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FCPX project/event backup strategies?
I’ve seen some posts on the web that it is possible to backup/clone FCPX project and event folders via standard software like SuperDuper and still be able to load the projects successfully in FCPX upon restore.
Any definitive sense of if this is true or not?
Or is Duplicate from within FCPX the only way at this point?
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7 Replies
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I think the answer is partly in whether the software is backing up FILES or File Structures. Disk “cloners”(which AFAIKback up the entire drive strucure) should work fine with X. Backups at the Folder or File level would lead to possible issues, since those folders and files would need to be put back into the pretty rigid locations where X expects to find them in order to come back on-line.
As an example, if you do an initial Move Project command which set up the folder structure that X expects to see on an external backup disk – then moving additional items from your working Project and Event Folders into the SAME LOCATIONS on your previously setup backup drive – even via the Finder – is fine. The Structure is already in place so that X can see and work with the files.
If you just drag files or folders to a location that X doesn’t expect, then the backup Projects or Events won’t launch when the drive is attached.
Hope that helps.
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Thanks Bill, I would be backing up the exact file/folder structure from my working FCPX drive.
I have heard that FCPX expects a unique file ID that changes when you copy that same file to another drive such that when copied back (even if the same exact file/folder naming/hierarchy) FCPX does not recognize it as the same file… but I am not sure of this.
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[James Culbertson] “I have heard that FCPX expects a unique file ID that changes when you copy that same file to another drive such that when copied back (even if the same exact file/folder naming/hierarchy) FCPX does not recognize it as the same file… but I am not sure of this.”
That is not my experience at all.
I have multiple backups of my projects on multiple discrete drives. When I mount any of those backup drives, X running on my main machine shows me the new drive and all the projects on it as if they were again local.
So it’s perfectly happy to load and operate from a backup.
(Of course If I choose to mount more than one backup version, it means I as the operator have to know which file I’m working on if I don’t want to get “multiple different versions of the same project” going. But that’s another issue!)
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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“I have multiple backups of my projects on multiple discrete drives. When I mount any of those backup drives, X running on my main machine shows me the new drive and all the projects on it as if they were again local.”
And just to be absolutely clear, some or all of those were backed up independently (not from inside) of FCPX?
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I use Superduper to back up my external drive where the event and project files are stored. The backup disk then can be accessed by FCPX just in the same way as the original. I generally don’t open FCPX with the original and backup both on line just so things don’t get confused. Anyway, it works well that way.
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I use Chronosync to make a copy of my editing drives to a backup folder on a Drobo unit. That way FCPX doesn’t get upset if the Drobo is plugged in.
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor -
Cool. Thanks all.
James
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