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Project file structures – time for a rethink?
after my first full year of using FCP as the main workhorse, i am hoping to have some time in the new year to rethink how my files are organised and structured.
Its only now that i can look back and see where changes could be made to improve efficiency, backing up, etc, but also i find a few questions that must be asked to avoid future hiccups. So i turn to you..my illustrious editorial peers to request your indulgence and experiencial advice to help alleviate those irksome ponderances!
Is it a good or bad idea to have a new capture scratch folder (and all the other related folders such as render files, etc) inside each new project? – I cut tv commercials (over 200 last year) and end up with a very large capture scratch folder. I would prefer to have individual folders for each project that contained everything for that project. I currently use the structure that FCP created and as a result have files all over the place!
Is there a way to rescue sequences that have become corrupted and refuse to open (giving the “error – out of memory” dialogue)?
Are there any other things that might throw me a curve ball when trying to rethink my file structures?
thanks in advace
Adam
Editor/Mixer
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK -
6 Replies
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Adam,
Shane Ross’ DVD entitled “Getting Organized in Final Cut Pro” is right up your alley. https://store.creativecow.net/p/63/getting_organized_in_final_cut_pro
BTW, the DVD is narrated in American, so its possible you might have difficulty with some of the difficult words such as “color” (quite similar to your word colour actually), but I’m sure that once you get the hang of American you’ll quickly realize how similar it is to the native language spoken in your country.
Happy New Year!!!
David
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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funny thing Dave, i thought most Americans spoke English, they just spelt it wrongly!!
i’ll look into shanes dvd. i do think i have spotted a flaw in my reasoning though – the capture scratch et al are not project specific so to go mucking about with them could cause a few crazy mishaps!
adam
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Adam,
If you begin every new project by choosing File–New Project, then select an Easy Setup, FCP will ask on which drive you wish to put your capture scratch. If you simply select the media drive, but not directory, FCP automatically creates a directorories named for the project where it stores capture scratch, render files, etc. If you have been specifying more than just the drive or the array then you will end of with a whole hodge-podge of directories.
BTW, English was derived from the American language, I think that’s why they’re so similar…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Adam,
It sounds like you’re trying to use an “avid” centric way of approaching your FCP project organization. I would suggest that you try “thinking different” and use the basic Mac file structure to organize your workflow. FCP can easily open up multiple projects, so you can have, for example, a “digitize” project, an “Effects” project” a “music” project, and so on.
Bottom line, use the basic Mac file structure to organize your work. It’s much more flexible than trying to make FCP to it all for you.
Mark
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I, like you, have many projects on the go simultaneously and always overlapping. From my FCP -day one- I wanted to make each of the projects self contained so created a template which included a ‘FCP files’ folder for the scratch and all other housekeeping stuff.
This has worked well for me so far but I currently mainly work SD (pal)
I understand that current thinking is that the FCP project files shouldn’t be on the media raid, but this has never presented a problem for me. I do back these files up elsewhere though.
Alan
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thanks for the replies….
currently, i do tend to use the mac file structure. I was never a fan of avid and was glad to move away from it when i got the chance.
All my project files are stored on the system drive, everything else goes on the raid. I too work in sd pal, although i am about to start using HD source files as these do allow me greater latitude to resize and recompose shots (i tried it on the last ad and its a great option to have!).
My discomfort comes from having everything go into one Capture Scratch / Render Files / etc.
I want to move to a more project-centric (that sound made up – must be americaneze!!) workflow.Basically, i want to make it easier to archive an entire project (going onto both lto-3 tape and a separate harddrive) before removing from the Raid.
It sounds like my original idea might be workable – separate file structure for each project – so i’ll give it a try soon.
muchas grassy ass for the thoughts chaps, and happy new year to you all.
adam
Editor/Mixer
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK
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