Frequently Asked Questions
Is the exported Excel workbook compatible with spreadsheet applications like Apple Numbers?
Yes. The exported .xlsx workbook follows the standard Excel file format, so it opens directly in Apple's Numbers, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and other spreadsheet applications that support .xlsx files, without requiring any conversion.
How is the Mac app different from the CLI?
Production Data brings the full breadth of OpenFCPXMLKit's Excel reporting into a native, graphical macOS interface. Options that are set via command-line flags in the CLI, such as choosing which report sheets to include, applying column exclusions, selecting a timecode format, filtering by timeline, and enabling PDF export or sheet protection, are instead presented as straightforward, toggleable controls within the app, alongside conveniences like drag-and-drop input.
The CLI remains free and open source for terminal-based workflows and is, in effect, OpenFCPXMLKit itself. As Production Data is built directly on top of this same engine, the underlying reporting is identical between the two; the choice is simply a matter of interface.
Is there a trial version of Production Data?
There is currently no dedicated trial version of Production Data. However, prospective users are welcome to download the latest CLI build from OpenFCPXMLKit, the open-source engine that powers the application. This allows you to export and generate an Excel spreadsheet directly from the CLI tool, with full documentation and usage guidance provided within the repository. The spreadsheet produced via the CLI is identical in output to the one generated by Production Data itself, so if you are satisfied with the results using your own FCPXML files, you can proceed to purchase Production Data with confidence.
I do not wish to purchase Production Data.
That is entirely understandable. You are welcome to continue using the CLI tool free of charge for as long as it suits your needs.
I have purchased Production Data and am not satisfied with it. Can I request a refund?
Apple provides a mechanism for requesting refunds on App Store purchases. Please refer to the steps outlined on Apple's official support pages to submit your request.
What kind of timelines are supported in Production Data?
Production Data facilitates extraction from any conceivable timeline such as Projects and Compound Clips.
Why are entries like Markers or Keywords listed twice?
This is expected behaviour rather than a fault. For an A/V clip, a report intentionally generates one row per component role, so a single marker or keyword attached to a clip with both a Video role and a Music role, for instance, will appear as two separate rows, one for each role. This ensures that the role breakdown remains accurate and complete, rather than collapsing distinct roles into a single, less informative entry.
Why do Timeline Out and Source Out show the last visible frame?
Timeline Out and Source Out report the last included, visible frame — the same Mark Out style used in Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Timeline Duration still reports the clip’s duration on the timeline.
Because Out is the last visible frame rather than an exclusive end time, you should not assume that Out − In equals Duration in SMPTE arithmetic. This applies to both the Excel workbook and the optional PDF report.
Role Inventory Source Duration and Clip Duration follow the spans actually used on retimed clips and container shells — see the questions below.
Why is Source Duration shorter on a retimed clip?
This is expected behaviour rather than a fault. On Role Inventory sheets, Source Duration and Source Out report the source span the clip actually consumes, not the full source file and not a copy of the timeline duration.
For example, a clip retimed to 50.0% that occupies 8s 20f on the timeline consumes about 4s 10f of source. The Role Inventory Speed Change Settings column (when enabled under Export Options) shows that retime percent; Source Duration / Source Out follow the same consumed span.
Why is Clip Duration not the full length of the source file?
This is expected behaviour rather than a fault. Clip Duration reports the portion used on the timeline. An audio or video shell that only plays part of a longer file is bounded to that visible span, rather than listing the entire source length.
Summary uses the same timeline-bounded durations. If you exclude Timeline Out or Clip Duration under Columns, the Role Inventory Total footer is omitted entirely.
Why does Speed Change Effects list the same clip more than once?
This is expected behaviour rather than a fault. Speed Change Effects writes one row per timeline usage. If the same retimed source appears several times on the timeline, each usage is listed separately, with speed as media span divided by timeline span.
Each of those rows also carries a Role ▸ Subrole (the same style as Video & Audio Effects — typically Video, or Dialogue for audio-only hosts). Disabling that role on the Roles panel therefore omits the matching Speed Change Effects rows as well.
See
Why does loading FCPXML take a long time / appear hung?
On large or complex timelines this is expected rather than a freeze. Watch the Roles or Extract footer for Loading roles…. That pass only builds the roles list; starting the export then walks the project again to write Excel, and PDF if enabled.
Leave Create PDF Report off for large jobs — the PDF can run to thousands of pages and can be impractical to open in Preview.
See Production Data appears hung while loading FCPXML / Roles take a long time.
Why does disabling a role affect other sheets too?
Disabling a role on the Roles panel does not only affect Role Inventory. Matching Role ▸ Subrole rows are also omitted from the other role-bearing sheets — Markers, Keywords, Titles & Generators, Video & Audio Effects, Speed Change Effects, and Summary. This is expected: the same role filter is applied across every role-bearing sheet, so a disabled dialogue or VFX role does not linger on those worksheets.
Role exclusion affects role-bearing sheets only. Transitions, Non-Standard Effects & Templates, and Media Summary are not filtered by disabled roles.
Long role names may appear truncated on per-role Excel inventory tabs (Excel’s 31-character sheet-name limit). Disabling that truncated Roles entry still omits the matching full-length Role ▸ Subrole rows on Selected Roles Inventory and the other role-bearing sheets. On Video & Audio Effects, exclusion also matches full inventory Role ▸ Subrole names, bare main-role fields, and raw Final Cut Pro role ids.
If you need those Marker, Effects, or Summary rows back, enable the role again on the Video or Audio tab, update the active Configuration, and export once more.
Why is there no Workflow Extension for Production Data?
Incorporating a Final Cut Pro Workflow Extension into Production Data would not, in practice, unlock any meaningfully new capability for spreadsheet generation. There are two principal reasons for this decision.
Firstly, a Workflow Extension would introduce a considerable degree of additional complexity to the Production Data codebase, requiring ongoing maintenance to remain compatible with Final Cut Pro's own extension framework and any changes Apple may introduce to it over time. This added burden does not correspond to a proportionate benefit for the user.
Secondly, and more fundamentally, the core function of Production Data does not require it. Users are already able to drag and drop their .fcpxmld or .fcpxml file directly onto Production Data's Export panel or its Dock icon, achieving effectively the same outcome with no meaningful difference in convenience or speed. A Workflow Extension would, at best, offer a marginally more integrated point of entry from within Final Cut Pro itself, but would not alter the underlying export process or the quality of the resulting spreadsheet in any material way.
For these reasons, the existing drag-and-drop approach is considered the most sensible and sustainable path, offering users a straightforward experience without unnecessarily expanding the scope or complexity of the application.
Does Production Data support Intel-based Macs?
No. Production Data is built and optimised exclusively for Apple Silicon.
Why is Production Data only available on the latest macOS versions?
Production Data is compatible exclusively with the current and preceding major release of macOS, owing to Apple's policy of restricting new software features and frameworks to their most recent operating system releases. Whilst these features may technically function on older systems, Apple provides no official support for such compatibility, which presents considerable challenges for developers who must then choose between implementing extensive workarounds or confining support to the most current OS versions.
As an independent developer, we have elected to support only the current and immediately preceding major release of macOS, so as to avoid the complexities and time-consuming nature of such workarounds. This is a matter of practicality and efficiency, and is in no way a reflection of any lack of effort or dedication on our part.
Does Production Data replace Production's Best Friend?
Production Data is best understood as a lightweight alternative rather than a direct replacement for Production's Best Friend. It is powered by OpenFCPXMLKit, a free and open-source, experimental FCPXML parsing engine. As the framework is experimental and it is impossible to test against every edge case or the full complexity of real-world timelines, its coverage would be narrower than that of Production's Best Friend. That said, owing to its open-source nature, the parsing and reporting modules within OpenFCPXMLKit stand to benefit from user-submitted files over time, which could in turn lead to upstream improvements and future updates to Production Data.
How is Marker Data different from Production Data?
Marker Data and Production Data are two distinct applications, each built to address a different aspect of the Final Cut Pro workflow. Marker Data focuses on extracting a timeline's Marker metadata, along with associated PNGs or animated GIFs, and transmitting it into Notion or Airtable, allowing teams to manage VFX shots, shot collections, comments, and edit notes within a shared, dynamic database. Production Data, by contrast, is concerned with generating structured Excel and PDF reports directly from a timeline's FCPXML, covering role inventories, markers, keywords, effects, and other production data in a single, portable spreadsheet.
Put simply, Marker Data is oriented towards ongoing, collaborative database workflows, while Production Data is oriented towards producing a self-contained, shareable report. Both applications are built on open-source parsing foundations, and depending on your workflow, they can be used independently or alongside one another.
Was AI and LLMs used in the development of Production Data?
Yes, though the extent varied across different parts of the application. The underlying engine, OpenFCPXMLKit, which handles the parsing and reporting logic that powers Production Data, was developed with substantial assistance from various large language models throughout its creation.
The user interface, by contrast, has a more traditional origin. It was built upon the interface of Marker Data, which was originally hand-written. AI and LLM tools were subsequently used to re-wire and repurpose this existing interface for Production Data's specific needs, rather than to author it from scratch.
In short, AI played a meaningful role throughout the development process, though its involvement looked rather different depending on which part of the application you're looking at, more foundational in the engine, and more of a re-wiring aid where existing, hand-written work already existed.
Why is Production Data a paid application?
This is a fair and reasonable question. Generating revenue from application development has never been a particular interest or priority; it has always been, first and foremost, a side project undertaken for workflow experimentation. That said, developing software for the Apple ecosystem carries genuine and ongoing costs, not least the annual Apple Developer Programme fee. Given that OpenFCPXMLKit is provided entirely free of charge and as open-source software, it seemed only fair to position Production Data as a modest paid application, offering the convenience of a polished graphical interface for those users who would rather not engage with the macOS Terminal or are unfamiliar with it.