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FCP X as a database
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[alban egger] “To create a bin of clips with specific format or resolution created on a certain date with a mix of keywords and maybe marked as favorites in an instance out of thousands of clips and dozens reels and cameras is only possible with a database working in the background.”
I think pretty much all bin-side (for lack of a better term) NLE functions are only possible with a database working in the background.
[alban egger] “But once you are used to sort your media with metadata, there is no way back… It might seem to be Gmailish- “search – not sort”, but it is a reality in many productions nowadays.”
I didn’t mean it as a criticism. I think “search don’t sort” is a great idea.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Oliver Peters] “How is FCP X any more of a database than Media Composer or Premiere Pro with embedded XMP data? Somehow I simply don’t see that as being true. For example, there is ZERO database functionality outside of the Events currently visible inside FCP X at any given time.”
Well, FWIW, I got this from someone who’s quite familiar with the guts of FCP X…
It’s more of a database than Premiere Pro because XMP metadata is only in the files and read into the App. PPro is a project based (binary file) application. Media Composer is fully database driven.
Each Event in FCP X is a database as is every Project. You can select multiple Events and search across all as if they were one database (try that in PPro or Media Composer)
None of the three apps has any database functions outside the limits of the project (or Events)Again… FWIW..
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
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[Walter Soyka] “I’d be very curious about your opinion on SQLite performance at scale. As others in this thread talk about larger numbers of events and projects (with unknown amounts of footage, ranges, and edits), does scalability come into play with SQLite versus other database solutions? How big does the data set have to get before SQLite struggles?”
Another FWIW post, Not sure this is an answer, but just some more info from someone who knows the guts of X pretty well…
The database is CoreData – underneath is probably SQlite but it’s not an SQlite database per sé. FCP X is built mostly on Core foundations in the Operating System, not directly rolled stuff. (Which is, of course, the right way to build on OS X).
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
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Come on Aindreas, it can’t be that hard 🙂
Read Charlie’s post below and all is explained. You’re creating walls were there aren’t any.
Only thing that is different really is that sequences are now outside the initial Event, formerly called Project.
Actually replace the word Event by Project and Keyword by Bin and be done with it. But this would actually use limiting language on a structure that is far more powerful than your ‘single file’ world.
Happy editing
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[Aindreas Gallagher] “An edit project – a super structure file – a single instance effort that took place and is named specifically, down to number code, that needs to be whole and unto itself, able to be called, in its entirety, months or years after, is brass tacks as a component in that environment.
You need to be able to call, and dismiss, pretty much the entirety of an editorial effort, by calling a single name/file.
Not pick though an insane hodgepodge of de-activated event footage archives and projects.”
Why pick through a hodgepodge? I may be missing something here, but just consolidate your cryptically named project(s) with their associated cryptically named event(s), including all the media or just the clips you’ve used, stick the newly created project and event folders onto a Disk Image, give it the same cryptic single alphanumeric name, and stick it on your tape drive.
In the distant future, teleport or ride your hovercraft to the Bureau of Archives, find it, open it, and pick up where you left off. The only thing missing in X’s consolidation routine vs. classic, is the ability to add some handles to your trimmed media if you choose that option. My guess is it won’t always be missing… There’s probably a way to do it with XML too, but you’d have to have all the media accessible somewhere…
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
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No offense, but you are being fed a bit of a spin answer 😉
[Charlie Austin] “You can select multiple Events and search across all as if they were one database (try that in PPro or Media Composer)”
Since a Media Composer bin is pretty much like an FCP X Event, you can, in fact, search across bins using the Find function. PPro though is a single project file like FCP 7. However, PPro does use a filtering functions for search/finds.
[Charlie Austin] “Media Composer is fully database driven…..
….None of the three apps has any database functions outside the limits of the project (or Events)”Seems to reinforce exactly what I said in the beginning. 😉
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “No offense, but you are being fed a bit of a spin answer ;-)”
Possibly… 🙂 but it is an answer. lol
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
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[Oliver Peters] ” They apparently had to field a lot of user problem support calls with 7 because of that issue.”
Boggles the brain really. The event and project structure is real close to what you find in the Finder and its all in one place.
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[Oliver Peters] “Since a Media Composer bin is pretty much like an FCP X Event, you can, in fact, search across bins using the Find function. PPro though is a single project file like FCP 7. However, PPro does use a filtering functions for search/finds.”
Actually, that comment got me to thinking – which is hard 😉 – But… An avid project is the master “container” that holds all your bins, sequences etc. An FCP X project is the same thing really. If you consolidate an X Project, it recreates all the Events (bins) that it contains… Maybe we’ve been looking at the X hierarchy from the wrong direction? I mean, if you do all your cuts in CC’s in an event associated with a Project, isn’t it pretty much exactly the same as an Avid project?
The analogy doesn’t hold for what i do, which requires multiple different projects be produced from the same Event but… if you’re cutting a Feature or a single show, why not do all your rough assembly (reels, scenes etc) in CC’s in the Event(s), then do a final assembly in your single Project. In that scenario, isn’t an X project almost exactly like an Avid project? When you’re done, consolidate your master project to a Disk Image for archiving. Done…. It would also make the event huge and unwieldy, just like in FCP 7 or MC! I dunno… my head hurts… 😉
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
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[Oliver Peters] ” Simply tossing out a new interchange format like FCP X XML, with the attitude that others should support it, does us no favors.”
Totally. We should be able to use Dynamic Link everywhere.
Oh wait. It’s proprietary.
[Oliver Peters] “I’m saying Apple should learn to be part of a larger community and take responsibility for those interchange tools. It’s a process that served them quite well with FC Studio and helped them compared with Avid. Now they’ve basically taken over the role of being the proprietary leader. We are all only willing to deal with it because their version of proprietary is somewhat more “open” and “ubiquitous” than that of others.”
We’ve talked about this before. I think Apple develops as much as they need to do and then they SDK the rest.
It allows them more focus, it gives users more options and potentially better support via third party, and Apple gets the benefit of developer feedback.
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