Is there a definitive solution for the "catastrophic failure" error when exporting?

I suppose it would depend on how complex your project is.
I would Save As a new file, render all Melodyne tracks, bounce or freeze all synth tracks, apply all effects, mix to taste (again), bounce all that audio to a separate track to hear if everything 'took', then export that mixed down track.
That way all that stuff doesn't have to be done at one time by the computer.

Also, I used to do it that way before I learned that you had to select all of the clips to export an entire mix