Trying to understand PROJECTS in 10.1

[Bret Williams]

You don’t. There is no mounted project repository like pre 10.1. As for scrolling up in your library, you might find it more useful to make a keyword collection or event called projects.

Oddly, iMovie actually has the feature you request. It has 2 additional elements in the library browser. It has an icon called all events and another icon called all projects. They will display all the events or projects that are mounted. So, even then, you’d have to load up all your libraries and then choose all projects. And even then they’re not scrubbable like the project library was.

The project library was neat, but my guess is that it sucked up computer resources like nobody’s business, otherwise we’d have scrubbable projects still.

You can’t even shift click multiple libraries in the library browser to search two at once. Apple has definitely tackled the issue of dealing with too much data at once. Even if you load up all your libraries, functions are only affecting one library at a time.

[James Ewart]

You can make an Event containing all your projects in that Library?

[Bret Williams]

Sure why not? That’s what Apple does when it updates your events/projects to a library. Puts all the projects in an event. Just make an event and drag your projects into it.

I basically have been working with 2 events in my library. One called Media and one called Sequences. The Media event has all my keywords, which I use in some ways like bins.

I think Jeremy mentioned this once, but it seems like Libraries are redundant. They really have no need to exist. Apple could have made events serve the same function. In which case I’d make a keyword collection called projects or sequences.

But that’s just for the way I work. Each library is a job for a client, and all I really need is one event if I put projects in a keyword collection. But some may want to create a library for each client if they have ongoing work or some other workflow where it makes sense. So I guess Apple have given us many organizational constructs to work within.

[James Ewart]

And this might be a bit of a tangent but if you copy an event to another Event in the same Library both events will contain original clips but will not take up any more space…weird.

just don’t know how you tell FCPX to copy original clips rather than sym links if the clips in the Event are already Sym links?

[Bret Williams]

The library is the container for the media. I don’t think X will let you have 2 discrete copies of the same file in the library. Since events are just substructures of the library, and you could select just the library, that would mean that 2 identical files would be displayed. But maybe you can highlight the duplicate event and consolidate it to get rid of the sym links (aliases? ).

Wait, so I just tried this. Dragging one event to another in the same library simply merges them. Which makes sense. Only 1 instance of a file allowed. How did you copy one event to another and be left with 2 events?

[Oliver Peters]

I would caution that an FCP X 10.1 Library is more or less like an FCP 7 or Premiere Pro project. It’s a self-contained data file in the form of a bundle. You can reveal the structure using “show package contents” but it’s intended to stay closed, just like an application file. The key difference is that you have the option of copying media into the Library and that renders and transcodes are in it, as well.

Just like it is not advised to have a ton of FCP 7 projects open, I would also advise against having any more Libraries open than you need at any given time to get your edit done. FCP X has had and still has a problem with RAM leaks.

A friend e-mailed me this morning about slowness at the end of the day that was fixed with a restart. He had a lot of Libraries open. That’s the same problem X has had since the beginning.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[James Ewart]

probably a mirage but following a Ripple tutorial which I am watching for the third time.

Maybe I am confused and they are talking about different Libraries on the same drive having the same clips but sharing them by hard links though some kind of wizardry.

sorry if I have confused

[Bret Williams]

A screen shot-

[Brett Sherman]

If you use “external” media rather than “managed” media. You can make a library that contains all of your finished projects. When a project is completed drag a copy of the event containing your project into that library. That way you’d be creating a repository of projects. Of course to make changes you’d have to go find the original library, but at least it would show you at a glance all of your projects.

[James Ewart]

even with External Media it seems to give the option of copying original media if you want it to which answers the question i think.

a bit of trial and error yet I think.