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FCX folders explanation please?
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[Andy Branner] “HUH?? Gee, I dunno… maybe because you (until the next version) DO have to use certain folders and folder structures for FCP to recognize your events and projects?? Therefore that comparison is nonsense, sorry”
My point being that when a Project and Event folder are created in the user folder it is a similar situation to the Documents folder being created when the OS is installed. Text documents will automatically be saved to this folder unless you determine otherwise. So you don’t have to use the Documents folder for documents. With FCP X you can create Project and Event folders on whatever drive you need them to be, for instance on a single external Firewire drive or on a Thunderbolt RAID. They don’t have to be in the user’s Movies folder. Therefore….
[Andy Branner] “And I don’t see what is so terribly complicated about the whole matter. There are TWO places where event and projects have to be (and will be created) to be recognized and loaded into FCP.
1. in the active user’s MOVIES folder, or
2. the top level of any connected disk. Period.”I agree with you 100%.
anickt
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[Seth Marshall] “I’ve heard the response, “you just need to get used to the way FCX works”, but I can’t think of a more unhelpful response. Please tell me WHERE I can read information on how it’s supposed to work because unless there’s someplace to learn and figure this out no favors are being had. Yes, i’ve searched the forums, yes I’m googled it, yes I’ve read the manual–can you believe those folders don’t even exist in the manual!?!?”
How about in the manual under the listing, where you media files are located? I’ve never looked at the manual. Having used other edit systems I’ve never needed to. But found this in less than 30 seconds. So the manual covers it. We’ve covered it. And free tutorials on the net cover it. All good?
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Hey Seth,
Apparently, nobody bothered to really read and check what you were asking. My setup is a MacPro with a pile of RAM, a decent video card, 3-disk RAID, and a fairly small SSD for OS / apps. I connect various network, portable, and not-so-portable drives during the course of a day. The RAID is always online.
Because the SSD is so small, and because I don’t edit off my boot drive, I NEVER select it for Events or Projects. I get that some data needs to live there – Motion Templates comes to mind. Now, everybody, follow me here…
None, zero, nada, not even one of the Event folders on any of my drives contain the three folders that Seth mentioned. With the lone exception of my ~/Movies folder. They exist in the one place I never use for Events or Projects. They have varying numbers of folders with cryptic names and two files in each of those. It would appear that FCPX is using them – sometimes, but definitely not always. I’ve got 5,000 items in there for a total of 110 MB.
So now I’m curious, too.
Doug
Doug Metz
Anode
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The mystery, Andy, is that these folders do not exist anywhere else. If they were event or project specific, should they not be present on the drives where those events and projects live? Have a look for yourself. I have never had an event or project on my boot disk, let alone moved one from there, yet here these folders are in ~/Movies -> Final Cut Pro Events:
Camera Render Files -> Thumbnail Media -> 385 folders created from 7/12 through 10/13
Effect Browser Thumbnails -> 30 folders created from 7/12 through 9/12
Render Files -> Peaks Data -> 1,200 folders created from 7/12 through yesterday7/12 is when I got the SSD and re-configured the system, post-FCS3. And as Seth pointed out, no mention of these in the documentation.
I suspect that if I delete them, they’ll regenerate as needed. But that’s just a guess. I can understand that Effect Browser Thumbnails should live here, as they’re system-specific. But certainly not the other two.
Doug Metz
Anode
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[Doug Metz] “Camera Render Files -> Thumbnail Media -> 385 folders created from 7/12 through 10/13
Effect Browser Thumbnails -> 30 folders created from 7/12 through 9/12
Render Files -> Peaks Data -> 1,200 folders created from 7/12 through yesterday”They are what they say they are. Not everything gets stored in the event or project folder you determined. Effect browser thumbnails are simply that. In the effect browser, there are thumbnails. That’s what those are.
Render files, peaks data I think has to do with audio peaks, waveforms, or something. Could be for audio analyzation. Camera render files, thumbnail media, might be when you open an import window and it creates all the thumbnails for camera files. Or it could be stabilization data. I don’t know exactly, but it’s that sort of stuff. And it doesn’t take up much room.They’re just caches. You can delete them and they’ll get recreated as needed. I mean, 110MB. Who cares, really. It’s like worrying about how big your preferences folder is getting.
The stuff that is NEEDED for projects is contained in the event and project folders.
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[Bret Williams] “They are what they say they are. Not everything gets stored in the event or project folder you determined. Effect browser thumbnails are simply that. In the effect browser, there are thumbnails. That’s what those are.
Sure. I said as much in my last post…
Render files, peaks data I think has to do with audio peaks, waveforms, or something. Could be for audio analyzation. Camera render files, thumbnail media, might be when you open an import window and it creates all the thumbnails for camera files. Or it could be stabilization data. I don’t know exactly, but it’s that sort of stuff. And it doesn’t take up much room.
I guessed as much, but as has been stated earlier, if it belongs to a specific event or project, why is it stored on the wrong drive? And why isn’t it documented?
They’re just caches. You can delete them and they’ll get recreated as needed. I mean, 110MB. Who cares, really. It’s like worrying about how big your preferences folder is getting.
The stuff that is NEEDED for projects is contained in the event and project folders.”
And this was the object of the exercise. I was simply trying to get everybody onto the right question. The OP asked about these folders, and was bombarded with answers that didn’t address them. Sometimes condescendingly. The space is negligible, sure. Knowing that your database isn’t going to blow up if you delete them is the tidbit I was after.
Thanks, Bret!
Doug Metz
Anode
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https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/344/6304
for one.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_x_media_management_stone.html
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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It’s not the Events or Projects folders that were in question, per se. It was the fact that FCX has been generating files on the boot disk (Camera Render Files, Effects Browser Thumbnails, etc.) that was the basis of the OP. Bret and Andy both noted that they can be safely deleted, so, question answered I guess. The link you provided in the previous post, though, has Bill suggesting that they not be deleted. Maybe that’s part of the reason Seth was confused.
The file structure makes sense, if you have projects and events on a disk. The part that doesn’t make sense is the fact that it’s still writing Peaks Data and Camera Render Files to the boot disk when there are NO projects, events, or media on it. None of the links provided (or the FCX documentation) cover those folders.
They don’t take up much space in the grand scheme, so I don’t particularly care if they’re there or not. Would be nice to have some official word on when and why they’re generated though, given all the attention paid to ‘file structure’.
Have a great weekend, everybody – drinks are on me!
Doug Metz
Anode
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Hey Bill,
I think this link is very helpful in understanding FCP X’s relationship to its database.
Particularly for those that want or need to play under the hood a bit.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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