, and that is -- in practice -- what I have had to do, but only about half of the time. I have seen it behave the way I expect, but not every time.

I am wondering if this is a bug, or if I am missing a step somewhere, or if the is something circumstantial that I am not immediately seeing.

Render
 

Try rendering the master sequence first, the nested one should change after that. My assumption is only certain real-time fx will reflect the changes in a nested sequences without the need for render, while other fx need to be rendered.

*e

The nested seq is supposed to update but doesn't always do it. It's a bug that's been there as long as I can remember and I started w/FCP 3.


-A

I hear you Mike. In my experience nesting in FCP is and always has been flakey in the extreme, and my post reflects the conclusion I have arrived at after running afoul of Apple's dreadful nesting implementation in FCP, that being that if you treat a nest as a sequence instance then you'll be fine, but otherwise not. YMMV.

I'd strongly recommend you provide feedback to Apple on this matter. Squeaky wheels etc. http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html

I experience the same thing with FCS2. If I double click on a nested sequence in the "master" sequence, it will open under a new tab and I can edit as I wish. However, occasionally the changes I make won't appear in the master sequence.

Specifically, when I'm trying to time out a 30 min show and I'm a few seconds light or heavy, I may add something to one of the sequences. When I view the master sequence, it usually shows up. More often than not, it will show up in the master sequence but when I place an in-point at the beginning of the show and an out-point at the end to get the exact length of the show, it still says it's exactly the same length in the canvas window.

So far, the only way I've found to fix it is clear all the sequences from the master and lay them back down again.

Mike,

FCP 5 did have inconsistent behavior with nesting and especially nested audio; I experienced that same issue ad-nauseam to the point that I was ready to ditch the FCP platform altogether.

However since FCP6 I've not had that issue with nesting.

It would be a waste of time to provide feedback on a now unsupported version of FCP since Apple no longer offer tech bulletins or support for it.

This is not accurate. I edit the nested sequence all the time without opening the one that's actually nested and everything updates...you have to render though...

Scott

I am just doing a project that relies on nested sequences a lot, using FCP6, and I have had no issues or surprises at all. Not sure if I'm just lucky, but I had no idea there might be a problem in FCP before reading this thread.

- Martin

Still happening, in 2009
 

I'm encountering this problem - again, and it's 2009 and the problem is still occurring in FCP 6. I remember this happening in FCP 5, and now it's happening again in the latest version of FCS. This is after a render, restart and resave too. Not cool.