FCP Project Sharing

[Mark Raudonis]

Mr. Spot,

What you want to investigate is called “X-SAN”. There’s plenty of info about it on the apple site. In Avid terms, think of it this way: X-SAN = Unity. FCP Server = Interplay (sort of)

Know that FCP handles media organization and project info MUCH, MUCH differently than Avid does. So, when your true “purple” buddies tell you, “FCP can’t share a project”, tell them “It DON’T MATTER”. With FCP and X-SAN, the entire SAN is essentially the project. Media is accessible WITHOUT a project attached to it.

For more questions there also is an X-SAN forum on this site.

mark

[Spotcharlie]

I understand that the media is accessible, which makes it possible for two editors to edit separately with the same footage. For instance on an Editor to Assistant Editor Level. Lets say I have my project and the client wants two cuts, cut A and cut B. Editor just finished cut A and is moving onto Cut B, in the mean time Editor wants Assistant Editor to export Cut A and make a DVD and a Beta Layoff. Can the Asssistant Editor open up the project while Editor is still editing cut B and do the export and Layoff? Also another example. Editor is working on a cut while working a tape comes through the door and Editor needs to keep cutting and Assistant needs to open the project and digitize the new tape into the same project. Is that possible, to write to the project simultaneously while the editor is also editing? Thanks for your responses.

[Bbalser]

Yes, you can.

[Shane Ross]

Two editors cannot access the same project at the same time. BUT, if you duplicate the project, then someone can open the duplicate while you continue editing on another.

Working out a good and proper naming scheme for these duplicates is pretty important too.

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Jeff Carpenter]

Speaking as someone who uses Avid and FCP daily, here’s my advice:

In a multi-user environment, think of “FCP Projects” in the same way you think of “Avid Bins.”

That’s the easiest way to get your mind around the concept. Whatever you would have called your bins in Avid, just make those all different projects in FCP. Since you can open multiple projects at once in FCP (unlike Avid) you can essentially treat each project AS a bin.

At that point pretty much all the same restrictions and possibilities exist on each platform. You just have to keep my equation in mind to figure out what you can and can’t do to a FCP project with multiple users.

[Chris Paul]

Check out Final Cut Server:

https://www.apple.com/finalcutserver/

It may be what you are looking for.

Chris Paul
POV

[Mark Raudonis]

Jeff is correct.

One of the biggest problems for Avid2FCP editors is this notion of the “project” being sacred. FCP is NOT project centric. It could care less about a “project”.

When we digitize media to our SAN, we don’t even keep the project that created that media. We organize the SAN in a logical manner where EVERYONE can search and find media. An extra benefit of this Quicktime based media is that you don’t even need FCP to watch it. In fact, you don’t even need a mac. Some of our story department “taps in” to our SAN via gig e on their Windows machines and they can view cuts, original footage etc.

If you’re familiar with Avid’s “Interplay” you’ll know that users of that system are now suddenly awakening to the notion that “project based media” can be very restricting.

A “shared storage” workflow can be set up quite easily with FCP, but you’ll have to “think different”.

Mark