Browse help articles
Export & hand-off·Last updated August 25, 2026

Final Cut shows missing files after importing an Eddie export

Final Cut exports reference your original media by file name and path, so you need to relink to the actual files on your machine using File > Relink Files.


💬 Ask Eddieanswers from thesearticles, with links✉️ hey@heyeddie.aia human readsevery messageinclude what you did, what you expected, where you were (web / desktop / MCP), and when

Why this happens

When you export an FCPXML from Eddie, the file doesn't embed your video — it references your original source footage by file name and path. If Final Cut can't find a file at that path (for example, you're opening the project on a different machine, or the files have moved), the clips show up offline with a missing file warning.

This is expected behavior for a timeline export, not a sign that anything went wrong with the export itself.

  1. In Final Cut's browser, select the offline (red) clips.
  2. Choose File > Relink Files...
  3. Point Final Cut at the folder containing your original source files.

Final Cut then auto-matches the files inside that folder by filename — it doesn't offer a per-file "locate" picker the way Premiere does, so there's no button to browse to one specific file. If Relink Files appears grayed out or doesn't show a way to pick a location, double-check you're using that exact menu item and not Reveal in Finder or a similar option, which won't relink anything.

What to check if relinking doesn't find anything

  • Make sure the folder you point Final Cut at actually contains the original files with their original filenames — a renamed or partially-transcoded copy won't match.
  • If your files are nested in subfolders, point Final Cut at the top-level folder that contains all of them; it searches recursively for matches.
  • Confirm you're relinking all the missing clips at once (select all offline clips before choosing Relink Files) rather than one at a time.

Related: Export to Premiere, Final Cut, Resolve, Avid & OTIO, Final Cut won't import the XML.


Was this helpful?Two seconds, and it tells us what to rewrite.
Still stuck?Email hey@heyeddie.ai. A human reads every message. Cutting with a team or at studio volume? Talk to sales.