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What’s up with FCP file structure?
I’m an editor who works primarily in music videos, documentary, and reality television. For long-form, I usually break the show down into multiple .FCP project files (i.e. one for “interviews”, one for “b-roll”…) which saves me from getting outrageously large .FCP sizes.
Well, my last project started off as a “sizzle reel” and grew into a full-length pilot episode with piles of footage…all different codecs, sizes, frame rates, and a countless number of sequences and multiclips. It got to a point where, predictably, performance suffered as my .FCP project file approached 400MB!!!
After going through and exporting XMLs of my bins then creating .FCP files, like I normally do for long-form (i.e. one for “interviews”, one for “b-roll”…), guess how big my resultant .FCP files added up to?
9MB.
400MB to 9MB just by resaving? What on earth is the .FCP file structure doing?
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3 Replies
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Every sequence you make…adds to the file size. Have a large sequence, then duplicate it to make changes, then the file size REALLY goes up.
STILLS, TEXT, SPEED CHANGES…none of those have actual media, they are all contained in the system file. Have lots of those? Then you have a larger project. Duplicate a sequence with a lot of those…whooboy.
The amount of clips you have makes the project larger too.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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That doesn’t explain why a single project is 400MB, while all the same content (sequences, bins, clips) separated into different projects creates a grand total of only 9MB all together. I’ve always been suspect of large FCP projects myself.
Bob asks a very good question. I’d love it if someone knew the answer. Maybe Andreas Kiel will read this.
Sean
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The question is a rhetorical one. The FCP project file format is private to Apple and not open to third parties. Only a handful of Apple employees will know the answer and they can’t talk.
Martin
Digital Heaven, London UK
Unique plug-ins and tools for Apple Pro Apps
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Avid2FCP
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