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FCP Browser Scripting
Hello Cow Community,
I’ve got a question about running scripts in the FCP browser. I’ve done all sorts of work on a feature – I’ve manually entered all the scene, shot, and take data into their respective columns and created bins for each scene with selects etc. Now as the icing on the cake, I’d like to change the clip names for each of these files to reflect the data I’ve already entered so it’s even easier to use when it’s down in the timeline.
What I tried is to export a batch list, pull it into Filemaker Pro and run scripts on the batch list to change the clip names using the info from various columns. When pulling the batch back into FCP:
1. The folder structures are no longer intact – it just imports all the files.
2. The clips are no longer connected to their sources and are not easily reconnected due to the clip renaming.What I’m wondering is – is there a better way? The Filemaker Pro route seemed ideal since the tab-separated document allowed me to script using fields. I imagine the xml won’t be so fiendly. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to finish up this project?
Thanks for the feedback,
David -
6 Replies
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Meaning you want to change the name of the files in your capture scratch to match whats in the browser?
Select a number of clips in the browser, right click choose from the drop down, Rename > File to Match Clip.
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No, I can’t change the actual file names since I am using file based media (Red transcodes). What I’m trying to do is actually very simple, it is the implementation of it that seems difficult.
Again, I just want to change the clip names in the browser. I already have input the scene, shot, take info in FCP’s respective columns, now I want to transfer that info over to the clip names in an automated way. It’s not going to be in the FCP drop down menu, I don’t think (if so I would have found the answer already!).
Let’s say scene is x, shot is y, and take is z. I want to be able to write a script that quickly changes the clip name to xyz.
I know people are about to write scripts for FCP and I’d like to write one myself is what this comes down to. If anyone has insight into how to implement something like this I’d very much appreciate it!
-David
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[David Michael] “I know people are about to write scripts for FCP and I’d like to write one myself is what this comes down to. If anyone has insight into how to implement something like this I’d very much appreciate it!”
XML is probably going to be the way to go.
I’d check in with Video Tool Shed as well. Bouke has some programs that will do this, or very close.
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
Jeremy
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I appreciate the feedback. Now since I’m starting from scratch I’ll have to ask you the obligatory stupid questions.
Is there a good fcp-xml reader out there that will allow me the freedoms I require to automate these name changes? Or perhaps, how do I make or find a good XSL stylesheet for Filemaker?
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[David Michael] “Is there a good fcp-xml reader out there that will allow me the freedoms I require to automate these name changes?”
It’s not only the name changes, it’s being able to reconnect the media after the name change, of which, Bouke has a utility for (reconnecting media via tc and reel).
https://www.videotoolshed.com/product/41/fcpreconnect/3
Text Wrangler is a decent XML browser.
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Thanks for the info, let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes…
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