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FCP capture preferences
Right now we have FCP set to capture Pro Res 422 (LT) footage to one scratch drive location. That footage is then moved to its final storage location where it will be used for multiple projects from that folder.
Two things I would like to get feedback on involve the capture location and the file naming.
Is there any easy way to quickly and easily move the location of the capture scratch (where the data for the captured video is written)? Some content needs to go on drive x and some needs to go to drive y and some to drive z, but right now the capture scratch is set to w. I am fine with leaving the rest of the FCP scratch data (autosave, thumbnails, waveforms, renders etc.) on the w drive, but don’t want to move the footage from one location to another every time I capture.
The other is likely a more simple question. The files that are being named by FCP using the naming structure set by FCP, but it includes a ‘-v’ on the end of the file name. Any reason? Is that removable?
thanks in advance,
matthew -
7 Replies
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In your Log and Capture window, 3rd tab over is ‘Capture Settings’ You can change your Capture Scratch there without having to go into the System Settings.
Are you capturing separate audio and video?
Are you seeing a -v1, -v2, etc? This is usually indicative of FCP splitting your files up because the drive it not formatted correctly, and the file system on the drive can’t handle the size of 1 file – thus, it gets broken up into smaller parts. If you do a GET INFO on the drive, what FORMAT is it listed as? MAC OS EXTENDED is preferred, but MAC OS EXTENDED (JOURNALED) is not the end of the world. FAT or MS-DOS is BAD for large files.
~Michael
.: michael kammes mpse
.: senior applications editor . post workflow consultant
.: audio specialist . act fcp . acsr
.: michaelkammes.com -
Good idea on the capture location with regards to not going insto system settings.
As for the file naming, it is just -v on all of them. (no numbers) We are writing to an SMB as part of IT’s main server. I would guess it may be FAT32, but even so, I don’t expect to write a clip over 4 GB. All of our capturing is short clips.
thoughts?
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It’s an SMB volume? So it’s a network SMB volume? Do you have a SAN via ethernet?
That’s another can o worms. For now, try test capturing to your local drive (your OS drive). It’s NEVER a good idea to do this, but for testing, it will certainly shed some light on the subject. See if the -v persists.
~M
.: michael kammes mpse
.: senior applications editor . post workflow consultant
.: audio specialist . act fcp . acsr
.: michaelkammes.com -
Ok, so it’s an SMB volume as part of our whole SAN via ethernet. Formated CFIS. No file size limits that I know of. And I just went to capture and it’t no longer doing the -v thing on the smb server space nor the local drive. Not sure what that was about then.
Back to the other topic of selecting where to write to, I can’t achieve what I want after all. I have one server volume with many folders we want to archive specific footage in. Say all on drive X. FCP won’t allow me to set up multiple scratch locations (specific folders all on drive x) saying that there is already a scratch set to that drive. No way to set multiple scratch folders within the same drive? Also, any way to capture directly into the selected folder and not to a folder FCP makes and labels?
thanks
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As long as the ethernet is for a SAN and not a basic NAS you’re OK. Basic NAS’s don’t give enough throughput for sustained captures nor playback, unless you’re running some sort of SAN solution on top of the (Editshare or ISIS for example)
FCP will always create that folder structure…you can only choose the parent folder those auto created folders reside in. If you uncheck the check boxes within the Capture settings window, and add other folders for the other created media, (audio captures, video renders, etc) this wil allow you to organize to your specifications a little bit more, but the folder names FCP creates cannot be changed within FCP.
I don’t see why you can’t change the Scratch volume and subfolders via the Capture Settings tab. True, there is no quick way to do this, you’d have to navigate manually to each folder(s) for the capture(s), but it does allow you to change drives and folders on the fly.
If you are attempting to do this and getting error messages, test it locally and see if that clears up the issue.
~Michael
.: michael kammes mpse
.: senior applications editor . post workflow consultant
.: audio specialist . act fcp . acsr
.: michaelkammes.com -
Nope,
FCP doesn’t do multiple scratch folders on the same volume.
You may have had ‘capture audio/video’ on different drives turned on (hence the -v)
Last, you should only change the items with the checkmarks – the ones without them are mostly small files.
Best,
Jeff G
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[matthew rivlin] ” Say all on drive X. FCP won’t allow me to set up multiple scratch locations (specific folders all on drive x) saying that there is already a scratch set to that drive. No way to set multiple scratch folders within the same drive? Also, any way to capture directly into the selected folder and not to a folder FCP makes and labels?”
That is correct, FCP will now allow multiple capture locations on a single scratch disk.
FCP will always pre-set the Capture Scratch, Render and Audio folders on the Scratch Disk.
I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend your shop getting a copy of Shane Ross’ Getting Organized in Final Cut Pro. It’s an outstanding product on the organization within FCP along with many strategies for planning and executing a project.
https://store.creativecow.net/p/63/getting_organized_in_final_cut_pro
We keep a copy here and refer to it often.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.
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