FCP 10.1.1. Now a "Library" is created that has filled up my Mac

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Level 1

9 points

FCP 10.1.1. Now a "Library" is created that has filled up my Mac

I recently upgraded to FCP 10.1.1. Now my Mac hard drive is full. I import the video to an external hard drive... not the mac. Yet it seems to duplicate, and run off of the video now stored on my Mac. I don't understand why, or what to do to get it to run off my external hard drive. It is over 700 GB! I am a computer idiot, so I have no idea what is going on. Previous versions of FCP never did this. I cannot do anything now. Help.

Final Cut Pro X

Posted on Mar 13, 2014 8:04 PM

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Answer 1

Tvpromo1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 14, 2014 12:02 AM in response to Tvpromo1

Let me clarify my problem. I inported the video to an external hard drive specifically so it would not fill up my Mac harddrive. But now I have a 700 GB "library" on the computer. What is the point of inputting the video to the external drive if it created a Library that has nearly filled my computer? Why isn't it running off the external hard drive.

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Answer 2

Alchroma

Level 7

23,809 points

Mar 14, 2014 2:49 AM in response to Tvpromo1

Sounds like the media may have been stored on the external but the below folders were on your Mac system drive?

Final Cut Events

Final Cut Projects

Check this out and see if can make sense of what has occured:

http://www.rippletraining.com/fcpx-features.html

Al

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 14, 2014 5:27 AM in response to Tvpromo1

Ripple and other FCPX training folks released free tutorials on what we should know about 10.1 organization prior to updating. Apple put out a very goodFAQ page about that and related topics.

Wondering whether you also have a big library on your media drive. And if so, whether it's a duplicate. If you don't, it may be that the Final Cut Events and Final Cut Projects folders that Al mentions are not where the app can see them. For FCPX to see them, they should have been in Movies on the system drive and/or at the root level of any other drive.

Russ

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Answer 4

Tvpromo1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 14, 2014 6:54 AM in response to Alchroma

Hi, Thank you for helping an computer idiot.

Here are the files that are being created on the Mac:

Analysis Files

CurrentVersion.fcpevent (this is not in a file - just listed under the Analysis File)

Original Media

Render Files

Transcoded Media

I am not sure why the Original Media is being copied to both the external HD and the Mac.

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Answer 5

Tvpromo1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 14, 2014 6:58 AM in response to Alchroma

I will look into the ripple training recommended. Thank you.

I cut my editing teeth in the old tape-based analog TV days, so making the transition to computers is slow.

I may also have a 3TB or larger hard drive installed to replace the current 1TB drive. I produce video's for a living so having the extra space may solve my problem, in addition to figuring out the new 10.1 Media Management issues.

I have 8Gb memorty (two 4GB cards). I can add up to 8 GB additonal memory. Would that be helpful also?

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Answer 6

Mar 14, 2014 8:07 AM in response to Tvpromo1

Tvpromo1 wrote:

Hi, Thank you for helping an computer idiot.

Here are the files that are being created on the Mac:

Analysis Files

CurrentVersion.fcpevent (this is not in a file - just listed under the Analysis File)

Original Media

Render Files

Transcoded Media

I am not sure why the Original Media is being copied to both the external HD and the Mac.

Look inside the Original Media folder. It is quite possible that these files are aliases - hence very small - and the actual media lives in the external drive. On the other hand, Transcoded Media may be extremely large if you choose to create optimized media. Transcoded media is always stored inside the library, and optimized media is usually several times LARGER than the original - it is ProRes, which is not nearly as compressed as, say, AVCHD.

As you go on editing, you'll find that you are going to need more than one drive, so think of adding drives, instead of replacing.

Concerning RAM, the more you have, the better. 8GB may be ok, but definitely go to 16GB if you have the option. It is inexpensive and well worth it.

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