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“Consolidate” Does it MOVE or COPY
Cowfolk,
Apologize if this has been answered elsewhere, but I keep reading the Apple docs and can’t get a clear answer.
Here goes . .
10.1.1
I have a library and event of a finished program. The footage is primarily on external RAIDS but there are some small bits of VO music and some stock footage that was copied into the FCPX library (which also lives on another RAID)
I’m now ready to make a duplicate library of the final project, export an XML, copy the used media to a portable drive and finish in Resolve in another room. So, I duplicate the library to the external drive, which brings some clips (likely the stuff in library that I described earlier) and symlinks for all of the media that resided externally.
So, the question is . . if I “consolidate the external event” DOES IT MOVE or COPY the media from their original location. In other words, I simply want it to copy all the media for those symlinks to my external hard drive so I can walk that drive with all the necessary media over to Resolve and do my grade, but I’m uncertain whether the consolidate function will MOVE some of the footage leaving the original online edit in disarray because I moved some of the original footage.
It would be idiotic if it moved the footage but given what I’ve read I’m not confident that it will “only copy” and not move footage and I’m very reluctant to screw up a near final program to find out.
Again, this ought be dead simple and maybe it is, but I need some reassurance before pressing that little “consolidate event media” button.
Thanks all.
Post Office Editorial.
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4 Replies
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Consolidate moves footage out of a library. But when you consolidate it INTO the library it only copies. It’s a safeguard because there’s no way of knowing if another library is accessing that external media.
If you want to take something home with you, I’d just create a library on another drive, and within X, copy over what elements you need. Events, projects, etc.
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Thanks for the quick reply Bret, very much appreciated.
So, in my scenario . . I’ve copied an existing library with events/projects etc. over to an external drive (no media). But the media that the Library referenced was on external RAIDS (mostly). So, if I’m reading you correctly, you’re saying when I “consolidate into” my external drive,(i.e., select library on external drive and say “consolidate” FCPX only copies the media from the RAIDS to the external drive, essentially filling in the symlinks with real media which sure does make sense.
Did I read you right? And . . . are you pretty sure?
Thanks Bret.
David
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Yep. And for the reason you’re mentioning. If it moved it, then your other project would suddenly lose all it’s media. But it’s safe for it to move it OUT of a library, since no library can link to media in another library.
Just try it with one clip, then reveal in finder.
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Let me clarify as well. But I think you have it figured out. If you’re already using external media, and you move a file from one library to another library, it copies the file, but the file it copies is just a link to the external media. So THEN a consolidate IN to your new library would have to be done. It won’t move that media. It’ll copy it.
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