FAQ: What do I do when I see diagonal lines on clip(s) after moving media?

[#1]

• When you have moved media from one computer or hard drive to another, one may see diagonal lines (sometimes referred to as "danger strips") on clips in the Timeline.
  • What does this mean and how do you fix this issue?
• In versions of Premiere Pro prior to 13.0.2, there appears to have been a bug in MXF metadata handling that has been fixed. If you are using earlier versions of Premiere Pro, you might see this problem more frequently, regardless of how you originally ingested footage.

What is going on:

• What do the diagonal lines mean?
  • This means that Premiere Pro cannot locate associated media for the clip, even though the media exists on your hard drive. Basically, the information for the clip required by Premiere Pro is missing, and Premiere Pro cannot find it.

• How did they get there?
  • When you see those tell-tale diagonal lines after moving a project, this means that clips are not carrying essential metadata from one machine to the next.
  • Premiere Pro cannot locate the proper media if it does not have information, like timecode, that was associated with the clip on the original machine.
  • Premiere Pro throws up its virtual hands and says, "I have no idea how to display the media with no timecode information, so I'm giving you the danger stripes."
• Why didn't this just work without Timecode or other metadata? This worked before for me.
  • Moving media successfully can and should work very simply for standalone clips (like QuickTime or MXF wrapped clips) that are imported via File > Import or by dragging into the Project panel (or a bin inside the Project Panel).
  • If the clips require associated metadata from folders generated by the camera, you need to import footage slightly differently than you might be used to (via Media Browser—more on that process in a moment).
• Why do I have this issue with this camcorder media and not media from my DSLR?
  • If the clip came from a series of separate folders of metadata along with it captured by the camera during the shoot, then that metadata definitely needs to be carried along (sometimes called ingested) with the file.
  • The only way you should handle clips of that nature is to import them via Media Browser and not File > Import or by dragging into a bin. It is the only way to ensure that the metadata is attached to the clip.
  • Some DSLRs, like Canon, shoot standalone QuickTime clips, some DSLRs do not.
    • For standalone clips, metadata is automatically encapsulated with the clip and does not require special handling like other clips from certain camcorders.
    • Know ahead of time what kind of files your DSLR generates and if you need to ingest metadata folders with the clips or not.
• Can't I just import individual clips from folders containing clips from my camcorder and forget about the metadata folders?
  • You can, but the clips won't have all the metadata associated with them that was captured during the shoot, so that they can't be carried over from one computer without incidents like getting "danger strips."
  • If the metadata is not ingested, then Premiere Pro may have some trouble discerning clips from one another if they are moved from one system or hard drive to the next—especially if they have have the same name, and have similar timecode values.
• How do I fix the issue?
  • If you are on 13.x with this problem, merely update to Premiere Pro 13.0.2.
  • Still having the issue?
    • If the clips have diagonal lines, you must relink or replace the offending danger stripes clip with the original clip.
  • To do so, please try the following:
    • Make the "danger stripes" clip in the timeline offline by selecting it and then choosing File > Make Offline (choose to allow media files to remain on disk).
    • Choose File > Link Media
    • Deselect "Align Timecode"
    • Click the Locate button and locate (find) the original file.
    • Select the proper file and click OK.
    • Media is now relinked to the proper file.
• Note: this process can be tedious

We will leave this FAQ unlocked for now so that the community can weigh in if these steps helped them reconnect media properly, especially when moving a project to a new system and experiencing this confusing anomaly.

Let us know if we need to add any more info to make these steps more clear.

Thank you!

[#2]

• When you have moved media from one computer or hard drive to another, one may see diagonal lines (sometimes referred to as "danger strips") on clips in the Timeline.
  • What does this mean and how do you fix this issue?
• In versions of Premiere Pro prior to 13.0.2, there appears to have been a bug in MXF metadata handling that has been fixed. If you are using earlier versions of Premiere Pro, you might see this problem more frequently, regardless of how you originally ingested footage.

What is going on:

• What do the diagonal lines mean?
  • This means that Premiere Pro cannot locate associated media for the clip, even though the media exists on your hard drive. Basically, the information for the clip required by Premiere Pro is missing, and Premiere Pro cannot find it.

• How did they get there?
  • When you see those tell-tale diagonal lines after moving a project, this means that clips are not carrying essential metadata from one machine to the next.
  • Premiere Pro cannot locate the proper media if it does not have information, like timecode, that was associated with the clip on the original machine.
  • Premiere Pro throws up its virtual hands and says, "I have no idea how to display the media with no timecode information, so I'm giving you the danger stripes."
• Why didn't this just work without Timecode or other metadata? This worked before for me.
  • Moving media successfully can and should work very simply for standalone clips (like QuickTime or MXF wrapped clips) that are imported via File > Import or by dragging into the Project panel (or a bin inside the Project Panel).
  • If the clips require associated metadata from folders generated by the camera, you need to import footage slightly differently than you might be used to (via Media Browser—more on that process in a moment).
• Why do I have this issue with this camcorder media and not media from my DSLR?
  • If the clip came from a series of separate folders of metadata along with it captured by the camera during the shoot, then that metadata definitely needs to be carried along (sometimes called ingested) with the file.
  • The only way you should handle clips of that nature is to import them via Media Browser and not File > Import or by dragging into a bin. It is the only way to ensure that the metadata is attached to the clip.
  • Some DSLRs, like Canon, shoot standalone QuickTime clips, some DSLRs do not.
    • For standalone clips, metadata is automatically encapsulated with the clip and does not require special handling like other clips from certain camcorders.
    • Know ahead of time what kind of files your DSLR generates and if you need to ingest metadata folders with the clips or not.
• Can't I just import individual clips from folders containing clips from my camcorder and forget about the metadata folders?
  • You can, but the clips won't have all the metadata associated with them that was captured during the shoot, so that they can't be carried over from one computer without incidents like getting "danger strips."
  • If the metadata is not ingested, then Premiere Pro may have some trouble discerning clips from one another if they are moved from one system or hard drive to the next—especially if they have have the same name, and have similar timecode values.
• How do I fix the issue?
  • If you are on 13.x with this problem, merely update to Premiere Pro 13.0.2.
  • Still having the issue?
    • If the clips have diagonal lines, you must relink or replace the offending danger stripes clip with the original clip.
  • To do so, please try the following:
    • Make the "danger stripes" clip in the timeline offline by selecting it and then choosing File > Make Offline (choose to allow media files to remain on disk).
    • Choose File > Link Media
    • Deselect "Align Timecode"
    • Click the Locate button and locate (find) the original file.
    • Select the proper file and click OK.
    • Media is now relinked to the proper file.
• Note: this process can be tedious

We will leave this FAQ unlocked for now so that the community can weigh in if these steps helped them reconnect media properly, especially when moving a project to a new system and experiencing this confusing anomaly.

Let us know if we need to add any more info to make these steps more clear.

Thank you!

[#3]

• User indicates that slipping the clip into place is something that can work.
• User indicates that importing the misaligned project into a new project, then relinking, can work.
• I indicate that making the clip offline and relinking the clip can work. Steps are in this post.

[#4]

• It seems that some users get into this situation after updating a project from one version to the next.
  • Professional editors advise caution in this case: do not update complex projects from one version to the next, unless it cannot be avoided.
  • The editor's classic "rule of thumb" is to finish all projects in the same version the project was started in.
    • If this rule of thumb cannot be adhered to, try creating a project in the new version and then import the legacy project into it.
      • A bug fixed in 13.0.2 has surfaced in this workflow with MXF footage, particularly Sony footage.
      • Make sure you are importing to a 13.0.2 version project.
  • Another rule of thumb:
    • Begin only new projects in new versions of Premiere Pro.
  • An update to 13.1 has fixed this issue for a good number of users.

[#5]

Hello, I am having the same issue. I upgraded to Premiere 14 but I need to open a file that I built in Premiere CC 2017.  Even after relinking all media I am getting diagonal lines in some of the clips. I have emptied my cache, restarted by computer and tried to import the old project into a new project. Eact time it needs to locate the media, it seems to find it, but certain clips still have these lines --  even though the status says online and they are in the same bin as all the other clips. Is there anything else I am not thinking of?