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FCP Media Question
So i’m mainly an Avid user, but every once in a while i get a job in FCP. After NAB this past week i was actually really excited to hear about their advancement in working with multiple resolutions in the timeline. That was one of my biggest complaints, so that’s solved. So i may have missed this somewhere or maybe not. My next question is about media management. So whenever you import a qt into avid it processes it then saves it to the designated disc for the project. In FCP when you do this it just reference the file from the source location (ie desktop). Lately I’ve been manually dragging a qt i’m going to import into my scratch disc and then from there into my project. Is there a setting somewhere that if i drag a qt from the desktop into FCP, FCP duplicates the media puts it in a scratch disc and now references the clip in the scratch disc. I think if this doesn’t exist it should and it would shut up a lot of people like me when they bitch about FCP’s media management. Thanks.
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10 Replies
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No there’s not I’m afriad. FCP doesn’t ever change the imported file to another media file like Avid used to for me. But I suppose if you were handy with Apple scripting… you could manage to copy a file there from the desktop or something… FCP isn’t scriptable nor is FCP 6.
I just get tidier and put the media in a findalbe folder in the first place, then import it to FCP. Usually keep a media file folder for each project that’s used for pics and other CGI media. Either with the project file on my startup disk or on a scratch disk which contains the captured media for same project file.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Yeah, like Jerry said, the only reason AVID does what it does with the file is
it’s having to change it to AVID’s format. Since your files are already quicktime
FCP doesn’t have to do anything to them, much less double the space on your
drives for the same file, which is what AVID is doing.It becomes second nature after awhile to put whatever file you have imported,
graphics or whatever, into a folder on your Media drive, then import to FCP
from there. I don’t put all my files into a scratch FCP file. What I do is have
an FCP Media folder, a graphics folder, and audio folder all on my RAID.
Each of those folders has a separate folder per project. It makes it real easy to
keep track and also do backups to one firewire drive per project.Dan
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you know that wouldn’t be an altogether bad option.
it would be a simple user preference, akin to the one in iTunes for managing your Music libraryimagine a simple checkbox preference “Copy files to Scratch disc when adding to project”
you should drop that into the feature request bucket over at https://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html
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unfortunately Apple don’t yet provide hooks into FCP setup data, so there’s no way of discerning the current Scratch disc settings other than manually setting them
if you’re ok with that then you could create an AppleScript droplet for the desktop called “Add to Project” or some such, which could copy the drpped file(s) to your Scratch disc folder (as set in the droplet preferences) and then tell FCP (via XML) to import it into the current open project … esentially you would have is a template XML file to which you would add the file’s pathurl and then tell the Finder or FCP to “Open” the XML.
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“shut up about FCP’s media management” by doubling the space it takes
for video files? This is good? How?You guys are making it much more difficult than it needs to be.
Just put the files on your media drive and import. Why all the fuss to
make it similar to AVID which COPIES the files and DOUBLES the space
requirements. Somebody mentioned iTunes as a good example?
iTunes music files, one 5 minute song takes up 6 MBs maybe,
is quite different from one video clip that takes up maybe 2 gigs.As an editor it’s your job to follow the files. Media Management is
part of your job. AVID just adds to the waist line. You still have to know
where your files are. Make it simple. Your backups and archives will be much easier.Dan
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No offence Dan, but I think you’re possibly missing the point here.
Charlie was asking whether something was inherently possibly with FCP, and we’re just pointing out how to acheive that if that is what he truly wants to do. He is already doing the obvious (copying to scratch disc then importing) … now he’s looking for a way to make that 2-step process into a 1-step process.
The iTunes analogy is just an example of how a built-in function of that nature might be enabled as a user preference in FCP, should Apple choose to implement it … and moreover, it’s an illustration of the fact that they already have the code to do it. As a user preference it would, of course, be entirely up to you whether or not to use it. -
Yes, essentially it is doubling your footage. But like me and many other post houses our media storage is separate from the main cpu storage such as an xserve, avid unity, or even just a raid connected to a single computer. So if you think about it, even if you drag a file from your desktop onto your raid it’s duplicating it to the raid, so you’re doubling it already. I’m just looking for simple way to ensure that when importing media it’s put it the correct place on disc. I don’t think it would be an unreasonable request, cutting down steps to take, and making it even more stable for multiple editors to work with the same media without having to worry what’s where and who moved it. The itunes analogy is a great one. All that i’m looking for is a checkbox in preferences to say “allocate imported media to scratch discs.” problem solved.
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What’s wrong with copying the media to a scratch disk in the first place, and then not using the desktop for this at all? That way you have no redunantcy of media, and you don’t have to ask FCP to do something it’s not designed to do?
That said, you can certainly suggest this in the feedback link to Apple… it’s in the FCP menu.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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well then i guess i’m just lazy. and the stability of knowing that the program is doing it. What if there’s a project and 3 different editors are working on it and just one of them forgets to put a new piece of media in the right scratch disc, then you gotta track it down get to the right computer then move it to the right scratch disc, or FCP could do it for you automatically the first time you import it. I guess this is more of an issue for someone like me who works in an environment where one system is not designated for one specific editor who is responisible for all the meda. well we’ve beaten this horse long enough, i supplied apple with my feedback. i guess it’s manually copying things for now.
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not what you’ve asked for, but here’s an Apple tip that might make this easier for you:
do you know about App switching with Apple Tab?
hold Apple, hit the Tab key
you get a display of all your open apps
keep hitting Tab till you land on the app you want
release the keys.ok, so here’s how to make that even better:
with FCP you can easily drag & drop files direct from the finder into it;s browser, (or even timeline if you wanted)
after you copy your file fro the desktop to the new location,
grab it
start to move it away,
Apple Tab FCP into the fg, then drop the new clips into the browser.cheers,
nick
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