media manager issue

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matthieu Foulet] “Now I have one master clip “clip_1.mov” and 4 subclips that I have renamed this way:
clip_1A
clip_1B
clip_1C
clip_1D “

Subclips are not new media, they are tied to the original clip. If you delete Clip 1 from your media drives, all four of the subclips will go offline. What you want to do is create new Master Clips. This creates new media.

In a word, Media Manager sucks. It has never really worked well in the history of FCP, parts of it are ok, but for the most part, you’ll find most pros just avoid it altogether.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Matthieu Foulet]

Unfortunately, creating new Master Clips will never make new files on my drive, that’s why I tried to use Media Manager.
The only way I have found to achieve what I was trying to do is to create new subclips from my master clip, place them on the timeline, manually make them independant clips, and then use Media Manager to copy them in another location, renaming clips and deleting unused parts…

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matthieu Foulet] “Unfortunately, creating new Master Clips will never make new files on my drive, that’s why I tried to use Media Manager. “

Um, that’s what Make Master Clip is designed to do. Create a new media clip independent of the original. I’ve done this numerous times.

From the Manual: Use the Make Master Clip command: This command is available in the Modify menu if
you select an affiliate clip in the Browser. It turns an affiliate clip into its own master clip.

Or, you can also do this, also from the Manual: Use the Duplicate as New Master Clip command: This allows you to duplicate a master clip in the Browser as a new, unrelated master clip. The new master clip is unaffiliated with the original master clip.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Bob Pierce]

But, is it actually creating new media for the clip or simply pointing to the same original media? I tested this out using both methods (duplicate as a new master clip and Make master clip), used “reveal in finder” and found that in every case, they were still pointing the the same media. Making sublips has no effect on this.

Forgive me if I’m missing something here. I’ve read the manual over and over and I still find this whole Master/affiliate thing puzzling and frustrating. I’ve never been able to come up with a way to do what Matthieu is trying to do, other than manually exporting out each clip and reimporting, which is nutty.

Bob

Mac Pro 2.66 – 8GB memory – Mac OS 10.5.2 – Quicktime 7.4.5 –
Mac Book Pro 2.33 Duo –
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[Jeremy Garchow]

I’d layout my subclips in a timeline and Media manage that sequence using the ‘copy’ function.

Jeremy

[Lars Fuchs]

Other posters have commented on the marginal utility of the Media Manager. I haven’t used it since version 4.x out of fear. I dutifully hew to fcp’s implicit mantra: media management=more drive space.

While its possible that media manager in newer versions of fcp work better, my big beef with it is that it doesn’t (or didn’t used to) manage file-based media. In other words, stuff you imported as qt files, as opposed to stuff you captured from a timecoded tape. When I tried to media manage (consolidate, in avid-speak) a project, all the file based media remained in its original form. Only tape-based media were reduced to just the media used in the project (with handles, of course).

I suspect this is due to timecode, that only media with timecode can be handled by media manager to consolidate or decompose. Now that file-based acquisition is becoming the norm, I am often dealing with QT files from P2 etc. I know that these files have TC, and so MM might handle them fine. However, I cant afford to risk major downtime from MM quirkiness, so I avoid using it with client media.

I’d be grateful if anyone out there can shed some light here.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Lars Fuchs] “I suspect this is due to timecode, that only media with timecode can be handled by media manager to consolidate or decompose.”

I think this has to do with not having a reel name rather than timecode. elements that don’t have a reel name (such as rendered motion graphics from other programs) simply get passed by FCP in their full glory by FCP.

Also, what I think we are missing here, is the value of log and capture. If you something called Clip 1 and that movie is 20 minutes long and you need to keep 20 seconds of it, it is best if you log and capture in small chunks, that way you can just toss what you don’t need. It takes some time up front, but saves you time in the back end (like you are seeing, Matthieu).

Also, with P2 footage, Log and transfer has a way of setting in and out points so you bring in only specific media. As far as trimming it with the media manager, I haven’t tried that, but I bet it’s possible.

Jeremy

[Andrew Kimery]

[Jeremy Garchow] “I think this has to do with not having a reel name rather than timecode. elements that don’t have a reel name (such as rendered motion graphics from other programs) simply get passed by FCP in their full glory by FCP. “
Correct. As long as the clip has a reel number associated w/it the Media Manager will properly ‘cut it down.’

-A

[Bob Pierce]

I’m with Lars. I’ve basically considered Final Cut a program that likes you to keep all the media (in its glory, as Jeremy says). Fortunately, storage is cheap these days. The few times I’ve experimented with Media Manager to consolidate projects it hasn’t gone well. Media Manager is nice to create a backup of your project, with all the far-flung jpegs and audio files, etc. neatly compiled onto a single drive in a single folder. For this, it works great.

Bob

Mac Pro 2.66 – 8GB memory – Mac OS 10.5.2 – Quicktime 7.4.5 –
Mac Book Pro 2.33 Duo –
FC Studio 2 (Final Cut 6.0.3) – Kona Lhe
Adobe Production Suite CS3 –
Sony Multiformat 14″ – Panasonic 42″ Plasma –
Ikegami HLDV7 – PVW EX-1

[David Roth weiss]

And, I’m with Bob. Bob you’ve pretty much laid out Media Manager exactly the way I think about it. And, with 1Tb hard drives selling at $109 all over the place, why would anyone want to tinker with the weaker aspects of MM anyway?

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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