Troubleshooting

Below, you will find a comprehensive list of common issues users may encounter, accompanied by solutions to resolve them.

If you are still stuck after following these steps, open the logs (Help → Open Logs) and retain the log files from the Logs folder when seeking further help.

How to access the logs in Production Data?

To access the logs for Production Data, navigate to the Help menu and select Open Logs.

This opens the Logs folder in Finder and writes a current snapshot of application activity to productiondata_log.txt. During parse and export, Production Data also writes openfcpxmlkit_log.txt in the same folder.

Failed to export completely

Production Data cannot write the Excel workbook until you choose an export destination.

You will see this when:

• The Extract footer shows Please select! next to Export Folder
• You start an export (drop, Choose File, File → Open…, or Start Export) without a folder selected
• The alert reads Failed to export completely with the message Please select a valid export folder.

On Extract, click the folder control in the footer, or open General Settings → File and choose a destination under Export Destination. Select a folder you can write to (for example on your Mac, an external drive, or a mounted network volume). Confirm the footer no longer shows Please select! — it should display the folder name — then provide your project again, or press Start Export if you are in Manual mode.

Export Folder shows “Missing Folder!”

The footer (and General → File) shows Missing Folder! when a previously chosen destination can no longer be resolved — for example the drive was ejected, the network volume is offline, or the folder was moved or deleted.

Reconnect the drive or volume if it was disconnected, then click the folder control and choose the destination again (or a new one). Right-click the folder control and choose Clear Path if you need to remove the old selection first, then pick a folder again.

Start Export is disabled or greyed out

In Manual mode, Start Export stays disabled until a valid export folder is selected. Set an Export Folder first, then press Start Export.

See also Export Mode.

The export fails with an alert

When an export does not finish successfully, Production Data shows Failed to export completely.

• Press Show Error Details on the alert, or
• Press Show Error Details in the progress footer on Extract

This opens the Failed Tasks window with the file path and the error message for each failure. Use that text when searching this page or when contacting support.

Press Close on the progress footer when you are finished reviewing the result.

Roles tables are empty on launch

The Roles panel stays empty until you load an FCPXML project. Tables appear only after a successful roles session.

Drop an .fcpxml or .fcpxmld file onto Roles or Extract, drag a timeline / compound clip from Final Cut Pro, or use File → Open… (⌘ O). Wait until the Roles footer shows roles loaded from your project, then review the Video and Audio tabs and export — or switch to Extract and press Start Export in Manual mode.

Production Data appears hung while loading FCPXML / Roles take a long time

This is expected on large or complex timelines, not a freeze. Watch the Roles or Extract footer for the green progress ring and Loading roles…. That indicator can remain on screen for a long time. The Dock progress ring appears only during the later export — not while roles are loading — so a still Dock icon during this stage does not mean the application has stopped.

Complex .fcpxml / .fcpxmld files of around 10 MB and above (feature cuts, dense markers or keywords, nested compound clips) will often take a long while to load roles. Smaller files can still be slow when the timeline itself is dense.

Production Data walks the project twice:

1. A roles-only pass, so the Roles tables can list video and audio roles for you to enable or disable.
2. A full report pass when the export starts — Projecting Timeline, then each enabled sheet, then Saving Workbook, and Saving PDF if Create PDF Report is on.

The second pass is expected. It is not the first load repeating because something failed.

To keep large exports manageable:

• Use Manual Export Mode so you can review Roles before Start Export
• Disable roles you do not need on the Video and Audio tabs
• Avoid Full Report until you know how large the workbook will be
• Keep Include Screenshots in Role Inventory off unless you need frame grabs — embeds also lengthen the Excel write

If the green ring never appears and the application is unresponsive for many minutes, quit Production Data, reopen it, and try File → Export XML from Final Cut Pro rather than a timeline drag. If it still never finishes, open the logs (Help → Open Logs) and contact support with openfcpxmlkit_log.txt.

See also PDF export looks different from Excel or truncates text and Create PDF Report.

No audio or video roles found

After loading a project, Roles may report that no audio or video roles were found. Confirm the file is a Final Cut Pro XML export (.fcpxml / .fcpxmld) or a timeline / compound-clip drag that contains FCPXML. Prefer File → Export XML from Final Cut Pro for a full project document when possible. For compound clips dragged from Final Cut Pro, allow Production Data a moment to stage the file — root-level compound clips are normalised before roles are read. You may also try exporting XML again from Final Cut Pro and reopening the new file.

If roles still do not appear, open the logs (Help → Open Logs) and contact support with openfcpxmlkit_log.txt.

Dropping a project on Roles does nothing useful / stays on Roles

Behaviour depends on Export Mode:

• Automatic — drop on Roles should switch to Extract and begin the export (after a folder is set).
• Manual — Roles stays open so you can review enable/disable settings. Switch to Extract and press Start Export when you are ready.

If you expected an immediate export, switch to Automatic under General → File, or use ⌘ ⇧ E.

Only one project is accepted when I drop several files

This is intentional. Production Data processes one FCPXML project per action. If multiple items are offered at once, only the first item is used.

Provide one project at a time.

Media Summary lists files as missing, but the media is on disk

Media Summary is an optional sheet. Production Data reads media paths from the FCPXML and checks whether those paths exist — it does not open or copy your media files.

Paths may appear as missing when:

• You dragged a timeline or compound clip from Final Cut Pro (or used a text clipping), so the project was staged in the application Cache without a neighbouring media folder
• Relative paths in the XML cannot be resolved against the source location
• The media volume is offline or the files have moved since the project was edited

The rest of the Excel (and optional PDF) report still exports normally. Turn off Media Summary under Sheets if you do not need this sheet, or open an on-disk .fcpxml / .fcpxmld beside its media when you need more accurate missing-media checks.

When the sheet is enabled and no referenced media is missing, Excel and PDF keep the headers and show a No Missing Media status row — that is expected, not an error.

Install Location Warning

macOS may show Install Location Warning if Production Data is not running from the Applications folder.

Move the application into /Applications, then launch it again. Choose Don't show again only if you intentionally run it from another location and accept the risk of sandbox or bookmark quirks.

Couldn’t create or rename a configuration

Named configurations must be unique. If a configuration with the same name already exists (in the list or as a file on disk), Production Data refuses to overwrite it and shows an alert such as Couldn't create configuration.

Choose a different name. The built-in Default configuration cannot be saved as a named file, renamed, or deleted.

See Configurations.

Configurations shows a “Changed” badge

The orange Changed badge means the active non-default configuration has unsaved edits compared with its saved preset.

• Press Update Active Configuration (⌘ S) to save, or
• Discard changes from the Configurations panel or menu (⌘ Z)

Exports still use your current in-memory settings even when Changed is visible — the badge is a reminder to save the preset if you want those settings kept for next time.

Notifications do not appear

Under General → Notifications:

1. Confirm Notification Frequency is not set to Never.
2. Press Open macOS Notification Settings and allow notifications for Production Data.
3. Remember that Production Data may only appear in Notification Settings after the first authorisation prompt.
4. When Production Data is the frontmost app, banners may be silent or less obvious — check Notification Centre.

Each Report Step sends intermediate banners without sound; the final completion notification uses the default sound.

Dock progress ring does not show

Enable Show Progress on Dock Icon under General → Notifications. Progress appears only while an export is running.

Clean Cache — when should I use it?

File → Show Cache reveals the temporary FCPXML staging folder. File → Clean Cache (⌘ K) empties that folder only.

Use Clean Cache if staging files have accumulated after many Final Cut Pro drags or text clippings. It does not delete preferences, Configurations, Logs, or your export folder.

Clean Cache is disabled while an export or roles load is in progress. Wait until the run finishes, then clean.

PDF export looks different from Excel or truncates text

Create PDF Report is experimental and optimised for A4 landscape. Tables paginate across pages and cell text may truncate. Matching sheet pages share a tint.

The PDF uses the same active Configuration (sheets, columns, roles, timecode, and filters) — there are no separate PDF-only settings.

See Create PDF Report and Production Data appears hung while loading FCPXML / Roles take a long time.

Protect Sheets — I cannot open the file / where is the password?

Protect Sheets applies an Excel worksheet edit lock so cells are harder to change by accident. It is not file-open encryption and does not set a workbook password.

Excel still opens the file without a password. Anyone can turn protection off in Excel. PDF export ignores this option — use Preview’s Encrypt (or another PDF tool) if you need a password-protected PDF.

Role Inventory screenshots are blank

Include Screenshots in Role Inventory embeds a Source In frame grab in the Excel Role Inventory sheets. The PDF report never includes screenshots.

Screenshots rely on media this Mac can decode. Blank cells are common for offline media, unsupported codecs, audio-only rows, titles or generators with no media file, some MXF or proprietary wrappers, and corrupt or DRM-locked files. Stills (PNG, JPEG, and similar) use the image itself; video frames are taken at Source In (not Timeline In) and may land on a nearby frame on hard GOP media.

A Media Summary row of No Missing Media only means the path exists on disk. It does not mean Production Data can open the file for a screenshot embed. When original media is missing or unreadable, a readable proxy is used when available.

If screenshot cells are blank:

• Confirm the option is enabled under General → File → Export Options
• When Choose Media Folder appears, select the original media folder, the proxy folder, a Final Cut Pro library (.fcpbundle), or an enclosing folder, then press Grant Access — cancelling the first prompt cancels that export
• If the same panel appears again, grant the unread proxy or transcoded-media folder — original and proxy media often live in different places
• If remaining files still cannot be read, use Choose Another Folder, or Continue Without Remaining Screenshots to finish with leftover cells blank
• Confirm media paths in the project are reachable from this Mac (absolute paths on connected volumes work best)
• Cache / drag-and-drop intake may not resolve relative media paths — try File → Export XML from Final Cut Pro and open that file instead

Blank cells are expected when media cannot be read after access is granted, when you continue without remaining screenshots, and for titles or audio-only rows. This is not an export failure, and the rest of the workbook still exports normally.

See Include Screenshots in Role Inventory and Media Summary lists files as missing.

Choose Media Folder / Grant Access appeared during export

When Include Screenshots in Role Inventory is on, Production Data may ask you to choose a media folder before writing the Excel workbook. This happens when the original or proxy media is not readable from the FCPXML and export folders — for example on an external drive.

The panel is always the same: title Choose Media Folder, message Original media, proxy media, a Final Cut Pro library, or an enclosing folder., button Grant Access. Choose one of those locations, then press Grant Access.

After you grant original media, the same panel may appear again for unread proxy or transcoded media — even when the original files are already readable. Some formats, such as MXF or camera RAW, still need a readable proxy. Grant that second folder the same way. Production Data keeps every successful grant for that export.

A Final Cut Pro library (.fcpbundle) is accepted as a file or a folder. A library may only reference external media — if screenshots stay blank, grant the actual original or proxy folder instead.

If remaining files still cannot be read, Production Data does not fail the export. It offers:

• Choose Another Folder — grant a different location
• Continue Without Remaining Screenshots — leftover cells stay blank; the rest of the workbook still exports
• Cancel Export — abort that export

Cancelling the first Choose Media Folder prompt cancels that export. If you cancel the follow-up proxy prompt, the same three choices appear.

Roles and other sheets are unaffected; turn the screenshot option off under General if you do not need embeds.

The spreadsheet is missing sheets or columns I expected

Exports follow the active Configuration:

1. Check Sheets for which worksheets are enabled.
2. Check Columns for enabled workbook columns.
3. Check Roles — disabled roles are omitted only from role-bearing sheets (Role Inventory, Markers, Keywords, Titles & Generators, Video & Audio Effects, Speed Change Effects, and Summary). Transitions, Non-Standard Effects & Templates, and Media Summary are not filtered by role.
4. Confirm options such as Exclude Disabled Clips, Include Markers Outside Clip Boundaries, Include Speed Change Settings in Role Inventory, and Include Screenshots in Role Inventory under General → File.

The Markers Hidden column appears only when Include Markers Outside Clip Boundaries is on; it is not listed under Columns. Likewise, Role Inventory Speed Change Settings and Screenshot columns appear only when their File options are on, and they are not listed under Columns.

If the role inventory Total footer is missing, check Columns. Excluding Timeline Out or Clip Duration omits the Total footer entirely (Excel and PDF).

I disabled a role and Markers / Effects / Summary look different

When you disable a role on Roles, Production Data omits matching Role ▸ Subrole rows from role-bearing sheets only — Role Inventory, Markers, Keywords, Titles & Generators, Video & Audio Effects, Speed Change Effects, and Summary. This is expected, not an export failure.

Role exclusion does not filter Transitions, Non-Standard Effects & Templates, or Media Summary.

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 expected a role to remain on Markers, Effects, or Summary, enable it again on the Video or Audio tab, press Update Active Configuration (⌘ S), and export once more. See Roles.

An enabled sheet shows “No … Found” or looks empty

Enabling a sheet under Sheets includes that section in the Excel workbook and optional PDF. When the project has no matching items, the sheet is not omitted — Excel and PDF keep the headers and show a single status row, for example:

• No Markers Found
• No Keywords Found
• No Titles & Generators Found
• No Transitions Found
• No Effects Found
• No Speed Change Effects Found
• No Non-Std Effects Found
• No Roles Found
• No Missing Media (on Media Summary when nothing is missing)

This is not an export failure. Confirm the timeline actually contains the items you expect for that sheet, or turn the sheet off if you do not need it. If you disabled every role that had matching Marker, Keyword, Title, Effects, or Speed Change rows, you would also see a No … Found status row on that sheet.

Excel shows “Non-Std Effects & Templates” instead of the full name

Excel limits worksheet names to 31 characters, so the workbook tab would appear as Non-Std Effects & Templates. The Sheets toggle and Extract status bar use the full name Non-Standard Effects & Templates.

See Sheets.

Drag and drop from Final Cut Pro does not start an export

Set a valid Export Folder first. Confirm Export Mode: Automatic starts immediately; Manual waits for Start Export on Extract. Drop onto Extract or Roles (or the Dock icon), or use Choose File / File → Open…. Finder text clippings are accepted only when they contain FCPXML content, and only one project is processed per action.

If nothing happens, try File → Export XML from Final Cut Pro and open the .fcpxml / .fcpxmld file instead.

Library folders failed to initialise

On first launch, Production Data creates its Application Support folders (preferences, Configurations, Logs, Cache). If you see Failed to initialize Library folders, free disk space, ensure the app may write inside its sandbox container, then quit and reopen Production Data.

If the alert persists, contact support with a description of your macOS version and install location.