Projects moved to trash are not in trash

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Level 1

40 points

Projects moved to trash are not in trash

Ever project I've deleted, no matter which library it's in, does not appear in the trash. And this is even though I'm deleting them within FCPX by right-clicking them and selecting "Move to Trash." The projects disappear from the event and library they were in, but they do not appear in the trash (I open the trash and it is still completely empty). This has happened at least half a dozen times.

What's causing this? Thanks

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), i7 3.5 GHz, 32MB RAM, 4GB NVIDIA

Posted on Mar 8, 2014 11:38 AM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 8, 2014 12:58 PM in response to JDLee

There's nothing wrong with what you're doing or a problem with the app; it's just the way just the way it works…see this thread.

Russ

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Answer 2

JDLee Author

Level 1

40 points

Mar 8, 2014 1:18 PM in response to Russ H

Hi Russ--

I just read that thread, but I still don't understand.

Tom Wolsky suggested looking inside the Library bundle, but I don't know how I'd do that or what he meant by that.

He also compared it to deleting a paragraph in a Pages file in that that deleted paragraph wouldn't go to the trash. But when you delete the Project file in FCPX, it says "Move to Trash." So I think it's reasonable to expect it would be in the trash. But it isn't.

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 8, 2014 1:27 PM in response to JDLee

I've just moved a project called Odd Res to the trash. Here are the contents of the library bundle.

Russ

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Answer 4

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 8, 2014 1:30 PM in response to JDLee

And if I close and reopen FCPX it's gone for good – other than the backup versions of the libraries.

HTH

Russ

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Answer 5

JDLee Author

Level 1

40 points

Mar 8, 2014 2:00 PM in response to Russ H

Wow, I don't get it. So it moves it to a folder called "__Trash" within the library bundle? And then that disappears as soon as you quit FCPX?

I mean, I can understand that that's the way they set it up. But I don't understand why they use "Move to Trash" as the command. I can't think of any other instance in Mac software where that doesn't move a file to the Trash can where it is recoverable. Seems like it should say "Move to Library Trash" or "Move to Library Temporary Trash."

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Answer 6

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 8, 2014 2:14 PM in response to JDLee

Well, in some other Apple apps like Mail and iPhoto there are dedicated trash folders with their own sets of behaviors.

But I'm sure you have a lot of company in not being aware of what happens to trashed projects. The FCPX Help document doesn't really say; it spends most of its time explaining what happens when you trash media. Which I gues is fair enough, since the consequences can be pretty serious and broad.

At lest with trashed projects, they will usually be recoverable from the Backups folder.

Russ

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Answer 7

JDLee Author

Level 1

40 points

Mar 8, 2014 2:21 PM in response to Russ H

I don't even know what that Backups folder is or what it does. I bought a tutorial on the new FCPX, but I don't remember it being mentioned. Is there a document on Apple's webiste or an article somewhere that explains it?

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Answer 8

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 8, 2014 2:34 PM in response to JDLee

Effective with 10.1, a backup is made of the opened libraries every 15 minutes and is stored in a Backups folder. The default location for this folder is Movies in your Home folder. But you can put it elsewhere – a god idea if your libraries are on your boot drive.

The backup function is much better than before. Of particular note is the versioning capability.Right click on a project and choose duplicate as Snapshot and it freezes a project state without changing any other versions.

JDLee wrote:

Is there a document on Apple's webiste or an article somewhere that explains it?

Check out this just-releasedvideo.

Russ

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Answer 9

JDLee Author

Level 1

40 points

Mar 8, 2014 2:49 PM in response to Russ H

Okay, I'll look at that. I had bought Backups for Final Cut Pro, but it sounds like that is redundant now. And I never could learn exactly how to use it.

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