OH EMM GEE!!! (.MOV Files)

So, after finishing editing my movie, and then exporting it in QuickTime .MOV format, I decided to delete all my files (like the video footage I exported from my camera and any saved files i had). I didn't need it anymore.

I already exported it as a final video, and I even saved it on a disc. Now I just ran into a problem.

The .MOV file I have of my movie does not work. I'm starting to believe it is because I deleted all my FCP files and footage, cause well, it took up like 200 gigs.

Does this mean the movie file i burned to a disc does not work? And WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

I am freaking out right now.

Also, when I open the file, QuickTime just freezes saying, "Loading Movie". I swear, this never happened to me before, even when I did this in school.

In school, I would export the video via QuickTime, and then transfer it to an external hard drive. and it worked just fine.

so WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? im freaking out cuz this film i made was for film festivals and i just shipped the movie to the festivals and i paid so much money to submit.

okay... im like freaking right now.

never mind. i just found the problem. apparently it's missing some crucial file for the video to play properly...

WOW. ***? so *** is the point of exporting it as a .MOV if it needs some file to run in the first place?

HOW CAN YOU SEND IT TO FESTIVALS IF IT NEEDS A FILE TO PLAY?! ***!?!?!?!?

SO BASICALLY I JUST WASTED $60 FOR NOTHING!!!! AND NOW I WON'T BE ABLE TO BE PART OF THE FESTIVAL WITH MY MOVIE!!! RAAAAAGEE!!!!

IF THE MOVIE DOES NOT WORK ON MY COMP, CHANCES ARE THE FILE I BURNED ON DISC WON'T WORK EITHER!

wow....

SimplyFresh said:

so *** is the point of exporting it as a .MOV if it fuking needs some file to run in the first place?

Click to expand...

User error.

The only time I'm aware of a .mov file requiring another file is when you've created a reference file. Odd thing is that you indicated that your export was 200MB. Usually those files are very small because all they do is point to other files.

If you used File-->Export-->'QuickTime Movie...' and did not choose 'Make Movie Self Contained', then you created a reference movie. What I'm not sure about this process is if scenes that require rendering will be and placed into the reference while others that don't only get a reference.

If you still have the FCP project file and the original material, then you should be able to re-import the material and create a proper output version. I've never had to do that so don't know the work flow. I'm sure the manual can tell you how.

Help

When I open up my video editing (CS4) software and the software doesn't find the files it shows as "media offline." I am also able to find the files on the computer and link it to the offline media. This has helped me in the past when parts of my video projects were deleted.

Julie

As mentioned, if you have exported the Quicktime movie as a self-contained file, it will not need the other media files that it was made from to make the movie. If you exported it as a referenced movie, the original elements need to be in their original locations in order to play the movie.