Changing Media (to Optimized) After Import

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Level 1

5 points

Changing Media (to Optimized) After Import

Hi everyone,

I have a simple question (I hope):

I have a project with about 66 clips imported and edited already. This project was sort of my learning process with FCPX, and as a result, the clips exist in the project in a number of different formats. They all came from a Canon 7D and as a result, were H.264. But what I mean is... for liek the first dozen clips, I stupidly imported them as Copies, Optimized Media AND Proxy Media. So yeah, I quickly filled up my internal hardrive and had to move my Events folder to an external.

Now, I find that my sequence plays choppy. (using a dated Macbook Pro duo core 15 inch with 4gb of Ram). So I think I'd like to just do all my editing in Proxy. So here are the questions:

1. How do I change media that's already been imported in as Original or Optimized over to Proxy? (a reverse-online, if you will)

2. Once the project is done, how do I then swap out all the media in place of Optimized or Original media? (for a higher quality output)

I know that most of Reconnecting Media in FCX has to do with Importing again. Yet, when you Import again, it seems to default to Original media and doesn't let you choose Optimized.

So yeah, real question here is how do I swap media to different transcoded formats once it's already in my project?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.1), 2.47 GHz / 4GB of Ram

Posted on Aug 28, 2011 2:05 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 28, 2011 2:35 PM in response to intrloper9

It's real simple to change between Proxy and Original/Optimized media. Just open FCP Preferences and in the Playback section select the appropriate radio button. So set it to proxy while you work and then switch to Original/Optimized at any time.

If you want to create optimized or proxy media after import, just right click the media file and choose Transcode... and then check the approriate checkboxes and click the button.

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Answer 2

intrloper9 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 28, 2011 2:47 PM in response to Thomas Emmerich

Ahh, awesome. That was terribly easy!

And what do you suggest for better quality? Original or Optimized?

It's funny to me that, when I transcode to 'Optimized' it actually makes the file a lot bigger than the Original source media file.

So what purposes does Optimized really serve that? For instance, would it be wise to import all new clips as both Proxy AND Optimized. And then, for Playback and editing, use Proxy. But when I'm ready to do my output, change everything over to Optimized and output off that?

Thanks.

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Answer 3

Aug 28, 2011 3:06 PM in response to intrloper9

Theoretically the quality should be the same between Original vs. Optimized. Optimized is easier for FCP to work with. It's absolutely true that optimized will have a larger file size than the H.264 that comes out of your 7D.

Optimized can mean several things depending on context. Maybe you were thinking it was an optimized size. Nope, it is optimized for video editing. H.264 is optimized for high quality playback with smaller sizes which unfortunately is at odds with video editing.

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Answer 4

Aug 28, 2011 3:52 PM in response to intrloper9

intrloper9, given your machine specs my advise would be to take that approach.

I'm given 5D material to work with all the time, where audio is generally recorded separately on a H4n Zoom.

This is my workflow:

Prior importing into FCP X, I ALWAYS convert all the 5D media to ProRes 422.

The reason for this is that if you need to use the synchronise clip tool in FCP X, it doesn't work unless the media has been brought in as ProRes 422. I've written a detailed explanation about this bug here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3277834

So start by converting your 7D media to ProRes 422, you can either use Compressor or MPEG StreamClip, personally I use MPEG Streamclip.

Once the media has finished transcoding, import the ProRes 422 files into a FCP X event and choose to have transcoding: Create Proxy Media

I usually wait for the proxy's to be created before beginning to edit.

Once the proxy's are done, in preferences set the playback to Use Proxy Media, and start editing away.

Just a tip: I also switch off background rendering, you'll find once you've finished your edit and need to switch your project playback back to the original media, FCP X will need to re-render the whole timeline, therefore I leave background rendering off and only render selections if need be.

Now that your done editing and have added effects, transitions etc.... switch playback back to Use Original Media, render your project, and your ready to export.

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Answer 5

intrloper9 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 28, 2011 9:20 PM in response to blimpmedia

Thanks to both of you! So it sounds like there's really no point then for me to also transcode all my imported footage to Optimized Media, right? It sounds like I'll do all my editing and playback with Proxy (due to my system specs) and then switch to Original & Optimized Playback for the final render and output.

So one problem though, is that I've already transcoded a lot of the imported footage into Optimized. Can I just go ahead now into my Events folder and delete all these Optimized clips? (they're redundant now and takign up space). And if so, what happens? Does FCX know to then default to the Original media in its place?

Thanks!

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Answer 6

Aug 28, 2011 9:55 PM in response to intrloper9

If you don't need to audio sync, then you can definitely get away without optimising or pre transcoding your media.

Personally I would still transcode as I believe it speeds things up a little later on in the process like rendering or exporting.

Can I just go ahead now into my Events folder and delete all these Optimized clips?

Providing you haven't broken or deleted the link to the original media, then you should be able to delete these via finder. Personally I would leave them alone for this project and just keep that in mind for the next.

Whatever your decision, do remember to quit FCP X before attempting to move or delete files and folders 😉

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Answer 7

hafken

Level 4

1,225 points

Aug 29, 2011 4:31 AM in response to blimpmedia

blimpmedia wrote:

Can I just go ahead now into my Events folder and delete all these Optimized clips?

Providing you haven't broken or deleted the link to the original media, then you should be able to delete these via finder. Personally I would leave them alone for this project and just keep that in mind for the next.

Whatever your decision, do remember to quit FCP X before attempting to move or delete files and folders 😉

If you aren't going to be using the optimized media and want the hard drive space back, it makes sense to go ahead and delete those files. They are located in the Event's "Transcoded Media" folder. You can simply delete the entire "Optimized Media" folder. Next time you start up FCPX, it will figure out that the optimized media doesn't exist and instead use original media. Or, if you already are set to be using proxy media, it will continue using proxy media. Just remember to switch to original media when exporting, or else FCPX will use the proxy media as a source (without warning you about it either!)

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Answer 8

intrloper9 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 29, 2011 2:49 PM in response to hafken

K, awesome. Also, in the start of this project, I was stupidly bringing over copies of all my original media into the Events folder. If I go ahead and delete those, will aliases be automatically generated in their place, that connect to the original media in its original location? (meaning, not the copy. but the actual raw file I origianlly imported)

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Answer 9

Aug 29, 2011 3:37 PM in response to intrloper9

intrloper9,

If you chose to have your media copied to the Final Cut Events folder when you imported your media, then NO FCP X will not create an alias, instead it creates a copy of your media in your event folder, which FCP X then references from.

So don't ever delete what resides in the Original Media Folder or your doomed....!

You can however delete the High Quality Media in the Trabscoded Media folder.

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Answer 10

intrloper9 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 30, 2011 9:15 AM in response to blimpmedia

Well, the original media I have in that Original Media folder, is a duplicate of the raw file I imported. Goes without saying. So if I deleted any of those original clips, wouldn't I just get a red unlinked 'media offline' clip in my Event browser window? And if that was the case, couldn't I then fix it by just reimporting the clip itself (but NOT making a copy?)

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Answer 11

Aug 30, 2011 4:31 PM in response to intrloper9

I just tested your theory.

If you delete files that reside in the Original Media folder, or the Transcoded Media folder, as we all know your media becomes offline. Re-importing the same media and un-ticking "Copy files to Final Cut Events folder", does re-connect your offline media.

However I did notice something strange, after re-importing I checked to see if there's an alias connection. From what I can see it seems that FCP X has re-copied the original file back to the Original Media folder, instead of creating an alias connection.... odd don't you think…!

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