Export/Mastering Problems
 

Hey guys,

I'm attempting to master(export) a program that is exactly 30 minutes 55 seconds in length from Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 out to an XDCAM Disc using an F350 as my deck.

Everytime I do so I get an error that reads:


EXPORT FAILED

Please check that your XDCAM device is set up
correctly and that the REC INHIBIT indicator is off

The device should be configured like this:

Video: MPEG HD 60i. Audio 4 ch x 16 bit

Quicktime error reading movie (-2015)


The error only occurs once the mastering process has reached 100 percent on the XDCAM Exporter, so the really frustrating part is that it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to the point where I can test out different things.

I have successfully mastered shorter pieces back to disc using the same timeline (just duplicated), but it seems that anything over about 10 minutes causes an error. Is there some kind of time limit on length of an output?

This is driving me crazy as I have another 6 timelines to get through after this first one! Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks guys!

Jeremy Spruston

First thing to check. When you put the new disc for formatting into the F350, did you make sure that the camera was set for exactly the same settings you were trying to export to? For example 60i, 24p etc.

Thanks Simon,

Sure did. As I said, I have been successful mastering from the same timeline. My test was to reduce its length down to about 8-9 minutes and try the export again. It's an XDCAMHD 60i 29.97 timeline (with the 4 audio tracks set to dual mono) with matching settings on the camera.

It just seems to stop working if it is over a certain length. I can't imagine why it wouldn't record something 30 minutes in length. I have shot contiunously to the camera for longer than that.

So, just to clarify, the first 8 minutes or so is being successfully recorded to the disc?

Is it a new disc, or a previously used disc?

Definitely a new disc.... think I figured out the problem though. It wasn't actually an XDCAM problem, more of a Final Cut Pro problem. I narrowed it down to one particular clip in my sequence that had a 3-Way Color Correction filter on it. As it turns out, that clip must have had a corrupted render file. After re-rendering that particular piece, the timeline mastered to the disc perfectly.

Had me in a bit of a panice there for a while though!

Thanks for your suggestions Simon.

So, you outputted a new quicktime, brought it back into the timeline
and then exported to XDCAM DISC?

Hmmmm... that's a good idea Rob. Didn't even think of that one!

I actually went back and re-rendered my effects, but exporting the timeline would probably be quicker and accomplish the same thing. I'm experiencing the problem with another timeline, so I'll try out that idea and let you know how it works.

Thanks for the idea.

Hmmm... well this problem continues to confound me. I thought I had it figured all out, but it seems like it is a totally random error! I got one of my timelines mastered but now the next one is giving me the same error and the fix I used for the first (re-rendering files) one doesn't seem to work.


Has anybody else encountered this problem or this quicktime (-2015) error? This is driving me crazy!

try checking the "Recompress all frames" checkbox in the exporter window
that has done the trick for me when export errors have cropped up.

Are you sure your scratch disks and/or xdcam export scratch disks are not full or close to full. Recompress all frames will force FCP to render everything adding a extra compression artifacts to clips that don't need to be re-rendered.

Well in essence thats correct, but even more puzzling is that, in the case of XDCAM HD, which must necessarily be re-conformed to the MPEG2 GOP structure, each frame is always recalculated anyway (thats why it takes so damn long to conform) so why checking this box should help is beyond me. For export of DV I could beter understand why it should help but for MPEG HD ... anyone?

Nonetheless, just in case my post was unclear, I'll say again ... I have found that checking the "Recompress all frames" checkbox will often solve the problem of failed exports if and when all other logical steps to remedy the problem have been exhausted

As ever, YMMV.

Cheers
Andy

XDcam Errors
 

I have had similiar problems as explained. Found in my crash logs that the Sony App is causing this problem. I'm wondering if there is a 2 Gig file limit on the files... I've been successful in get 8 minutes to disk just not anything over that. Also remeber that it exports the entire timeline. Not just your in/out points. So you may have to have a timeline with only 8 minutes of footage in it.

Hope this helps.

This problem is absolutely KILLING me... I've definitely narrowed it down to some kind of render file error. After deleting all of my render files and then re-rendering the whole timeline I got another one to master properly. Unfortunately that's a pretty time consuming process and I've got a ton more to go.

Andy: I'll give that "Recompress all Frames" idea a shot. It just sucks that I have to export and then re-import a timeline to make it work. This is the first time the XDCAM workflow has been slower than working with good ol' digital video.

Alistair: I've tried different disks as my scratch with varying amounts of free space... I'll give that one a try again as well though.

Jeff: I have been successful getting longer programs to master (Up to 31 minutes) so it's definitely not a time issue. At first I thought it may be, but I narrowed it down to specific portions of my timeline which would not master regardless of the length (i.e. I took those specific portions and put them into a new sequence and tried mastering them and had the same error).

Thanks for all the suggestions guys... I'll keep plugging away at this.

I just had the same problem as Jeff. I have a project with many episodes of a series and I just put to disc 3 episodes and one of them exported only 8 minutes. The other two were complete (30 minutes). I am going to try again tomorrow, but just letting you know that it happened to me as well after 8 minutes and I am as well just as perplexed as you.

I was just hoping that after a year since the last message, maybe someone has an answer.