Problem
A disk is mounted case-sensitive while the editor's project paths were created case-insensitively, causing two similarly named media folders to resolve differently between machines.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
Mismatched filesystem case sensitivity (e.g., APFS Case-Sensitive vs. APFS Standard or NTFS) results in differing path resolution behavior. An NLE looking for `Footage/` fails to find `footage/`, causing offline media errors and relinking loops across collaborative environments.
Actionable Fix:
1. Standardize Filesystem Formatting: Format all collaborative media drives as Case-Insensitive APFS or standard NTFS across all workstations.
2. Path Normalization Script: Run a shell script to standardize all folder and asset filenames to lowercase alphanumeric characters with underscore separators.
3. NLE Relink Verification: Re-open the project file across both workstations and verify that all clips resolve paths without triggering the missing media dialog.
Pro Tip:
Enforce lowercase file-naming conventions across your entire media pipeline; this guarantees complete path compatibility across Windows, macOS, and Linux servers.
Mismatched filesystem case sensitivity (e.g., APFS Case-Sensitive vs. APFS Standard or NTFS) results in differing path resolution behavior. An NLE looking for `Footage/` fails to find `footage/`, causing offline media errors and relinking loops across collaborative environments.
Actionable Fix:
1. Standardize Filesystem Formatting: Format all collaborative media drives as Case-Insensitive APFS or standard NTFS across all workstations.
2. Path Normalization Script: Run a shell script to standardize all folder and asset filenames to lowercase alphanumeric characters with underscore separators.
3. NLE Relink Verification: Re-open the project file across both workstations and verify that all clips resolve paths without triggering the missing media dialog.
Pro Tip:
Enforce lowercase file-naming conventions across your entire media pipeline; this guarantees complete path compatibility across Windows, macOS, and Linux servers.