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FCP X backup
Have discovered a useful little workaround for FCP X’s lack of autosave feature: At any time you can drag a project file to another disk and it gives you the copy project options. Deselect copy renders and you have a copy of the project – obvious I know but interesting you can just drag a project.
I have one of the tiny 32Gb Lexar USB sticks permanently in my laptop and every hour or so just drag the project across to it.
One slight bug is that it won’t oversight the project if there’s already a copy on the backup disk, instead it adds a suffix “fcp1” etc to the disk.
Obviously its no replacement for autosave but it makes me a little bit more relaxed…
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor -
7 Replies
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[Michael Sanders] “Have discovered a useful little workaround for FCP X’s lack of autosave feature: At any time you can drag a project file to another disk and it gives you the copy project options. Deselect copy renders and you have a copy of the project – obvious I know but interesting you can just drag a project.”
Hi Michael,
Why do you copy to another disk? All you need to do is duplicate the project, with option duplicate project only selected and and include Render Files unselected.
I don’t do this all the time but when I am working an an alternative cut or a second version.
I generally like the constant autosave in FCPX, certainly saves time when you have force quit and relaunch (a frequent part of the FCPX experience for me)
But wouldn’t it be nice to have a project version autosave feature built back into the software.
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Hi Mark,
Maybe I’m being overly conscientious but I think its important to protect yourself from the following:
1) Disk failure
2) File corruption
3) Force majeure (i.e. accidental damage, fire & theft).I to like FCP X’s continually saving but I still wait to be convinced that the files can’t be corrupted. Duplicating the project to the same hard drive protects you from 2 but not 1 and 3. If you use a striped RAID 1 drive then your protected from 1 and 2 but not 3.
I edit at home and even though we have a burglar alarm theres still a chance of an intruder getting in (although the chances of them taking the external drives are small).
Fires do happen as well and I still remember when a London post house went up in flames and how much chaos that caused.
Personally I now copy the FCP X files to a small USB that lives in my computer all the time and then regularly copy the files over to dropbox.
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor -
Michael,
Thats a great tip, I might need to buy a new thumb drive just for backups.
Mikey B!
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Check Out My Sky Replace Tutorial
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This is a great idea but I’m wondering if having the project backed up will be of much use if disaster strikes and you don’t have access to the original event? There’s no easy way to reconnect media…
Jeff Kirkland | Southern Creative Media
video * audio * post * production
Melbourne, Australia -
Yep I hear what you are saying.
The secret to dealing with FCP X media is to copy the media directly into the FCP X Event. If you don’t FCP X just creates an alias the files that is very easy broken.
In theory if you then just saved the event file you could rebuild the event folder from scratch. I duplicate it to another disc for safety anyway.
It’s a pain especially if you’re using a format like XDcam HD that requires conversion but there’s a sort of workaround which is:
Create the event in FCP X, Quit and then use XDcam SW or whatever and set the destination as the FCP X event media folder. The downside to this is that when you open the event the “date added” data is missing.
There is is some weird reconnect stuff in FCP X but it’s automatic and quite hit and miss. I haven’t got to the bottom of it yet as I’ve been to busy on something else.
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor -
RAID 1 is mirroring, not striping. Software-based file corruption will mirror the corruption on the other drive. Striping won’t protect you from this either. I’m using RAID 6 since I have the headroom, which means the project will survive up to two drives failing concurrently. This could happen if one drive fails while another is being rebuilt, although it is unlikely.
For software induced corruption,, I’ve pointed Time Machine at my RAID and back it up to a separate 4TB drive. The media files never change, so they’re backed up only once. The metadata files are archived every hour, and I should be able to go back to any prior version supported by TM. That’s the theory anyway. I need to add a TM exclusion list for the Render Files directories in each event, or it will gobble up the backup drive. These directories can be regenerated by FCPX as needed.
I haven’t tested any of these scenarios however.
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Sorry I got it the wrong way round!
Yes of course, mirroring should in theory protect you from a hardware based disk failure. But yes your right the mirror will be the same so if the file does get corrupted so it won’t protect you from that.
Cor its a nightmare isn’t it! Comeback autosave..
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor
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