Diagnosing Shotgrid Version Publishing Failures: Symptoms, Checks, and Fixes

Recognizable Condition

When publishing a new version in Shotgrid, the version either does not appear in the Review screen, appears with a missing or corrupted thumbnail, or downstream tasks never receive a notification despite the publish job reporting success.

Cause and Diagnostic Overview

Symptom	Likely Cause
Publish job stays "Queued" or shows "Failed" with errors like "Invalid file type" or "Connection timeout"	File does not meet allowed type/size limits or network/storage throttling
Version appears but thumbnail is missing/corrupted	Post‑publish processing (thumbnail generation) failed due to missing codecs or insufficient worker resources
Publish completes successfully but no notification is sent to dependent tasks	Event pipeline misconfiguration or suppressed notifications

Ordered Checks

1. Inspect the publish job log – In Shotgrid Desktop, open the publish job, click "View Log". Look for lines containing "Invalid file type", "Missing required metadata", or "Connection timeout".
   Where to run: Shotgrid Desktop (requires Publish permission).
   Expected check: No error strings present; log ends with "Publish completed".
   Risk: None – read‑only.
2. Validate file properties against pipeline limits – Check the source file’s extension, size, and codec. Compare with the project’s publish template settings (Admin → Pipeline → Templates).
   Where to run: Local workstation; use ffprobe or file explorer.
   Placeholders: <FILE_PATH> for the source, <MAX_SIZE_MB> from template.
   Expected check: Extension in allowed list (e.g., .mov, .mp4, .exr) and size < <MAX_SIZE_MB> MB.
   Risk: None.
3. Check network and storage quotas – From the Shotgrid web UI, go to Admin → Storage → Quota Usage. Ensure the project’s storage usage is below the limit and that network latency to the storage server is < 100 ms (ping test).
   Where to run: Shotgrid Admin (requires Admin role) and local terminal for ping.
   Expected check: Quota usage < 90 % and average ping < 100 ms.
   Risk: None – read‑only.
4. Verify thumbnail generation workers – In Shotgrid Desktop, open the Publish Job details, navigate to the "Processing" tab, and confirm that the thumbnail step shows "Completed". If it shows "Failed", note any codec error.
   Where to run: Shotgrid Desktop (requires Publish permission).
   Expected check: Thumbnail step status = Completed.
   Risk: None.
5. Confirm event pipeline for notifications – In Shotgrid web UI, go to Admin → Notifications → Event Log. Filter for event type "VersionPublished" around the time of the publish. Verify that a corresponding "VersionPublished" event exists and that downstream tasks have a "VersionUpdated" event.
   Where to run: Shotgrid Admin (requires Admin role).
   Expected check: Presence of both events with matching entity_id.
   Risk: None – read‑only.

Fixes Tied to Findings

• If the log shows "Invalid file type" or size exceeds limits:
  Convert or re‑encode the file to an allowed format and size (e.g., using ffmpeg -i <INPUT> -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 128k <OUTPUT>).
  Where to run: Local workstation (requires read/write on the file).
  Verification: Republish the corrected file; the publish job log should end with "Completed" and the version appears in Review with correct thumbnail.
• If storage quota is exceeded:
  Clean up obsolete files or request an increase from the storage admin.
  Where to run: Shotgrid Admin → Storage → Manage Files.
  Verification: After freeing space, republish; the job should complete and the version appear in Review.
• If thumbnail generation fails due to missing codec:
  Install the required codec on the worker machines (e.g., OpenEXR library for .exr thumbnails) and restart the Shotgrid Worker service.
  Where to run: Worker host (requires admin/root).
  Verification: Republish; the thumbnail step should show Completed and the Review screen display the thumbnail.
• If event pipeline is misconfigured:
  Ensure the "VersionPublished" event is enabled in Admin → Notifications → Event Subscription and that no suppression rules filter out the project.
  Where to run: Shotgrid Admin (requires Admin role).
  Verification: After saving changes, republish; check the Event Log for both "VersionPublished" and downstream "VersionUpdated" events.

Escalation Criteria

If after performing all checks and applying the corresponding fixes the version still fails to appear correctly, collect the following and contact Autodesk Support:

• Full publish job log (including timestamps).
• Screenshot of the Review screen showing missing/corrupted thumbnail.
• Storage quota usage report and network ping results to the storage server.
• Event log excerpt for the publish time window.
• Details of any recent changes to pipeline templates or publish plugins.

Providing this information will allow Support to diagnose worker‑side processing issues or backend event‑delivery problems that are not visible in the UI.