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Workflow Question with Archiving in Mind
Hi,
We recently decided to make the switch to FCPX from FCP7 after the 10.0.6 update. I was hoping that someone might be able to point me in the right direction to help us adapt our FCP7 workflow to FCPX.
My main concern is how we archive completed projects so they can be rebuilt later in case we need to revisit or update them. Previously in FCP7 we just deleted our scratch disk files and moved the project file along with any other project assets to an external hard drive that contained the original media. This way everything was in one place if we had to rebuild the project using the batch capture feature.
My current planned workflow for FCPX is the following. Can someone please tell me if this looks right? I tried it on a very small and simple project and it worked, but I just wanted to be sure I’ll be able to reconnect everything at a later date before I try it on a larger more complex project.
Here’s our current X workflow.
Shoot
Copy original media from SD, CF or P2 cards to a named project folder on archive hard drive 1A (Archive Drive 1A)
Make duplicate of named project folder to archive hard drive 1B (Archive Drive 1B)Create FCPX Event and Project using a separate hard drive (Media Drive)
Import media into project (“copy original media” and “create high quality media” buttons are checked)
Edit and deliver final project to clientDelete all render files
Delete all media in transcoded media folder
Delete all media in original media folderCopy named event and named project folders in their entirety (minus media deleted above) to a subfolder, “FCPX Docs” contained within the named project folder on Archive Drive 1A. Duplicate this folder to Archive Drive 1B.
Now, If I want to recapture the media at a later date, I move the project and event folders back to the appropriate location on the Media Drive. Then in FCPX I open the import media window and point to the location(s) of the original media on Archive Drive 1A to show FCPX where the files are located. I then select all clips that need to be reconnected: click file -> Import -> Reimport from Camera/Archive and wait while it’s imported.
Is this the best way to do this? I’ve seen that another option is to create camera archives in FCPX import media window, though I’m not sure I understand the benefit of this workflow step.
Thanks for any light you can shed on this subject.
Andrew
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3 Replies
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Seems WAY too complex to me.
Here’s what I do.
FCP-X lives on my main system drive. I use that drive ONLY for storing small projects like voiceovers or simple spots. What’s important is just a functioning version of the program that can launch and load.
Whenever I need to work on a significant project, I load a Small Firewire 800 drive and use it as the “home base” for that project.
I can have as many of those as I like in play for projects, clients, or whatever.
If a new project has modest size and scope, I create it as an INTERNAL STORAGE FCP-X project by reading all the original footage, graphics, music files, etc INTO the event. That way the project is self-contained. Regularly I back these up “in progress” to a separate backup drive using the MOVE command and copy ALL the assets into the first backup so that there’s a total clone of the state of the project in place. (If the project is REALLY critical, I might even use the MOVE command to make a tertiary copy to yet another drive for extra safety)
If the project is of LARGE size and scope, I make sure all my field footage is contained in DISK IMAGES – that I open onto the desktop from an external drive (and back up separately). When I open these large projects, I open the FCP-X project with all the event clips as references rather than clips contained in the Project Library itself – then by launching the Disk Images, the clips all populate the event library automatically and I can go to work.
It keeps the Event/Project lean and mean no matter how large it gets. And I can control how much footage loads by how many disk images I launch.
The first way, the footage LIVES with the project. The second way the footage is contained in the disk images outside the project, but can be linked easily into the EB via launching the cloned disk images.
That’s it.
I exclusively use the Move command to make my event/project clones. I rely on the fact that X will “instant load” both projects and events upon drive mounting, so long as the structure/location of the files on those external drives is what X expects.
I try to NEVER use the finder to move stuff. Only the MOVE command. That’s what keeps the structure right for the program to be able to “see” projects and events on separate drives and load them rapidly.
In essence, I see folders and old “finder” processes for backup as largely unnecessary. FCP-X expects a particular structure for the location of it’s assets that the program organizes internally when you import digital assets.
Essentially, X needs to organize it’s files INTERNALLY – which means absolutely understanding the “presence” of structured storage units like the Event and Project Libraries. It’s totally happy if those libraries are CLONES rather than a single individual file – so that’s something that can be LEVERAGED to make your life easier through whatever backups you need.
I find working this way HUGELY easier than the old way I worked in Legacy where I had to manage and “relink” assets all the time separate from the projects they were attached to.
It’s even more useful when you think of how material from multiple Events can be used in multiple Projects.
FWIW.
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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Bill,
Thanks for the reply. I see your point about only moving projects within the FCPX application rather than with the finder. I think the solution may be for us to just have an FINAL CUT EVENTS and FINAL CUT PROJECTS folder on each archive drive and copy the completed projects within FCPX to the archive drive that also contains the project.
One thing that seems unclear to me is your process for creating disk images. When we make copies of our media cards after a shoot we just copy the everything on the card to a folder named YY.MM.DD_ProjectName_CameraName_Card#. Do you create a disk image immediately after your shoot, copy that disk image to the archive hard drive and then mount it whenever you need to access the footage?
Lastly, do you delete your transcoded media once you finish a project? If so is there a way to do this within the FCPX application or would I have to do that through the finder?
Thanks again for your help.
Andrew
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[Andrew Poag] “Do you create a disk image immediately after your shoot, copy that disk image to the archive hard drive and then mount it whenever you need to access the footage?”
Absoultely. The central great thing about disk images is that they perfectly preserve the original state of the card they’re made from. That means not just the clips themselves, but the thumbnail (THM) files, the metadata (INFO) and anything else the card contains. So launching them (even from the finder) appears to FCP-X exactly as if the original card was mounted.
It removes all risk that some clueless knucklehead someday will go into a folder and copy JUST the clips themselves, and finder copy them separately – forever disconnecting them from the rest of the data that was originally stored with them by the disk. BTW, once you create a disk image, you can rename it exactly as you do now, the finder name is NOT what X uses to ID the virtual device upon disk image launch so what you name it on your desktop is irrelevant.[Andrew Poag] “Lastly, do you delete your transcoded media once you finish a project? If so is there a way to do this within the FCPX application or would I have to do that through the finder?
“I don’t simply because hard drive space is so cheap. I like having projects available for quick revision, so my preference is to have all my video stored in the event if possible including the transcoded media. But others who don’t have that much space available or who travel alot and don’t want to manage multiple road drives might do differently. I totally understand that.
If you decide to “finder delete” transcoded media from your Events, it’s safe so long as the original media is available for X to use to calculate new transcoded copies if you require that, but know that the transcoding process can take a while, so it’s a balance between convenience and space.
Personally, I never know if I’m going to use a particular piece of media in perhaps a complex composite, so the ability to switch the timeline from Original to Proxy and back is something I value(when i have room to maintain both) since it insures that if I run into a section that bogs things down because I’ve inadvertently composited a bunch of high-rez footage into a sequence, a one click switch to Proxy can smooth things out. Plus in X the proxy presentation is so good I often find I’m not aware i’m actually roking IN proxy mode based on the screen display.
Just little things to get used to about working in X.
Hope that helps.
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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