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Copy a Project and referenced media to another drive
The updated library model for media management in FCPX was a big step forward, but there is one specific scenario that has cropped up a couple times which I’m hoping I might be able to get some advice on.
In the past with FCP7, when I have needed to send a sequence out for grading – instead of copying ALL of the project’s media to another drive, I use the Media Manager tool to only COPY the referenced media in the final cut. This was obviously a time saver and also meant I could be 100% sure that nothing would be offline.
I know, that with FCPX, if all of your media has been managed by the software (and thus, copied into the library file) – if you then copy your final sequence (or in the new terminology, “project”), into another library on another drive, the media will be copied along with it (am I right so far?).
However, there have been times where media has not been managed in this way…I always keep the folder structure for any project organised in a standardised way for consistency (and efficiency) at the Finder level, so I had not really wanted files to be moved outside of that. Choosing to work in this way seems to mean you lose the privilege of FCPX bringing the media from a copied sequence with it when you paste it in a new library…the pop-up appears asking if you want to copy the referenced media but also says that “external files will be left where they are”.
Is there a way around this without having to let FCPX move all of your media into the Library file from the get-go?
It would be better if there were a simple option, as in FCP7, to COPY a sequence and it’s media onto another drive, regardless of whether the media is external or located/managed within the library file.
Maybe there is some option for this that I have missed…I’d be grateful for any insight.
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17 Replies
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Yes. You have to do it in two steps. Copy to the new library as you said. External media will remain external. So yes, both projects will link to the same external media folder(s)s.
Highlight the new library. Go into the library properties inspector palette. Click modify settings and choose from the media pulldown where you want your files to reside. Click ok and back in the inspector choose consolidate. It will copy all the external files to the new location you have chosen.
HOWEVER – you WILL lose all your custom folder organization.
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This is where I am thinking it’s a cool idea to delete all the media in the relevant Event because it only actually trashes what is not in the timeline.
So it’s an instant tidy up isn’t it? Having copied the Event to a New Library, delete everything. Empty trash. Bingo.
Is that brilliantly simple solution or fundamentally dumb?
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Thank you Bret! Greatly appreciate your advice on this…I couldn’t find a way to achieve this anywhere else online.
This is going to save me endless amounts of time and frustration.
As part of a future upgrade, some kind of option to the limit the copied media to within specified “handles” (i.e. only copy the portions of clips used in the sequence plus a handle of 2 seconds) would be even better some point down the road (I won’t hold by breath) but for now this method will work great.
And it’s not really a problem to lose folder structure on the secondary drive being sent out, so this is the perfect solution.
Thanks again, I owe you a pint!
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Nevermind, I’m an idiot.
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[Adam White] “As part of a future upgrade, some kind of option to the limit the copied media to within specified “handles””
You can actually… if you use “Clip Exporter”. Only then you lose the FCP X project, but could have it create an AE project etc. etc. depending on where it’s going to be graded.
I’m thinking that the trimmed media thing isn’t at the absolute top of Apple’s list, no, seeing what the ¢ to GB ratio is nowadays. But who knows.
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It’s always been an issue with long gop media in other apps too like Premiere too. I think they may have it now though. And in FCP 7, well, it didn’t even support long gop for the most part, and if I remember correctly, the few long format gop formats it did support, didn’t get clipped to handles. It was easy to clip off pro res or dv. But other formats would have to get sent through the compression wringer again, taking lots of time and losing quality.
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You can delete your last post.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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Bret, Just to be clear, not that you haven’t been: If you create a new library, and then copy a timeline (project) to it, then the new library will only consolidate media that is used by the timeline (project) you copied over to it? If so, will the consolidation move the used media of the project out of its original location (or will it copy the media from its original location). If it moves it, it will mean that the project in the original library will have media go off line? Correct?
Hope that’s clear cause my head is spinning.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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Copy.
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Copy just the used media. Cool. Great tip. I can see using this late in the game to clean things up when a project is done and there is no great need to archive unused media.
Also:
I’m dealing with a similar issue. I want to travel back and forth home/work with a project that is growing in size – over 2 TB so far.. I use unmanaged media stored in organized folders. I have a set of labeled folders of P2 card copies. These are ingested into a Media folder and the library references the media folder.
If both computers have copies of the P2 cards and they are labeled the same, could I travel with just a copy of the latest project file on a flash drive and have both computers open the same edited version of the FCP X project?
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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