Working on a project on multiple macs?

[Russell Lasson]

You need all of your media and project file on an external hard drive. This really starts getting into how you’ve organized your project (or if you’ve organized your project).

You can select everything in your browser and select media manage – copy. This will copy everything to where ever you tell it to.

Then copy the project file to the hard drive. Open it. Select everything in your browser. Select File-Reconnect media. Now choose the footage that is on the external drive.

It takes some learning to get right.

I keep everything organized by folders in OS X as I edit. It makes moving/managing media a lot easier.

-Russ

[Mike Cooper]

1. Do you recommend just capturing directly to an external hard drive to make this process easier?

2. What is considered the “browser?”

3. What do you mean by “organizing?” What types of conventions do you use?

Thanks for your advice!!!!!

[Russell Lasson]

[MikeFromLA] “1. Do you recommend just capturing directly to an external hard drive to make this process easier?”
It depends on how you’re going to edit your project. Most of the time we capture to external drives or RAIDs.

[MikeFromLA] “2. What is considered the “browser?” “
The Browser is where all of your clips are in FCP. On the top of the window it says “Browser.”

[MikeFromLA] “3. What do you mean by “organizing?” What types of conventions do you use? “
There are a lot of ways to organize a project. One simple way is to create a couple of folders for the project. Put your project file in one. Put what I call NONTIMECODE MEDIA in another. That’s everything that didn’t come from tape. Another for your capture scratch (everything that came from tape.)

The rule you want to follow is to copy whatever you are importing into one of these folders BEFORE you bring it into FCP.

Many editors drag things from all over the place (desktop, external drives, iTunes library, etc.) into FCP. Then they move the project to another computer only to find out that they didn’t have all of the media that they were using. They left it on the other computer.

I haven’t got it yet, but Shane Ross has a DVD about getting organized in FCP. It could be well worth your time and money. (It’s sold through the cow.)

Good luck!

-Russ

[Mike Cooper]

One last one if you do not mind. When capturing to an external drive:

System Settings>
I select the first line and

[Russell Lasson]

That’s right. Give it a shot. You’ll learn as you go.

-Russ

[Mike Cooper]

Thanks again.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

Conventional wisdom on this forum and others is to keep your application and your media files on SEPARATE drives, to avoid any potential operational conflicts. I keep the FCE application on my PowerBook at home AND on my G5 at the office. I keep all project material – including media files – on a portable, external hard drive, that travels between home and office, giving me the option to continue projects at either venue. Upon startup at either location, I may be asked to reset my scratch disk. Other than that, it’s easy from there. The portable hard drive becomes your “briefcase.” If I am flying out-of-town for any reason, I copy the current project from the external drive to my PowerBook and take it on the plane to continue editing.

My organization is still a work-in-progress, but I’ve found the overriding key to working quickly and efficiently is KNOWING WHERE YOUR STUFF IS. Sample project folders might be sorted like this: GENERAL MOTORS > VIDEO > FCE PROJECTS > 05-11_2029. The first folder has the client’s name. The next folder lists the type of media. Next is the application folder, such as an FCE project, a Movie project or a DVD project. The numbers for a particular project iteration refer to the month and date, then military time that the project was saved. This way, all iterations of the project will automatically be sorted chronologically by the operating system, and you will know that the last iteration listed is the most current.

Best of luck.