Foolproof FCP Archiving in 3 Steps

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Any chance of extending the spring Media Management promotion? Really love your tutorials on KZbin btw! Thanks!

[@SuperMizoka]

Thanks for this super helpful guide. Question: what if I need to move the original media to an external hard drive, would FCPX hard links auto-reroute to the original media in the new location? Thanks

[@markspencer1203]

Yes it would link to that new location - and the media would still remain on the original drive until you delete it manually in the Finder.

[@snells-window]

This was excellent! Thanks you so much Mark. In the old FCP Studio when archiving you used to be able to just save any used media and specify in seconds the "handles" it would also save on the ends of each clip. Is there no way to do this now within FCPX? It appears you might only be able to do it with plugin Work4 that you mentioned.

[@MixiMera]

Wow, I bet this is going to save me a lot of space. Just hope I can remember it all. 😊

[@bradstudio]

Sometimes it's great to go back to the basics and refresh yourself. Thanks!

[@JasonParkerMagic]

Random sorta-not-related question 😅 During the video, you mentioned in passing that you don't have any Multicam clips present in your Pizza project.... but ever since I learned how you can do color corrections inside the Multicam clip and then use the Multicam clip in your main Project timeline.... I've never gone back! I simply ALWAYS use Multicam clips for everything. The beauty is that the Multicam clip contains both your synced-up separate sound file AND any color corrections. All in one place... and any changes to color corrections ripple throughout the whole project, without having to select individual cut up clips on the Project timeline. So my question: When would you ever NOT want to use Multicam? (Or rather... would you agree that 99% of time, it DOES make sense to use a Multicam clip?) ps. Great video, I always love how you spell our your motivations throughout your tutorials... they have that perfect human touch! :)

[@markspencer1203]

Jason it's a good point, seems a lot of folks are doing that now....most benefit would be in an interview type situation where a single clip is being cut up in the main timeline - but those are always multicam shoot for me anyway.

[@xxphactor]

@@markspencer1203 You can also hit "Open Clip" and make corrections in the clip that way also.

[@markspencer1203]

@@xxphactor Yes that is a great point

[@JasonParkerMagic]

@@xxphactor I tried "Open Clip" just now... but unfortunately adding a color correction inside of there only applies to the current clip. It wouldn't also update the other 100 chopped clips from the same video... like it does in Multicam.

[@swallowmedia]

Immensely helpful video 👍🏼

[@mtamech535]

Holy mind blown...I've been using this for almost 4 years now and nobody has ever been able to answer how I can delete project files for 1 project (instead of going into the final cut original media folder and deleting each one individually). If this does what you say it'll do...I need to spend money on something of yours to pay you back. I have 4 SSD (2 2TB and 2 1TB) that I'm always filling up with data but never knowing which files go to which. I was seriously about to buy another 2TB. Wow. Thank you so much Mark.

[@simonjacobsphotography]

Brilliant, as ever.

[@joesilvawrites]

Thank you! Thank you! Than you!!!! This video is BEYOND USEFUL! It's digital GOLD!!!!! I appreciate you!!!!!!!

[@RickArendt]

Great Video! As a new FCP user who needs to keep old projects, I definitely needed this tutorial. I am also looking for info on managing a huge project next year. I will be traveling coast to coast by bicycle and I want to make a really nice and detailed VLog of the journey. A 100 day journey with GoPro and Drone footage will have monstrous storage requirements. I will be bringing my MacBook Air with me so I can do some trimming as I go but I won’t have time for deep editing. I would greatly appreciate any advice as to storage and workflow to make this easier and more secure!

[@panobirds]

this is pure GOLD!!!

[@tnp651]

Thanks, this is hugely useful

[@wimmual1144]

Great tutorial. Very helpful!!

[@JetFuelOnly]

Kings of FCPX info!

[@theunderstory]

This is awesome. Thanks, Mark!

[@davidbrohede]

13:12 Magic thing! Thank you!!

[@dqstudios]

great stuff! You mentioned a third party app that trims used portions of projects? I would buy a plug-in that exports timeline clips as individual clips similar to resolve. does it exist?

[@markspencer1203]

You can do this with CommandPost commandpost.io

[@dqstudios]

@@markspencer1203 Thanks for the quick reply Mark! Bought your FCPX tutorials years ago and still applying it all and learning from you 🙌

[@alono4473]

This video is just amazing! So well explained and it was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much!! 💪🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

Hello Mark and Steve and thanks for all your great Tutorials. A quick question. Have you ever done a tutorial on best setup for resolution from shooting to timeline to export. I see a little bit of every recommendations out there. Some say shoot in 4K, edit in 1080p and export in 1080p. Others say shoot in 4K, edit in 1080p and export in 4K. Some say do all in 4K. And on and on. If you have, I would really appreciate you pointing me to the right Video. Cheers and thanks.

[@markspencer1203]

I'd say it all starts with the delivery requirements - and you work backwards from that. For 1080p delivery I personally would shoot in 4K because of the flexibility it provides in post - plus there is an argument to be made that the UHD to HD downsampling produces a better result than straight HD. But in no case would I shoot in HD and deliver in 4K, that just doesn't make sense.

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

@@markspencer1203 Clear, makes sense and thanks for prompt reply. Keep up the good work.

[@rippleguys]

That's an easy one. Shoot in 4K edit in 1080 - this way you can punch it. Secondarily, delivering in 4K offers no benefits when most people watch on their phones or on their computer screens.

[@ottobyte]

A very useful video. Thank you. I just have one thing I’m not clear on. You mentioned “hard links” so that the OS effectively shows the media in 2 locations without duplicating. I assume that this only breaks when you move a project off that disk and delete the media in its original location. If you modify that media I assume it could break the project. Thanks very much.

[@markspencer1203]

Nothing breaks. If you for example copy the library to a new location, all the media goes with it and stays in the library. You can then delete the library on the original disk, leaving just the external media - but you won't free up any additional disk space.

[@ottobyte]

@@markspencer1203 thanks, I understand now. Very useful for me as have several large projects I want to archive off. Regards 👍

[@MauricioGonzalezFilms]

This was amazing refresher now that I'm ready to give up my old iMac 5K. 20+ years later still learning from Mark!

[@WouterTurkenburg]

@5:20 '...you can always get all of that stuff back' is not correct. FCP tells you: 'You cannot undo this command.'

[@raywatts7689]

Brilliant info, thank you so much. Myself like many I suspect carry on using FCP without knowing how to archive their work. It just sits on the drive in its Gizza bits glory. Not any more, I coming for it tomorrow!

[@theveryshinyone]

What a fantastic video. So helpful. It's a real skill to communicate so clearly. THANK YOU!

[@virtuallw]

This was a great video, thanks so much! I was disappointed by one thing. The Optical Flow Analysis files can take up a ton of storage, and at one point you said, "We'll come back to that" but you never did! I think you can't delete them from within FCPX, and would have to delete them in the Finder, but I don't know if that's safe, so I can't do it.

[@craigster1952]

When you delete generated media your project will display those red "file missing" visuals if you are set to display proxy or proxy preferred media. You have to be viewing original/optimized media for the clips to display the thumbnail representations of their content. This could be confusing to novice users.

[@familyjunk3989]

Liking& subscribing immediately......thank you so much for being on top of your content & UPDATING past topics. It is very refreshing to see a KZbinr that is conscientious, and caring about keeping past topics relevant with all of the changing versions of FCP. THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!!

[@craigster1952]

As a novice there is too much info. I would prefer just the basics and another tutorial expanding into the advanced details.

[@JRossHunter]

I’ve been waiting for years for this tutorial for years. Thank you.

[@markspencer1203]

Well you didn't need to wait! It's all covered (and much more) in our full media management tutorial.

[@WouterTurkenburg]

I got the missing files back by going to: File, Relink Files, Original Files. Pfff.

[@framewavemedia4831]

Thanks for this video. Question - If I'm archiving a project after I've edited it and the client wants the project files would you use your single timeline approach? Do these hard links you reference allow for the zip of the full duplicated Library/Project with Original Media while still maintaining the media files on my main drive?

[@markspencer1203]

Yes.

[@majesticflooring1536]

Thank You Mark, you mentioned media management from the Ripple training platform what really helps me is the design and ease of navigating the platform and instructor quality, most of all being able to view as many times as necessary. In addition, the final cut core training is really good and I'm looking forward to advanced color correction and sound editing. Your tutorials are awesome thank you Ripple Training for your dedication, its working for me.

[@mdpetty53]

Great tutorial as usual. That said, I use Final Cut Library Manager from Arctic Whiteness. It does most all all the pre-archiving process Mark is describing. The advantage is you can pre archive the libraries for a bunch of jobs at once instead of one at a time. I just cleaned about 8 libraries for completed projects in one click. Doesn't do all of the stuff Mark is describing but close. I've used it for years.

[@markspencer1203]

Great product I just find it takes a shocking amount of memory and struggles once you have a lot of libraries loaded into it.

[@mdpetty53]

@@markspencer1203 Hmmm...I've never even looked at the memory usage issue. Can you tell me how it hogs memory if you have the time?

[@seb-depp]

Love the tip with the cache folder. I was always angry that my Analysis Files weren't erased when I deleted generated media (maybe because they take so long to generate that Apple didn't include them?). Anyway, they're huge and I always went into the Finder/show package content (or whatever it's called in English) to do it manually. This seems much safer. Thanks!

[@getitrealguymn]

Rooty Tut Tut... Outstanding!

[@HouseofRen]

This is perfect timing. I was trying to figure that out myself and got maybe halfway through what you showed but this makes perfect sense now thanks

[@JPHannibal]

Super helpful. Thanks for the more in-depth update.

[@stuartt455]

As my dad used to say you learn something new every day, I have a couple of large libraries I can trim down without losing anything important and move elsewhere.

[@3eggerfpv397]

It's extremely useful, and I Thank you for creating this content! FCP archiving gets confusing to me. This is a little different from Steve's archive tute several years ago, but that only makes sense. I guess it's just a matter of watching this several times, then experiment with it and see what sticks!

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

excellent as always.

[@moonpost]

Great summary of archiving, easy to understand and follow. If you are new to FCP you need to understand this, along with how to set up libraries/workflow at the start.

[@omarbrown2696]

Proper

[@lexrun01]

As always a very clear and usefull tutorial

[@MrMnmn911]

This is excellent! Thanks Mark!

[@Havensight]

Is it possible to make regularly used plugins into a custom or favourite folder? I have tonnes of plugins but only use a few, can I put them somewhere to find them easily?

[@rippleguys]

Plugins can only be accessed from one location by Final Cut - User/Movies/Motion Templates. If you are running Time Machine, they get backed up automatically.

[@WouterTurkenburg]

I carefully followed all the steps: project gone! 'Missing file' all over the screen. Hours of work up in the air. What went wrong?

[@rippleguys]

My guess is you have the viewer set to viewing either proxy or original- which filters what you see - and to be clear FCP NEVER DELETEs media from a library- so you have a setting wrong

[@WouterTurkenburg]

@@rippleguys Thank you for reaching out to me. I truly appreciate this. In FCP I have under the View button Optimized/Original activated. Now my files are back. I assume that Optimized/Original is the right option. Correct?

[@davidwalls2304]

Great review Mark! I haven't worked with FCP in a few years so this review was a great refresher.

[@J_digs_]

its so confusing to me😅

[@mikethomas3637]

Mark, great tutorial. It would be incredibly useful to have a printed checklist of all the steps that you could use at the end of each project. Thoughts?

[@markspencer1203]

Delete generated media. Consolidate original media. Save custom motion templates and fonts. I think that's it.

[@KevinJohnson7]

Great job as always!

[@mdturnerinoz]

Great tips, thanks!

[@mojoejojo171]

If you were starting a KZbin channel with videos every week, would you make a library per episode or one library for the whole channel?

[@rippleguys]

I would make one library, then use separate events for each channel.

[@markspencer1203]

I actually do a library per episode

[@mojoejojo171]

@@markspencer1203 Thanks for your advice. I was thinking one library per year with 52 episodes/events. What are the advantages/disadvantages, if any, for smaller libraries vs larger?

[@markspencer1203]

@@mojoejojo171 Larger libraries can take longer to open but everything is there from prior episodes making it easier to duplicate a project and replace footage or grab certain graphics and titles you always use. Still, I just prefer smaller independent libraries - for our show I open the previous library to copy-paste between.

[@mojoejojo171]

@@markspencer1203 @rippleguys Thank you all for your advice.

[@TaoCovillault]

12:40 This is true only on APFS drive, right ?

[@markspencer1203]

Hard links work on hard drives as well.

[@RGPphotog]

Technically, the opposite is true: Hard Links were created for HFS+ file systems. Very few programs were written to take advantage of the feature. FCP being the most well known, and I do believe Time Machine on HFS+ did as well, but with additional, more complex secret sauce. With APFS, the benefit of Hard Links is designed natively into the file system. The effective result is the same, however ALL files across a volume benefit system wide and applications don't have to programed to utilize it. If you duplicated any file on a given physical volume, you create a new metadata snapshot of the core data. You could duplicate a video file in Finder 1000 times with APFS, and your used storage size will effectively not change, except a 1MB or less.

[@markspencer1203]

@@RGPphotog Excellent information, RGP, much appreciated.