Random gray square/arrow artifacts when exporting from FCP 11.2 to Compressor 4.11

[CC88]

I’m exporting a project with 4 adjustment layers from FCP 11.2 to Compressor 4.11. Even when just scrubbing through the preview, at certain points a light gray square briefly appears with a dark gray downward arrow inside it… After closing and reopening Compressor and sending the project again from FCP, these “symbols” seem to pop up randomly in different spots. The final exported file always shows this symbol briefly (I think for one or two frames). If I export directly from FCP there are no issues.

The adjustment layers are:

• LUT (FCP effect)
• Color correction (using FCP tools)
• Unsharp Mask (Alex4D effect)
• Letterbox (FCP tools)

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I think it started with FCP 11.2 and Compressor 4.11 after updating both. Never see this with FCP 11.1.1 and previous Compressor release.

Thanks a lot.

 

[lin2log]

Then why even export via Compressor to begin with?? There is absolutely no advantage or benefit to doing so outside of some very specific specialty cases. And while we're at it: why use FOUR adjustment clips when you can apply everything to ONE? 🤨

Either way, those "gray downward arrows" are DROP ZONES. So clearly one of the filters or titles or whatever you're using is faulty, incompatible or just plain poorly done.

But then… if it works using FC… then… use FC?

 

[CC88]

Thanks for your reply! I understand your point.

The reason I tried Compressor is simply because I usually batch a few exports at once and like the workflow. I also wanted to check if there was any performance/quality benefit in my specific setup.

As for the adjustment layers — I separated them just to keep things tidy (LUT, color correction, and sharpening on different clips so I can quickly toggle them on/off). Of course, I could merge them into one, but it helps me with organization while editing.

Good to know that the gray arrow symbol is actually a Drop Zone. That gives me a clear direction: one of the effects/plugins (very likely the Alex4D Unsharp Mask) may not be fully compatible with Compressor.

If exporting directly from FCP avoids the issue, I’ll keep using that route. Still, I wanted to understand what was happening — and your explanation makes perfect sense.

Thanks again for clarifying!

 

[lin2log]

Tidy? With four ACs as opposed to one? 🤔 Where, btw. you can also simple just switch any effect off one by one and change the order if needed. Same goes for simply applying them to the clip itself.

 

[CC88]

You are right. I will do some test as soon as possible.