Which XML Premiere reads
Premiere imports the "classic" Final Cut Pro 7 XML, the xmeml format, from File > Import. What it does not open directly is Final Cut Pro X's .fcpxml: Adobe says it has to be converted first with the XtoCC tool (Adobe help).
So, first step: make sure the file is a Final Cut Pro 7 XML (it starts with
<xmeml), not an .fcpxml.
1. A sequence longer than 24 hours
The format counts time in timecode, and Apple's official specification says the counter rolls over after 23:59:59 (Apple's specification). A longer sequence doesn't fit.
It's not a rare case: it happened to us when building a whole hard drive, several years of footage, into one 59.6-hour timeline, and Premiere said the file was damaged. The fix is to split the timeline into sequences under 24 hours. Since version 2.1.4, the Ingest Pro desktop app does it for you: it cuts before reaching 23 hours and saves one XML per part. We tried putting several 23-hour sequences into one XML and Premiere ran out of memory; one at a time, they all open.
2. References that point nowhere
Inside the XML, each clip has an identifier (id), and the video and audio clips of the
same take link to each other by naming those identifiers. Apple's specification explains it: an
element with an id is registered on import and others reference it; the first time it
appears it must be complete, and after that the id is enough
(Apple's specification).
If a link points to a clip that doesn't exist, or a clip has an empty identifier, the file stops adding up. It happened to us with cameras that mixed stereo and mono clips on the same track: the XML came out with links to audio halves that were never written. It's fixed since version 2.1.4 of the Ingest Pro desktop app, but it's a classic mistake for any program that writes XML.
3. Badly written paths
Each file carries its path in the pathurl element, as
file://localhost/.... According to Apple, any character that isn't valid in a URL must be
encoded with % and its hex value: a space, for example, is %20
(Apple's specification). If a program writes the path as is, with spaces,
accents or symbols, Premiere can't find the file.
There's one exception that took us a while to find: the “&”. In our tests with
Premiere 26.5, a single file with “&” in its name, written as %26 in its
path, was enough for Premiere to call the whole XML damaged. Written as is (in the XML,
&), it opens fine. Emojis, Cyrillic, # or brackets encoded with
% caused no trouble. We found it by splitting the XML into pieces and importing them one by
one; if an XML fails and you don't know why, it's the quickest way to find the culprit file.
4. Offline media
If the XML imports but the clips show as offline, the XML is fine: the path is what's failing. It happens when files have moved, the drive has a different letter or it's disconnected. Connect the drive with the same letter or relink the files from Premiere.
Quick checklist before importing
- Is it a Final Cut Pro 7 XML (
xmeml) and not an .fcpxml? - Is every sequence under 24 hours?
- Is the drive with the footage connected, with the same letter as when the XML was made?
- Are the files still in the same folder?
If you build the timeline with the Ingest Pro desktop app, the XML already comes out tailored for Premiere or for DaVinci, whichever you pick.