FCP Says The File Is Not There, But It Is!

Question

FCP Says The File Is Not There, But It Is!

FCP is giving me the dreaded red Missing Media screen for a file that is NOT missing. This is what I see in the Project list:

Note that there is no yellow check mark by the "missing" project file.

If I look at the video clip in the browser, I see this:

The clip is there and will play properly in the browser.

If I look at the timeline, I see this:

The clip is there and the thumbnails appear properly. However, if I play the clip from the timeline, the audio plays properly, but the video is just this:

I have tried re-linking the file to no avail. If I choose to look at ALL the media on the re-link screen, I see the file there, along with the other files used in this project. If I choose to look at only MISSING media in the re-link screen, the clip does not appear.

I have shut down and re-started the Mac.

I have shut down and re-started FCP.

No joy.

I have never run into this before. What's wrong and how do I fix it??

Posted on Oct 21, 2025 1:18 PM

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Answer 1

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Old_Video_Guy Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 21, 2025 1:32 PM in response to Old_Video_Guy

I just solved my own problem. This was caused by a missing EFFECT.

In the original edit I used a Sharpener effect on this old SD footage. Outside of Final Cut, I had re-arranged some of the effect files and copied them to a folder where I copied many other effects that I use on a regular basis. So far, so good, except that when it came to this particular Sharpener effect, I evidently MOVED it instead of COPYING it. Once I turned off that missing effect, the video behaved normally and all was back to normal.

Whew!

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