Problem
A NAS share is accessed simultaneously by macOS and Windows clients with different filename normalization behavior, creating relink failures after cross-platform project organization.
Solution
Root Cause / Diagnostic:
macOS and Windows enforce different Unicode normalization forms for filenames (macOS historically normalizes to NFD - Decomposed, while Windows and Linux use NFC - Precomposed). When an editor organizes project assets with accented characters or special symbols from Mac and another opens it on Windows, the NLE cannot match file paths, triggering broken links.
Actionable Fix:
1. Strict ASCII Naming Policy: Enforce an automated asset ingest naming standard strictly using standard alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens (A-Z, 0-9, `_`, `-`), prohibiting diacritics and special characters.
2. NAS Unicode Fruit VFS Configuration: In the NAS Samba configuration, enable the Apple Fruit VFS module with explicit character normalization (`fruit:encoding = native`, `fruit:nfc = yes`).
3. Cross-Platform Relink Verification: Open the multi-platform project on both Windows and macOS systems to confirm that all media bins populate without missing file warnings.
Pro Tip:
Never use accents, slashes, or special characters in video file names; Mac and Windows encode special characters differently, which will break your footage links when sharing projects between platforms.
macOS and Windows enforce different Unicode normalization forms for filenames (macOS historically normalizes to NFD - Decomposed, while Windows and Linux use NFC - Precomposed). When an editor organizes project assets with accented characters or special symbols from Mac and another opens it on Windows, the NLE cannot match file paths, triggering broken links.
Actionable Fix:
1. Strict ASCII Naming Policy: Enforce an automated asset ingest naming standard strictly using standard alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens (A-Z, 0-9, `_`, `-`), prohibiting diacritics and special characters.
2. NAS Unicode Fruit VFS Configuration: In the NAS Samba configuration, enable the Apple Fruit VFS module with explicit character normalization (`fruit:encoding = native`, `fruit:nfc = yes`).
3. Cross-Platform Relink Verification: Open the multi-platform project on both Windows and macOS systems to confirm that all media bins populate without missing file warnings.
Pro Tip:
Never use accents, slashes, or special characters in video file names; Mac and Windows encode special characters differently, which will break your footage links when sharing projects between platforms.