P2 clip says "incomplete" next to it. What does that mean?

J

Johnny Bueno

Active member
Hey all,

I was under the impression that when one clip begins recording on one card in slot 1 and stops recording on the other card in slot 2 that the clip will say "spanned" next to it in the log and transfer window. I shot a wedding last week and i write protected my cards and then opened them up in the log and transfer window in FCP. A couple of clips say "spanned" next to it which i assume that the clip is split between the 2 cards(please correct me if I'm wrong) and a few of the other clips say "incomplete" next to them. What does that mean when it says "incomplete"? And why would it say that? what did I do to cause that? Thanks for any help and clarification.

Johnny
 
A spanned clip could be a long clip that has gone over the FAT32 file size limit. I think the limit is 4GB. This could be on just one card. A spanned clip could of course also be because the clips has been recorded across two or more cards. The incomplete message could be because a portion of the clip has been lost or it's on another card, however, there is another reason that throws up the 'incomplete' message.

Sometimes (very rarely) the cameras for some reason fail to close a clip when recording stops. This doesn't necessarily mean that data is lost but it would result in the 'incomplete' message.

There is a menu item within the camera for repairing a clip in such a situation.

Try this. I hope your clip is all there. Good luck

Dean
 
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You could try importing the clips into FCP (if it will allow incomplete clips) and seeing if they match up to create one clip on the timeline.

If you know the clips to be from one long clip, do they all have the same file name? They should if they are spanned clips.

If you ever try to import clips one card at a time you will get the 'incomplete' message. However, when you 'marry' the incomplete clips (with the same filename) back together on the timeline they match, frame perfect.

I know this is a pain and that FCP should stitch spanned clips back together but we all know how temperamental computers and software can be and sometimes we just have to find workarounds that move us forward.

Dean
 
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Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah, my clips that say "incomplete" where all recorded as one long clip. They where on one card. I never stopped recording and it was one big 20 minute clip but it has been divided for some reason into 2-3 clips that all say incomplete next to them. But each clip is a continuation of each other of the long clip. Sorry if that doesn't make sense. So is this normal? or did I do something wrong to cause this? and how do I prevent this from happening? Thanks again for the help.

Johnny
 
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P2 cards are formatted FAT32 which has a maximum file size limit of (I think) 4GB. This means that if you record a long clip that is bigger than 4GB it will be split into files up to 4GB in size. Then, when you come to transfer the footage to your computer the software should recognise that the individual files are from the same clip and stitch them back together.

It sounds like your P2 driver may be out of date or you are using an older version of FCP. Try downloading the latest driver and see if that helps.

Dean
 
I Have a similar problem, can someone please help!

When I tried to log and transfer some footage into FCP 7 a couple clips would not allow me to transfer because the were spanned or partial spanned. I renamed the clip on the log and transfer window and then my clip on the P2 card went grey, had an X over it and I couldn't see the clip. I used the clip (loop repair) function (as the normal clip repair option wasn't available) and I got back only 20 minutes of the clip with an exclamation point with a purple background in the upper right of the clip. When I did the loop repair did it possibly give the clip a different MXF file name? About an hour is missing from the clip and if I can't get it back it's going to cost me $700. Did I possibly corrupt the MXF file or is the clips not spanned correctly between the cards now because of the rename? Please Help! I need this clip to be restored to the original.

Panasonic HVX200 with 2 64gb P2 cards
Mac Pro - Leapord OSX 10.5.8
Final Cut Pro 7
 
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