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“Smart” Update library backup
Hey Peers!
I have this process where I bring my active project drive home from work after doing this-or-that in the library, and I copy it to a backup drive on my home computer.
My traditional way of doing this is just to overwrite the previous backup with the updated library using a copy drag in Finder. However, since I consolidate my media, this takes way longer than it needs to, since the only differences are typically some XML and maybe some render files.
I need a better way! I want to “smart update” the backup library. Mirror it to the new version without re-copying ALL the media. I used to use Path Finder, which could do this (if I expanded the package contents first), but I no longer license that app. The “ditto” command in Terminal also seems to overwrite all the media.
I use the paid version of SuperDuper! to back up the backup drive using its “Smart Update” function, and this goes real fast, understands FCPX library packages, and does exactly what I’m talking about. The only problem is, it can only do this on complete volumes. Not individual libraries/files.
Has anyone discovered a smarter way to back up their libraries?
Thank you!
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5 Replies
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Your library is automatically backed up in /Movies/Final Cut Backups. This is only the edits, not the media or cache. In Finder you can manually copy those to another drive for off-site storage.
However you cannot override or control the backup frequency. It generally happens about every 10-15 min if you are doing active work.
If you want total control over manual library backups, you’ll need to use a “lean” library where media and cache are stored outside the library. This can easily be done with the library inspector storage settings “modify” command. You define folders for library and cache, then consolidate, which moves all the media and cache out of the library to those folders. Subsequently the library is very small and can easily be duplicated in Finder by selecting the library bundle, right-click and pick “duplicate”. I do this frequently when working, especially before loading an XML file.
If you want to work at home, you’ll need a separate copy of the external media folders, then take your lean library home. Ideally the drive and folder names should be the same but they can quickly be relinked if not. However you cannot relink proxies.
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Thanks, Joe! Good knowledge.
What I’m looking for is more on the lines of a file copy solution than an FCPX solution. I’m a big fan of consolidated libraries for various reasons. Just wondering if anyone knows a Finder/Terminal trick, or even a third-party app, that can skip unchanged files inside a consolidated library.
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Jeff, we use Goodsync to backup and move media and libraries here in our office. It only backs up new or changed files.
We have a large Jellyfish shared storage system with four editors working during the day. At night Goodsync backs up our working files to a cheep local raid I striped together.
Before we had our Jellyfish, I had a local drive in each edit suite and every night Goodsync would sync them all so in the morning we all had access to everything.
Goodsync costs $50 but has a trial that you can test.
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Perfect, thanks Chad!
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[Jeff Feaz] “if anyone knows a Finder/Terminal trick, or even a third-party app, that can skip unchanged files inside a consolidated library”
I personally would be uncomfortable committing to that workflow and becoming dependent on it. You are talking about making differential backups within the library bundle. The library internals are not documented and are subject to change without notice in future versions. The library contains many different SQLite databases which may have thousands of pointers to media files inside a library.
Since most UNIX-heritage operating systems don’t support mandatory file locking, it would be easy to differentially back up part of the library bundle while it was being changed by SQLite. Unless you carefully tested each and every backup you would never know this.
If FCPX was positively shut down before the backup it might be OK. But if that did not happen, say due to a hung shutdown of FCPX, the backup could be subtly “poisoned” and you might not know it.
The automatic backups in /Movies/Final Cut Backups are transactionally secure. You could back up *those* to external media, along with any new media files. If the media files are stored external to the library that is easier. This also keeps the library small and easy to back up at the file level.
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