Support external drive for final cut on ipad

It is staggering that it was released without the ability to store and run projects on an external drive and with no signs of this coming I really regret getting the app. Such a failure of Apple and as a once happy captive in the Apple eco system I certainly feel more of a hostage these days with issues such as this. Only used the app once due to this issue.

In FCP for iPad, with the project selected, click the share/export button and choose Final Cut Pro for iPad project:

Choose if you want to include the media (which you normally would):

Choose Files as your export destination, in Files choose your attached hard drive:

To import the project on an iPad, press the Import button and select Final Cut Pro for iPad Project:

Navigate back to Files and to your external hard drive and choose the Project you want to import:

MtD

You can. With the new iPad Pro you can edit directly from an SSD. They specifically mentioned it in the Keynote.

“New external project support now offers creators the flexibility of editing projects directly off a drive, leveraging the fast Thunderbolt connection of iPad Pro”

Also, forgot to mention - if you want to edit on the iPad and keep the source media on an external drive attached to the iPad, check out LumaFusion:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lumafusion/id1062022008

which is capable of doing this.

If is a really robust editor with a lot of features and abilities.

MtD

I don’t have direct experience but apparently no, it doesn’t seem to be possible at the present time.

Yes, you can share your FCP for iPad project as a complete project to Files on your iPad - where if you have a compatible SSD or drive plugged in the drive will appear as a destination and you can save it there.

You can then move the drive to a Mac and import the Project in FCP, or connect it to an iPad and import the project from the drive back into FCP for iPad.

MtD

pouyabm wrote:

What I meant was that it is possible to run the project directly from the external hard drive without importing it from the hard drive? like macbook

I will defer to Meg on this one, as I do not have FCP on iPad; as I wrote before, I don't think it's possible.

I have to ask, though: if you have FCP on the Mac, with a bigger screen (or screens, plural), a keyboard and trackpad, a lot more RAM and as much fast storage as needed, what is the draw of using a more limited app on a cramped 10.5" screen? The touch interface?

pouyabm wrote:

. . . is possible to run the project directly from the external hard drive without importing it from the hard drive? like macbook

No, not at this time - as far as I know. Media needs to be imported into the iPad and stored locally there during the edit.

You'll need to estimate the amount of source footage you intend to be using on your projects and then get an iPad with sufficient storage.

MtD

I didn't really understand the news about SSD in iPad Pro, so your explanation helped me understand. thank you.

By the way, I think someone asked where the library is stored on the iPad. Where is it stored? Is there really a concept of a library? Just a project?

Note: If a Final Cut Pro for iPad project is on a connected external drive, a networked computer, or cloud storage, you must import the project into Final Cut Pro for iPad before you can open and edit it. Similarly, to edit a Final Cut Pro for iPad project in Final Cut Pro on your Mac, you must import the project.