Test Resolve import of FCPXML and metadata CSV #21

New issue

Closed

opened 2026-10-06 04:07:07 +00:00 by crowmaki · 1 comment

crowmaki commented

2026-10-06 04:07:07 +00:00

Owner

Part of #1

Question

What does the owner's installed DaVinci Resolve actually do with the export ingredients from "Resolve FCPXML import fidelity" (#16)? In a scratch project: (1) import a hand-made FCPXML 1.10 with a few clips, a still, linked stereo audio, markers, keywords, a note and a rating, and record what survives; (2) import a metadata CSV via File > Import Metadata To > Media Pool, and record the exact column headers Resolve expects for Good Take, Comments, Keywords, Scene/Shot/Take and the values Good Take accepts; (3) optionally try a native .otio with markers. Record the Resolve version used. See branch research/resolve-fcpxml.

Part of #1 ## Question What does the owner's installed DaVinci Resolve actually do with the export ingredients from "Resolve FCPXML import fidelity" (#16)? In a scratch project: (1) import a hand-made FCPXML 1.10 with a few clips, a still, linked stereo audio, markers, keywords, a note and a rating, and record what survives; (2) import a metadata CSV via File > Import Metadata To > Media Pool, and record the exact column headers Resolve expects for Good Take, Comments, Keywords, Scene/Shot/Take and the values Good Take accepts; (3) optionally try a native `.otio` with markers. Record the Resolve version used. See branch `research/resolve-fcpxml`.

crowmaki added the

wayfinder:task

label

2026-10-06 04:07:07 +00:00

crowmaki referenced this issue

2026-10-06 04:07:07 +00:00

Edit package layout #19

crowmaki referenced this issue

2026-10-06 04:07:08 +00:00

Wayfinder: AI Studio end-to-end slice spec #1

crowmaki self-assigned this

2026-10-07 02:19:01 +00:00

crowmaki commented

2026-10-07 02:51:27 +00:00

Author

Owner

Resolution

Tested on the owner's DaVinci Resolve 21.1.1.10 (free edition), Windows, on 2026-10-06. Media for the test: four 3 s H.264 clips (12A-1.mov and others) at 1376×768, 24 fps, with stereo AAC and a 01:00:00:00 start, plus a PNG Board still.

1. FCPXML 1.10

Put only the Animatic project in the file: one event that holds one project. If the file also has events with loose browser asset-clips (we had used them for per-Scene bins), the whole import fails with "No valid sequences are present in the file". A bisect of 11 variants showed that only removing those events fixes it. None of these mattered: DOCTYPE, custom format name (FFVideoFormat1376x768p24), the still, notes/markers/keywords/rating, asset metadata, or a 01:00:00:00 tcStart. Resolve's own 1.10 export has the same shape: one event holding one project.
What survives:
- cuts and offsets, with the 01:00:00:00 timeline start kept;
- linked stereo audio, put on A1;
- a Board still as <video ref=… duration="2s"> that points at a duration="0s" PNG asset, imported at the right length;
- file:///E:/… URLs with %20 escapes.
Clips are relinked by path to the existing Media Pool items.
What is lost: clip and timeline markers, and md com.apple.proapps.spotlight.kMDItemDescription. The test could not settle whether keyword, note and md scene/take reach the Media Pool, because the metadata CSV overwrote those fields afterwards. Treat them as unsupported, as #16 recommended.
Resolve exports FCPXML 1.10 as a .fcpxml bundle folder (Info.fcpxml inside it), with file://localhost/ URLs. It imports a flat .fcpxml without any problem.

2. Metadata CSV (File > Import Metadata To > Media Pool)

Dialog defaults:
- ✔ Match using filename
- ☐ Ignore file extensions
- ✔ Match using clip start and end Timecode
- ☐ Match using Reel Name
- ☐ New name using source file path
- ✔ Import additional metadata fields as custom metadata
- (•) Only update metadata items with entries in the source file
The CSV must carry Start TC and End TC. Without them the import reports "No matching media pool entries were found", because timecode matching is on by default. With them, a UTF-8 CSV matched all clips. Resolve's own export is UTF-16 LE with a BOM, but import doesn't need that.
Exact headers (copied from Resolve's export): File Name, Clip Directory, Start TC, End TC, Scene, Shot, Take, Comments, Keywords, Description, Tag, Good Take. Keywords take a comma-separated list in one quoted cell.
Circled status goes in Tag, not Good Take. The Inspector's File > Metadata > Tag control has three options: Untagged, Good Take and Rejected.
- Export writes them as blank, 1 and 2.
- Import of Tag=1 ticks Good Take, and Tag=0 clears it (tested).
- True and Yes are stored as strings but tick nothing.
- Tag=2 → Rejected is inferred from export only. It maps onto NG Takes.
- The Good Take column is free text: 1, True and Yes were all stored as given, and none ticked the box. Don't use it.
The import is safe to re-run. Fields the CSV doesn't carry are left alone: a Description set earlier was kept.
Resolve only exports the Tag column once at least one clip has a tag.

3. Native OTIO

.otio written with OpenTimelineIO imports cleanly: cuts, linked audio and the Board still.
Clip marker names and colours survive (red and green). Marker comments are dropped.

Consequences for the edit package

animatic.fcpxml: single event and project. Don't put bins or markers in it.
Bins come from the per-Scene folder layout.
takes.csv: UTF-8, matched by File Name + Start TC/End TC, so Renditions need known start timecodes. Circled → Tag=1, NG → Tag=2. Notes go in Comments; Scene/Shot/Take go in their own fields.
If timecoded notes must show up as markers in Resolve, .otio is the only carrier that worked.

Test kit

Local and gitignored, in scratch/resolve-test/:

the generator and variants;
AIS_probe.lua and AIS_dump.lua (Resolve's console Lua: no io; use bmd/native exports);
takes*.csv;
results/: Resolve's reference FCPXML, OTIO and FCP 7 exports, and the metadata CSVs.

Not tested: FCP 7 XML import of bins and comments.

## Resolution Tested on the owner's **DaVinci Resolve 21.1.1.10 (free edition)**, Windows, on 2026-10-06. Media for the test: four 3 s H.264 clips (`12A-1.mov` and others) at 1376×768, 24 fps, with stereo AAC and a 01:00:00:00 start, plus a PNG Board still. ### 1. FCPXML 1.10 - **Put only the Animatic project in the file: one `event` that holds one `project`.** If the file also has events with loose browser `asset-clip`s (we had used them for per-Scene bins), the whole import fails with *"No valid sequences are present in the file"*. A bisect of 11 variants showed that only removing those events fixes it. None of these mattered: DOCTYPE, custom format name (`FFVideoFormat1376x768p24`), the still, notes/markers/keywords/rating, asset `metadata`, or a 01:00:00:00 `tcStart`. Resolve's own 1.10 export has the same shape: one event holding one project. - **What survives:** - cuts and offsets, with the 01:00:00:00 timeline start kept; - linked stereo audio, put on A1; - a **Board still** as `<video ref=… duration="2s">` that points at a `duration="0s"` PNG asset, imported at the right length; - `file:///E:/…` URLs with `%20` escapes. Clips are relinked by path to the existing Media Pool items. - **What is lost:** clip and timeline `marker`s, and `md com.apple.proapps.spotlight.kMDItemDescription`. The test could not settle whether `keyword`, `note` and `md` scene/take reach the Media Pool, because the metadata CSV overwrote those fields afterwards. Treat them as unsupported, as #16 recommended. - Resolve **exports** FCPXML 1.10 as a `.fcpxml` *bundle folder* (`Info.fcpxml` inside it), with `file://localhost/` URLs. It **imports** a flat `.fcpxml` without any problem. ### 2. Metadata CSV (File > Import Metadata To > Media Pool) - **Dialog defaults:** - ✔ Match using filename - ☐ Ignore file extensions - ✔ **Match using clip start and end Timecode** - ☐ Match using Reel Name - ☐ New name using source file path - ✔ Import additional metadata fields as custom metadata - (•) Only update metadata items with entries in the source file - **The CSV must carry `Start TC` and `End TC`.** Without them the import reports *"No matching media pool entries were found"*, because timecode matching is on by default. With them, a **UTF-8** CSV matched all clips. Resolve's own export is UTF-16 LE with a BOM, but import doesn't need that. - **Exact headers** (copied from Resolve's export): `File Name`, `Clip Directory`, `Start TC`, `End TC`, `Scene`, `Shot`, `Take`, `Comments`, `Keywords`, `Description`, `Tag`, `Good Take`. Keywords take a comma-separated list in one quoted cell. - **Circled status goes in `Tag`, not `Good Take`.** The Inspector's File > Metadata > **Tag** control has three options: Untagged, **Good Take** and **Rejected**. - Export writes them as blank, `1` and `2`. - Import of `Tag=1` ticks Good Take, and `Tag=0` clears it (tested). - `True` and `Yes` are stored as strings but tick nothing. - `Tag=2` → Rejected is inferred from export only. It maps onto NG Takes. - The `Good Take` *column* is free text: `1`, `True` and `Yes` were all stored as given, and none ticked the box. Don't use it. - The import is safe to re-run. Fields the CSV doesn't carry are left alone: a `Description` set earlier was kept. - Resolve only exports the `Tag` column once at least one clip has a tag. ### 3. Native OTIO - `.otio` written with OpenTimelineIO imports cleanly: cuts, linked audio and the Board still. - **Clip marker names and colours survive** (red and green). Marker comments are dropped. ### Consequences for the edit package - `animatic.fcpxml`: single event and project. Don't put bins or markers in it. - Bins come from the per-Scene folder layout. - `takes.csv`: UTF-8, matched by `File Name` + `Start TC`/`End TC`, so Renditions need known start timecodes. Circled → `Tag=1`, NG → `Tag=2`. Notes go in `Comments`; Scene/Shot/Take go in their own fields. - If timecoded notes must show up as markers in Resolve, `.otio` is the only carrier that worked. ### Test kit Local and gitignored, in `scratch/resolve-test/`: - the generator and variants; - `AIS_probe.lua` and `AIS_dump.lua` (Resolve's console Lua: no `io`; use `bmd`/native exports); - `takes*.csv`; - `results/`: Resolve's reference FCPXML, OTIO and FCP 7 exports, and the metadata CSVs. Not tested: FCP 7 XML import of bins and comments.

crowmaki closed this issue

2026-10-07 02:51:27 +00:00

crowmaki referenced this issue

2026-10-07 07:24:15 +00:00

Spec: AI Studio end-to-end slice #24

crowmaki referenced this issue

2026-10-07 07:34:53 +00:00

Edit package: clips, takes.csv, manifest #66

crowmaki referenced this issue

2026-10-07 07:34:53 +00:00

Edit package: timelines and Animatic media #67

crowmaki referenced this issue