[Mike Ostrowski]

Thanks for the reply,

When I say duplicates, I mean different files with different names. The file hash and clip signature will be different because the file was saved/exported after being cut in FinalCut. It seems the only data that remains similar is the In & Out of the clip.

So for example, the In & Out of the 60 sec clip will be 54:50 – 55:50 and the 20 sec clip would be within the In & Out range of the full size clip, for example 55:20 – 55:40. In this instance, the file size, duration, In & Out, file hash and clip signature would all be different, making it difficult to find these clips as duplicates.

Just to test, I’ve been going through a 2500 clip catalog to see how many of these partial duplicates I had. Turned out there were over 150, taking up about 10GB in total. Considering the size of our library, if these aren’t cleaned up, they will end up wasting a lot of storage space.

[Mike Ostrowski]

Thanks again for all the pointers.

What I end up doing is the following:

1. On Volume 1, tag all of the clips with relevant information gathered from the original filename or folder structure within a temporary, locally saved catalog.

2. Using bulk edit and increment following pattern, rename all of the clips to the standard naming convention and choose to rename the files at the OS level as well.

3. At the OS level, copy all of the newly renamed files to Volume 2.

4. Create a catalog on the CatDV Server and import all the clips that are now on Volume 2. None of the metadata is saved, but no worries!

5. Open the temporary locally saved catalog, sort the clips by name in alphabetical order.

6. Select All and perform a copy command (Ctrl C) from within the local catalog

7. Open the Server catalog and sort all clips by name in alphabetical order.

8. Select All and use Edit –> Paste Metadata…

All done!

Since the clips are in the same order on both catalogs, the metadata will be pasted onto the correct clips, no matter if they’re in a different volume location.

[Mike Ostrowski]

You’re correct in assuming that we don’t have worker node, unless it automatically comes with Server (which we have) and the IT guy never deployed it.

Thanks for the tips, but each of the ways you suggested causes the clips to go offline and lose their proper media path in the catalog as soon as I rename them on the volume. Is there no way to rename files on the volume through CatDV Pro so it keeps the proper media path? I know I can use increment following pattern in Bulk Edit, but that only works for the Clip “Name” which isn’t the actual filename on the volume.

I was thinking of going the XML export route, but again, I run into the same issue. When I export the XML with the metadata, CatDV associates a media path with the clips in the XML. If I rename those files on the volume, the XML import won’t work. Unless I’m missing something?

Thanks again!

[Mike Ostrowski]

I can. but that only highlights clips one by one, which gets annoying if you want to highlight a large amount. The issue doesn’t occur if you use CTRL/Command