FCP X: Help! My Hard Disk Thinks It’s a Camera.

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Sudd

Everything was working great. Until…

You went to import media into Final Cut Pro X and, suddenly, your hard disk thinks its a camera.

What happened?

The short answer is that you copied your camera files to the wrong place.

BACKGROUND

When you record video on a camera card, those files are recorded in very specific folders with precise folder and file names. This folder structure is determined by the video codec you are using. For instance, here, these three folders are used when recording some versions of AVCHD.

In your camera, the name of the card is the volume name; these three folders are then stored at the top (or root) level of the card.

Because Final Cut is able to ingest directly from a camera, or camera card, it needs to be able to recognize the difference between a hard disk and a camera card so that it can process files properly.

From Final Cut’s point of view, anything containing those three folders at the root (top) level of a hard disk MUST be a camera.

If you copy those folders INSIDE your camera card directly to your hard disk, as illustrated here, when you ask FCP to import media, it sees those three folders at the root level of the hard disk and immediately thinks your hard disk is a camera.

FCP totally ignores all the other files and folders on your hard disk. Just having those three folders outside all other folders is enough to turn your hard disk into a camera.

THE SOLUTION

The solution is easy: Always copy files from your camera card into another folder; never store them loose on your hard disk. And, if you’ve accidentally copied these folders to the wrong place, simply create a new folder, name it whatever makes sense to you, and move those loose folders – DCIM, MISC, and PRIVATE – into that folder.

NOTE: You can name the containing folder anything you want. You must NOT rename any of the folders or files inside the camera card when transferring it to your computer, or FCP won’t be able to import the files.

As soon as those folders disappear from the top level of your hard disk, Final Cut no longer considers your hard disk a camera and everything goes back to normal.

NOTE: In some cases, you may need to restart Final Cut to get it to see the changed folder positions.

Fixed.

EXTRA CREDIT

I use a naming convention for all my camera card folders: Project code – Date Shot – Camera – Card Number. So the folder name – MH03 – 110815 – A03 – translates to:

The third project for Michael Hale (MH03)
Shot on August 15, 2011 (110815)
The “A” camera (A)
The third card shot on that camera on that day (03)

I now know, simply by looking at the folder name, who it belongs to, when it was shot, which camera was used and, roughly, when during the day it was recorded.

Simple and easy.

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27 Responses to FCP X: Help! My Hard Disk Thinks It’s a Camera.

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Larry says:

October 16, 2015 at 4:22 pm

JJ:

If FCP X thinks your hard disk is a camera, then the ONLY reason this is the case is because it sees the same folders on your hard disk as exist on your camera card. Plug a camera card into your computer and look at the folder structure there. Search your hard disk for the same named folders – they won’t be the same ones in my article – and move them somewhere other than the top level of your hard disk.

Be sure to do all this searching and moving when Final Cut is not running.

Larry
Ronda says:

October 29, 2015 at 9:14 am

Hi Larry,

I’m a newbie to Final Cut and am having this problem. I’ve found some clips that were not in a folder, put them in one, restarted the iMac, Final Cut, even trashed and reinstalled the LACIE drive and Final Cut still sees it as a camera.
Actually, I have two LACIES with the same problem. Other drives are seen as devices- they’re not LACIES.
Both LACIE drives were working fine then suddenly Final Cut decided they were cameras. Any ideas?
Larry says:

October 29, 2015 at 4:44 pm

Ronda:

Yes. Regardless of what FILES are stored on your hard disk, what turns it into a camera, from FCP’s point of view, is the FOLDERS at the top level of your hard drive.

Look at the folder names on your camera card, then look for the SAME folder names on your two hard disks. As soon as you move those folders on the hard disk with the same names as the camera card into another folder, FCP will think your hard disk is a hard disk again.

Larry
JJ says:

November 17, 2015 at 2:11 pm

Hi Larry! Sorry to bother you again, but I’m just not finding those files. I did what you said, with FCPX turned off, and the file structure of the camera card is nowhere to be found anywhere on the hard drive. And still, when I open FCP X, it has it listed as a camera. I have some screenshots to show you if you give me an e-mail to send them to… Again, I appreciate your help – Love your tutorials!
JJ says:

November 17, 2015 at 3:55 pm

Sorry, I do mean “Folders”, not files. I’m not seeing any other folders than what I put there for other reasons, and never transferred them from the SDCARD in the first place. I even looked for hidden folders, just to be sure, and no, nothing is there. Again, I have screenshots if they would help. Thanks again!
Bill Rabkin says:

March 14, 2016 at 8:46 am

Why not copy just the AVCHD file from the camera card to my hard drive, and then import that file from the HD into FCP X which sees it as Clip #1, Clip #2, etc.?

Does FCP X do anything with the contents of the other folders on the camera card? If so, am I at a disadvantage by importing only the AVCHD file?

Thanks,
Bill
Constance says:

March 14, 2016 at 9:59 am

This just happened to me. What a pain and such a simple solution. Thank you Larry for bailing me out . . . again!

Constance
Larry says:

March 14, 2016 at 3:16 pm

Bill:

Copying just the AVCHD file means you are missing the metadata created by the camera, which is stored in a separate folder. I’ve been told it is better to copy the entire contents of the camera card – leaving all folders intact – rather than just copying the media file.

Larry
Craig says:

June 6, 2017 at 1:58 pm

Larry, I know this thread is very old but you have just saved me such a headache…..I had AVCHD films on my hard drive and FCPX 10.3.3 would not import anything.
Popped those films into its own folder and there you go…..

Thank you Mr J
Todd Gallant says:

January 17, 2018 at 7:14 pm

This article solved a runaway RAM problem for me. When opening the import window, FCPX ws seeing 2 external HDDs as cameras and immediately started loading thumbnails for all media files it cold find – multiple TBs! RAM usage for FCPX was shooting up to 40GB+ in Activity Monitor.

One drive had a DCIM folder, and another had an AVCHD folder at root level. Simply created a new folder on each, and dropped the camera-based folders into them. Presto, problem solved.

Thanks Larry!