Transcoding in Fcpx, is it essential? I have just ran out of space :(

Oh, and before I forget: go to Final Cut Pro->Preferences->Playback, and uncheck "Background Render";

go to Final Cut Preferences->Import, and uncheck BOTH boxes for "Transcode".

If it is not yet clear: you (generally) do NOT need to transcode. And you do not need to render either.

These options are only needed in some particular cases.

For example, if there are many effects, or a complex composition, and your mac cannot playback smoothly, you may want to render, but only that area of the timeline.

And if your drive is too slow to play some large media, you may want to create proxies (again, you don't have to do it for all media). Maybe you have some small clips that play fine, and a few 8K clips that playback chokes on; make proxies of the latter.

In rare cases, some effects may not produce the best result with the original media, and then you may create optimized media for those.

I would say it is likely that you will never need any of the above, and your mac and FCP can handle all you need to do with just the original media.

Get rid of all those transcoded files NOW.

Select the library in the browser sidebar.

Go to File->Delete Generated Library Files

Check ALL the boxes, including "All" render files, Proxy and Optimized.

Confirm.

Quit and restart FCP.

Be amazed at how much space you recovered.

First, use the delete generate files function to make sure you've freed up as much space as you can. Switch off background rendering and transcode multicam clips in preferences.

If you don't need to transcode for playback then don't. If you need to transcode for playback transcode to proxies which are much smaller.

All that said it sounds as if the drive is nearing its limits. How big is it? How much free space do you have? How is the drive connected, to what computer?

Appletti2 wrote:

I just looked in view and switched to optimised/original and it is there. Can you tell me why do they bunch optimised and original together?

Also how would I get this back to proxy? As I don't want to edit in optimised?

I will explain:

When Optimized/Original is selected, FCP will use optimized media for those clips that have it, and otherwise will use the original media.

When Proxy Preferred is selected, FCP will use proxy media, when available; otherwise, it will use optimized, or original media.

When Proxy Only is selected, well... it is just as the name suggests.

In the present case, you only have the original media, so that is what is being used. You are NOT editing on optimized.

If you really need, or want, proxies, just create them again:

and then choose either Proxy Preferred, or Proxy Only.

FWIW, I don't think you should ever use Proxy Only. As you have experienced, it will show the red error for any clips that do not have proxies available. Stick to Proxy Preferred, if you want any proxies at all.

And, before your final export, switch to Optimized/Original, so FCP will use the higher quality files for your export.

It says "missing proxy", because you have selected Proxies.

In the little menu at the top right of the viewer, choose either "Proxy Preferred", or "Optimized/Original".

Forgot to add, in case it is necessary: to recreate proxy media, select the desired clips in the browser, control-click, choose Transcode Media, and check the box for proxy. Similarly for optimized media.