FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you : Apple FCPX or Not: The Debate Tutorial

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Re: FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you
by Jim Mattingly

I copied from the root level of my main hard drive, both the Final Cut Events and Final Cut Projects folders onto another (backup) drive, then copied all the media which was in a separate folder, also on the root level of my main drive, to the backup drive. Final Cut X was not running at the time.

Using Event Manager X, I rescanned the drives, and then switched off the projects and events on the main HD and switched them on on the backup drive. Upon opening FCX, it found the projects and events folders on the root of the backup drive, but the media was red - unfound. Quite easily, I right clicked on an event clip in the events window, and chose 'file-->relink event files', clicked "Locate All", and hit 'Choose' after navigating to the correct folder. I then verified the names were exactly the same, and chose "Relink Files". (I deselected "Copy file" because I didn't want another copy of the clip being made in the Events folder. This worked like a champ. I was able to multiple-select clips in the event window, and repeat the process. Once I was certain the name of the clips sought for (left side of window) matched the name of the clips in the folder (right side of window), I hit 'relink files' and they all came in fine. Tested and played program, rebooted, tested again, no issues.

If anyone knows if I've done something incorrect here, please let me know. I know you can move projects within FC itself as well, but haven't tried that yet.

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Re: FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you
by Mike Stanley

Kevin, shouldn't you be doing everything within FCP? Not copy on the desktop in other words. You can copy project from within FCP as well, right?
As far as the other comment go...there tends to be a lot of freak out when people don't really bother to learn how the program works. You don't have to move your entire 12 tb project. You can just copy or duplicate the media from within FCP X. The project itself it lager than FCP 7 projects but not insurmountabley so. I had what would be a 30 meg project in FCP 7, it was about 100 Megs in FCP X

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Re: FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you
by Rikk Desgres

What if you want to HAVE it on BOTH?

Two scenarios:

1: You have a LARGE project with a TON of media you are editing on your main desktop. Every evening you like to tweak things on the train ride home. The next day you want to incorporate the changes you made and start working on the main system

2: A client is bring me a version so i can do some finishing. They don't want to give me the ONLY copy.

Are we locked out from doing this?

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Re: FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you
by Lee Adair

In real life I work on network storage, then copy media to drives to work at home, on the road or at a client's office, but with FCPX it appears that moving media is an "all or nothing" proposition. I don't want to carry my projects and media for ALL of my clients into a single client's office.

So, can you just move events or select projects, or are you forced to copy ALL events and ALL projects through FCPX media management? Do the "Events" and "Projects" folders have to live on the root of a drive, or can you create multiples, which is what I do with "cap scratch" folders every day in FCS3?

Thanks for test driving this for all of us that need to get work done in a familiar workflow every day. Still not sold, but...

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Re: FCPX Quick Tip - Taking projects on the go with you
by Allan White

Very interesting. One question; I found your idea of "I'll just copy all the media back when I get back to the office" a bit impractical. Let's say I want to edit at home and work, manually copying all the media into both places (and just leaving the piles there). Can FCPX "reconnect to media" like FCP 7 does?

We often bat FCP files around that point to the same media piles. Possible?

- Allan White, Video Producer, Luis Palau Assoc.

Quad 3Ghz Mac Pro, 10GB RAM, X1900 GPU, XSAN, CatDV Server

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@Allan White
by Allan White

Ah, didn't see other comments, thought I was the first! Thx all.

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Re: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by David Lawrence

Mirroring TBs of media is an essential part of our company's workflow. Bob W. is absolutely correct. The method shown in this tutorial would be completely unworkable for us. How do you work collaboratively in FCPX? Right now the answer seems to be - you can't. FAIL.

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@David Lawrence
by Jeremy Garchow

Yeah, I think there's a couple of posts in this thread that says you can, David.

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Re: @David Lawrence
by john spirou

I cant understand why some PRO users hate so much FCP X !!!

I am a pro user, and the first thing i did, BEFORE i bought FCPX , was to doanload and read CAREFULLY the manual.
Then i saw some paid tutorials for a couple of hours... anfd then i installed and starting to use FCPX.
All was easy and clear....
Why dont you do the same ?

Of course you can backup/move/copy/consolidate any projects or event where you want to do.
I did it , no problem.

You do that from inside FCPX, not Finder, simple and fast.

As someone says before , its a matter of 1 click (duplicate Project) !

Dont get upset from idiots, who said that FCPX is a crap ... i dont ever listen to them.

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Re: @David Lawrence
by David Battistella

Yeah

For 99 bucks Larry Jordan walks you through every step and it's all clear and makes perfect sense.

The professional thing to do is look at the tool, learn it, evaluate it and then judge it against your needs.

Freaking out because it shares the look if iMovie is just insecurity rearing it's ugly head.

If you don't like built in effects don't use them. I never used a motion template in FCP 7. But it was there if I wanted too.

I heard a load if shit dumped on media manager for a decade and now they complain because FCP X just folded in the best media manager in the world in final cut studio.

Great work here Kevin. You're helping to show people there is a lot more than meets the eye.

People need to put the gavel down an examine the case a little better.

David.

______________________________
Believe me. Everything is a lie.

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Re: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Jean-François Robichaud

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the tutorials. However, I think it's simpler to use the Project Library to migrate a project to an external drive. What you've done in 2 steps here can be done in a single one, without going into the Finder:

- Right-click on your project in the Project Library and choose Duplicate project (or use Cmd-D, or drag the project to the destination drive)
- In the Duplicate Project window, select the destination drive and choose the "duplicate project and reference events" option.
- Click Ok.

That's it! Note that since this is a COPY operation, copies of both media and project files will remain on the source drive.

The duplicate project process also provides a "Duplicate project + used clips only" which is useful if you don't require the unused footage from the event (kind of like a "consolidate project option").

I've done this to migrate a project from the office to my home computer and back with no issues.

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Scott Douglas

Is there no way option for the FCPX to not delete the source files?

Also, what are the reasons behind not being able to copy the source files through finder to another drive and copying the project folder as well to the next drive?

Brand New Website UP! - scottkdouglas.com

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Hey Scott,

Well, after scouring, and scouring the FCPX application, "Reconnect" doesn't seem to exist anywhere. :(

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Stefan Buhrmester

Haha. Yes. But, according to David Pogue, the lack reconnect is a feature, because it prevents the user from accidentally connecting the wrong media. Isn't that kind of Apple? :)

I heard the new version of Mac OS is unable to boot, so the user can't accidentally do something wrong.

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Tom Brooks

Looks to me like the database and media structure is extremely simple, organized and logical. You can do what you suggest. Manual excerpt here:

Back up your Project Library and Events using the Finder
To create a single backup copy of your Project Library and Events, you can copy the Final Cut Projects folder and Final Cut Events folder to the root level of an external storage device. When you connect the device to your computer, your device and the backup folders will appear in the Project Library.

If you are backing up incrementally, create a folder structure that helps you easily navigate through your backup folders. You could label the folders with the date you made the backup copy, for example.

Important: Final Cut Pro will detect project files and Events when they are in the correctly named folders at the root level of your external storage device. If you create multiple backup copies, you will not be able to access the backup projects and Events until you move a set of backup files to the root level of your external storage device. After you connect the device to your computer, your device and the backup folders will appear in the Project Library.

In the Finder, locate and select your Final Cut Projects folder, press Shift (to copy the selection), and then select your Final Cut Events folder.

Your Movies folder is the default location for all project and Event files:

/Users/username/Movies/

Important: If you moved a project or Event after you created it, it will not be in the default location.

Drag the Final Cut Projects and Final Cut Events folders to the root level of your external storage device.

The folders will be copied to your external storage device.

In most situations, viewing your backup projects and Events is as simple as connecting your device to Final Cut Pro and locating your backup project or Event in the Project Library. For more information about locating your project or viewing your project, see Common media management issues.

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Hey Tom,

I'm sure the manual does say that, but before I recorded the tutorial, I did just that. I copied both the projects and the media files from my internal drive to an external drive, and unmounted the internal drive (partition). When I launched FCPX, it found the project no problem but all the media links still pointed to "HD>kmcauliffe>movies>whatever". Problem was, the footage was now on "EXTERNAL>movies>whatever", and would not link back to the media files. The only way I got this to work properly was the way I demonstrated. Have you gotten this to work, or was that just from the manual? Thanks.

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Kevin, thank you, btw
by Bob Woodhead

Kevin, I need to step back & say "Thank You" for your initial post on how to move projects. You are absolutely correct, don't shoot the messenger! You took your own time to investigate an issue & offer a solution for some people. All I did was naysay. Which I think needs to be done, in the hopes that Apple takes a clue from the dissension. But my initial post was made on the heels of reading several "first look" reviews from non-professionals, and my hackles were raised from their cluelessness of what pro editors need to get their jobs done, and I think I vented a bit much on you. Sorry about that.

"Constituo, ergo sum"

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
http://www.CoolNewMedia.net
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
Panasonic HPX500

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Re: Kevin, thank you, btw
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Hey Bob,

Apologies are never necessary. It's great to see everyone so passionate about a program they love. Keep the questions and comments coming in. That's how better training is created.

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Jeremy Garchow

According to Apple's response to David Pogue, the option to “Modify Event References” will reconnect to other copies of the media on other drives after sharing projects/events. The copy of the media has to be on the destination drive, though.

i think you first have to share the events/projects as a reference, not "copy".

Quote:

"You can share your project, your files, or both. If the other editors already have the raw video files, you can hand over the project file. The other editors can inspect the Project Library; on its Info panel, they can click “Modify Event References” to reconnect the project to their own copies of the media files.
If the other editors don’t have the raw files, the various commands in the File menu let you move the project file, the media files, or both to another computer on the network, to another hard drive or whatever."

Jeremy

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Re: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by David Battistella

Thanks Kevin.

david

______________________________
Believe me. Everything is a lie.

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Re: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by David Battistella

Thanks for the Mythbusting Kevin!

David

______________________________
Believe me. Everything is a lie.

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It's still a myth
by Bob Woodhead

It's still a myth in my book David. Unless you see something I don't?

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Re: It's still a myth
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Hey Bob,

Thanks for your feedback. Don't shoot the messenger on this one. The reason that I like this method is that it is very reminisant of Final Cut Sever with checking in and out media. There is no "simple" way of just copying and relinking the media. Do I like the fact that it deletes your media? Absolutely not, but much like with everything else with FCPX right now, it's a new world of "Hopefully's", "Maybe's" and "I'm sure they're going to fix that, right?". My job is just to get the information out to everyone, so they have a clear understanding of the purchase they are or are not about to make. Keep the feedback coming, as I love it all, positive and negative.

KPM

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Re: It's still a myth
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Oh, and one other thing Bob. It was very difficult to write the last posting, as I was crying so much for the demise of Final Cut Server, I had to constantly wipe the tears off the keyboard. LOL

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Re: It's still a myth
by Bob Woodhead

lol... sorry about that bullet Kevin.... but this is software that many people's livelihoods depend upon. If anyone offers up a "solution" to issues being raised in the forums, it needs to be a solution for professionals, not hobbyists. And those posting the "solution" should include the caveats in the story. If you haven't read David Pogue's NYTimes article about FCPX, and the 6 pages of replies that came in in less than 16 hours, do so.... lol... the messenger was shot, filleted and set out at the curb!

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Bob Woodhead

Are you KIDDING me? You honestly think that method you outlined was "easy", "fast", or safe??? My god man, my jaw dropped when you showed how X DELETED the media from the "old" drive. WTH?!?! There is a REASON my data lives on a RAID5. When I take a project "on the road", it goes out on a single drive, but I'm comfortable knowing that all the important data is safe in the suite on the RAID. But you seem to have little concern that your weeks of work and camera files are all unceremoniously dumped off their protected storage so you can edit somewhere else?

So let's assume for a moment that you are a daredevil Type-A "damn the torpedos" type editor. Run n' gun out the door. But WAIT! That project you want to run out the door with has 450GB of data. Sorry, you missed the plane waiting for that "background" process to finish. While I'm sitting in business class editing, because overnight I copied my data onto an external drive, continued some last minute edits this morning, then just before leaving I copied just the FCP file onto a USB flash drive.

Don't see anything but Fail here.

PS - honestly, I hope I'm wrong, as I really DO want to keep using FCP.

"Constituo, ergo sum"

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
http://www.CoolNewMedia.net
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
Panasonic HPX500

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another example
by Bob Woodhead

Real example; my partner is working another gig out of town. He coordinated with client, and then shot, a certain project before he left town. I then took over the edit. Ran into some questions about a process flow being documented. He had taken a drive with all the media with him. I emailed him the FCP file, he rough edited in the correct process flow and emailed the FCP file back. I opened it, copied the relevant clips off the various timelines (multiple videos to be output) and pasted it into my current working version. Problem solved, downtime none, headaches zero.

And the FCPX way of achieving this?

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Re: another example
by Tom Brooks

[Bob Woodhead] "And the FCPX way of achieving this?"

Dang good question, Bob. Let's find out the answer. I sure don't get the FCX database yet. Editors are generally not database oriented people.

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Re: another example
by Tom Brooks

Bob, you might be seeing a myth where there is only fact. The answer to your question is in the manual in black and white. I don't have the time to reproduce it here. It's quicker for folks to simply read it.

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Stefan Buhrmester

How can you show us rubbish workflows like this and saying it's a good thing? Are you getting paid by Apple?

-2

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Kevin P McAuliffe

Hey Stefan,

Thanks for your feedback. Just like everyone else out there, I paid my $400 for FCPX, Motion 5 and Compressor. My job is to take the information and put it in the users hands, and let them take what they want from it. What I hope to accomplish is that I can show everyone something, and it gets them thinking on better ways to do the same thing. That's what teaching is all about. Again, I appreciate all the comments positive and negative, and don't hesitate to post again if I say something you don't agree with.

Kevin P McAuliffe
Creative COW Trainer
kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com
Twitter: @kpmcauliffe

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Stefan Buhrmester

I agree half with your point. It's good to teach new users about the functions software, but it's not good to knowingly teach obviously flawed workflows and present them as if it was something good.

But then again, maybe the way you present it is exactly what Apple's target audience demands. Ah well. Sorry for being harsh.

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Jeremy Garchow

Hey Stefan, that's enough my brother.

Kevin has taken time to explore new software and put it out there for all to see and discuss. In that sentence, discuss is the key word. He found a way to do something, he made a helpful video and has in essence said over and over "let's talk about this". In my mind, this is an extremely healthy way to start problem solving.

If you don't like it, there's a thumbsdown button on the bottom of every post.

There is absolutely no reason to take this personal towards Kevin. It is rude and unthoughtful. It does nothing to further the community besides create unnecessary hostility and anger towards individuals during what might be an already frustrating time for some people. You don't have to like FCPx, but please stop pestering Kevin for trying to do something right.

Express your comcern with the software itself and the people that create it on the Final Cut Pro feedback page.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html

Jeremy

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Re: Tutorial: Quick Tip - FCPX - Taking projects on the go with you
by Stefan Buhrmester

You're right of course.

Keving, I'd like to hereby apologize for the rude comment. Directing my anger towards you was wrong.