Ran Out of Storage While Editing

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Ran Out of Storage While Editing

I am about 2/3 through editing a large file that is about an hour long in the timeline. I know this is a large file, but so far, Final Cut Pro X has been able to handle it without acting too sluggish. However, I'm about 2/3 through with the project now and I ran out of room on my 1TB external drive where all of the media was stored. At import, I selected "create optimized media" for all of the clips.

I am wondering, at this point, how can I reduce the amount of storage this project is taking up so I can continue working on it off of my external drive? Right now, the Final Cut Pro library file in the drive is at 870GB, and FCP will not continue unless I free up storage. When research this issue, I saw that creating proxy media can help but was unsure about doing this so far into the project, and not completely sure, if at this point, it would actually free up space since I didn't do this at import...

Any tips or input would be appreciated. Thanks.

iMac

Posted on Nov 18, 2014 5:46 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 19, 2014 3:25 AM in response to nialltom

By creating such a huge library you are asking for trouble.

You can recover most of that space by deleting the optimized media - which you probably don't need, anyway. Then if necessary, create the optimized media only for clips where FCP X is having trouble playing back smoothly.

File->Delete Generated Library Files... and then choose the optimized, render and/or proxy as desired. That will give you a LOT of space back.

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Answer 2

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Nov 19, 2014 5:40 AM in response to nialltom

To add my 2¢: my guess is that the slow-down you experienced had less to so with the library size per se, and more to do with your media drive getting increasingly full. In this day of HD and UDH media a 1 Tb drive is at the low end of acceptable sizes for media. Because speed of the media drive is such an important factor, I would suggest that their free space not go much below 20%. So, on matter how you resolve your current storage issue, you probably want to consider investing in a much larger drive.

Russ

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Answer 3

nialltom Author

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Nov 19, 2014 7:23 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks, Luis. I've not done this before, so when I choose to delete the generated library files, does that remove them from my library necessitating a re-upload of the source files? Or will it replace them instead with proxy files?

Also, when I do this, will that mean the associated clip in the timeline will need to be re-added or re-edited again?

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Answer 4

nialltom Author

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Nov 19, 2014 7:29 AM in response to Russ H

Thanks Russ. I have ordered up a larger drive and suspected that was part of the issue. But since this is my first large project of this size, I thought there may also be a way to be more efficient with the amount of space the project takes up. 870GB seems very large, even for an hour long HD video. So my focus, in addition to getting more storage available, is also on how to be as efficient as possible with the file size, which is why I am trying to see if there are ways I may not have realized (since I'm very new to this) of decreasing the file size while still maintaing the quality of the final output.

It seems as though using proxy files may be an answer but just now want to make sure the conversion to that doesn't have a negative effect on my current work in progress. Any input is appreciated.

Niall

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Answer 5

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Nov 19, 2014 8:20 AM in response to nialltom

Just getting rid of Render files may be sufficient to get you over the hump. It's an additive process in FCP, which means when something gets rendered it creates new files and doesn't overwrite the old ones.

As Luis indicated, mostly we don't need to optimize with today's fast computers and software. As we start to composite, add complex graphics, and so forth – or working with multiple streams - it becomes more desirable to optimize or to create proxy media.

Russ

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Answer 6

Nov 19, 2014 8:27 AM in response to nialltom

nialltom wrote:

Thanks, Luis. I've not done this before, so when I choose to delete the generated library files, does that remove them from my library necessitating a re-upload of the source files? Or will it replace them instead with proxy files?

Also, when I do this, will that mean the associated clip in the timeline will need to be re-added or re-edited again?

The source files are NOT deleted, and it won't affect your project. FCP X will simply revert to using the original files when the optimized ones are not available (that is why the setting is you can choose from the little triangle at the top top right of the viewer is called "Optimized/Original").

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Answer 7

nialltom Author

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Nov 19, 2014 11:26 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis,

When I click to delete generated library files, it tells me that files will be deleted from all locations, both inside and outside the library. This tells me that it will delete source files as well. Or is it just referring to the library within FCP and the reference library file stored on the hard disk? This is getting confusing.

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Answer 8

Nov 19, 2014 11:53 AM in response to nialltom

It will only delete the GENERATED files you choose by ticking the appropriate boxes. Since 10.1.2 these generated files can be stored either inside the library or outside (whereas previously they were always inside the library).That is why this mention appears.

Rest assured, this does NOT delete your source files.

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Answer 9

nialltom Author

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Nov 19, 2014 5:45 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

That worked Luis, thank you.

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