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Newbe advice on workflow please
All my work in done on Laptops, both PC and Mac storing each project on a pair of external disks -one to work on, the other as a mirror backup. I therefore have a number of pairs of disks, one pair for each project.
If these are formatted exfat they fit in my Samurai Blade recorders, my PC and mac edit machines with no file size limit. I flip between the Mac and PC depending on what app I choose to use for the job in hand. I now am in the process of trying to learn FCPX in place of Legacy FCP and am confused about the new apple workflow for FCPX.
Each of these disks have everything relating to it’s project, media, edit project, AE & Motion files, renders etc…etc so is self contained. What I’d like to do is continue this with FCPX but don’t know how to organise the folders. If I create an FCP library for each of what I would call a project and put it on the external disk, can I then put ..events..projects and all the other FCPX new designations in it and have it still self contained?
As you’ve guessed I’m sure I’m totally new to all the changes forced onto by Apple and am trying to get a handle on it. I’d be really grateful for some guidance on how to get my new FCP ‘project’ self contained.
With thanks and sorry for the ramble.
Alan (UK)
XdcamEx & HD, C300, DSLRs, all sorts of production & post gear and a very untidy desk. On the East Coast of the UK
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9 Replies
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Thanks Noah but I don’t think these help an awful lot. They just tell me how easy and automatic it all is without giving any advice as to where FCPX stores the stuff and how to control it. I just hope I get the hang of it before I give up trying.
Alan
XdcamEx & HD, C300, DSLRs, all sorts of production & post gear and a very untidy desk. On the East Coast of the UK
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So am I right in thinking that the Library is the top level of the heirarchy and if I put an FCPX library on each of the external disks, I could treat that like a good old fashioned project?
Alan
XdcamEx & HD, C300, DSLRs, all sorts of production & post gear and a very untidy desk. On the East Coast of the UK
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For your purposes, a library IS a project. Unlike legacys method of putting capture scratch folders somewhere else, in X all the media is contained inside the library bundle. However the files inside that bundle can be actual files or aliases to files anywhere on the system. If you opt to “Leave files in place” upon import they will be aliases.
So if you want everything wrapped in a neat little package, it’s actually much much more organized than legacy. Just create a folder on your external. In that folder put all your media, whatever else you have related to the job, and the FCP library.
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Yep- your question requires a basic understanding of the Library structure before getting into workflow. But generally speaking if you want each of your projects to live in its own hard drive separate from all others, then starting with a Library and placing media inside it will allow you to achieve what you want. That said, FCPX is actually much more flexible and automated in terms of asset tracking than 7 was so it’s worth spending some time learning its advantages vs. attempting to 1:1 recreate your prior workflow.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training -
Thanks to you both that’s just what I hoped to hear. Actually the various types of media that I use, BPAV-XDcamHD-DSLR-Samurai ProRes-C300 all reside in their own folders on these drives along with the relevant Legacy FCP scratch disks, so knowing that I can link this media to the FCPX library on the disk an so keep it self contained is wonderful. I generally edit Edius/Premiere on the PC and these apps all have their own folders as well in the structure.
This way I can keep my old workflow while getting up to speed with FCPX.
Good news and many thanks
Alan
XdcamEx & HD, C300, DSLRs, all sorts of production & post gear and a very untidy desk. On the East Coast of the UK
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Before completely looking that in I’d also recommend looking at- https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12702
Some camera formats need to be transcoded before FCPX will edit them, others can be edited directly from the original folders. So you’ll want to be certain on each flavor before you settle on a workflow mode.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training -
Yes thanks Noah. I generally transcode to either ProRes422 (Edius & Mac) or CanopusHQ if PC alone. The beauty of ExFAT disk format is that these disks are equally at home on a Mac or PC with big files.
XdcamEx & HD, C300, DSLRs, all sorts of production & post gear and a very untidy desk. On the East Coast of the UK
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True but transcodes made on Edius won’t necessarily be usable directly in FCPX. X likes to do this itself automagically.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training
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