Fix it now
- Drop the file
- Repair runs locally
- Download the result
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K records Apple ProRes into QuickTime .MOV files — ProRes 422 HQ, 422, LT and Proxy — at up to 6K, to CFast 2.0 cards, SD UHS-II cards, or an external USB-C SSD. (Its other format, Blackmagic RAW, writes separate .braw files and is out of scope here — this page is about the ProRes .MOV clips.) A .MOV becomes playable only when the camera writes its moov atom — the index that maps every frame — at the end of the take. Interrupt that and you get a file full of real ProRes data with no map to it. Drop the clip above and the tool checks exactly that, in your browser, and rebuilds the container when the footage is recoverable.
Why media and power interruptions strand a clip
A QuickTime .MOV is written in two parts: the ProRes frames stream to the media as you record (the mdat), and the moov atom — the sample tables that index every frame plus the ProRes configuration — is written last, when recording stops cleanly. The Pocket 6K's flexibility about where it records is also where most interruptions come from:
- An external USB-C SSD dropped out. Recording straight to an SSD is a headline Pocket-camera feature, but a wobbly USB-C connector, a bumped cable, or a bus-powered drive that browns out ends the write mid-clip — leaving the .MOV unfinalized.
- The battery died. The Pocket 6K runs on a small LP-E6-style pack with famously short life; when it cuts out during a take, the finalization write never happens.
- The card was pulled, or couldn't keep up. Removing a CFast 2.0 or SD card while it's still writing, or feeding a high-bitrate ProRes HQ 6K mode a card slower than it needs, truncates the recording.
The reassuring part is that these are the recoverable cases: the take you shot up to the moment of failure is sitting in the file as valid ProRes — only the small trailing index is missing, which is why a player reports the clip as corrupt, 0:00 long, or opens it to nothing.
How the container is rebuilt — and ProRes vs BRAW
When the moov is gone, it can be reconstructed by scanning the surviving ProRes stream and rebuilding the sample tables the camera would have written on a clean stop. For a faithful result the rebuild wants the exact stream configuration — which ProRes variant (422 HQ, 422, LT, Proxy), the resolution and frame rate — and the most reliable source of those is a healthy clip from the same Pocket 6K shot in the same mode. Because a media or power fault usually only strands the last file, the earlier takes on that card or SSD are typically intact and make a perfect reference. Keep one handy; you'll only be asked for it if the broken file needs it.
One important distinction: this repair targets ProRes .MOV files. If you were shooting Blackmagic RAW, your clips are .braw — a different container with its own structure, not a QuickTime MOV — and they're not covered here. And a CFast/SD card or SSD that's physically failing can return zeros for parts of a file; that's lost data, not a container problem, so copy the whole media to your computer first, and if the bytes are there, the rebuild does the rest.
What this can and can't fix
Can fix
- The last ProRes clip when an SSD dropped out, the battery died, or the card was pulled before finalizing (unfinalized MOV, missing moov)
- ProRes 422 HQ / 422 / LT / Proxy .MOV files that copied off the card or SSD but won't play
- Container damage: broken index, wrong sample offsets, zero-length duration, when the ProRes data survived
- Files a recovery tool returned unplayable, when the footage itself is intact
Can't fix
- Blackmagic RAW .braw clips — a different format, not a QuickTime .MOV (out of scope here)
- Footage physically lost to a failing CFast/SD card or SSD — recover the media first, then repair
- A clip whose reference you can't match to the same ProRes variant and settings
- Files that read as 0 bytes or mostly zeros
If a repair fails, we tell you why (missing data versus broken structure), and you are never charged for a failed repair.