FCP X Bundle filze size is HUUUUUGE!!

DDid you optimize your media when you imported? These can be deleted from the file menu.

It's going to be difficult to learn how to use an application from a support forum. For a start you can try to select the library and use File>Delete Genetated Library Files and see if that helps.

NNone of that is true. The color correction information is minuscule and embedded in the project file. Sounds like you have background rendering turned on and you generated a lot of high rez render files.

Hi Tom, I have been reading a couple of the threads about file size and optimising media when I am importing and i am trying to work out the best way for my project. Would you have time to answer me a couple of questions ?

- My project is quite large (making a 20min film with my entire source media totalling about 750gb, on my external 2TB HD). I elected to optimise the media when importing (it is not all imported yet, i am making the film in sections), and also to copy the files over. I have since decided to leave files in place because the fcpbundle file was just getting too massive (800gb+ and i have barely started editing, which means my ext HD is already running out of space). I read in other threads that you suggested turning background rendering off. does this mean at some point there will be a huge rendering process that will need to occur? but in the interim it will save me space?

- in my situation, in terms of importing, do you think i should just check the box for proxy files, leave 'copy files' unchecked, and turn off background rendering? Will this affect my final project in the long term? And also is there a way to rectify what I have already imported, to reduce its size?

- as a related question, if i choose not to optimise as i import (to save space as well), will this affect the quality of the final film, or will the quality ultimately be there, but just not as i am editing?

I am happy to buy a much larger ext HD (say 4 or 6TB) if that will ultimately be what i need for a project of this size, but i just was hoping to get some tips before i shell out for that.

I appreciate any advice you may have.

Regards

-pete

Don't optimize on import. It will produce massive files - as you are experiencing.

Optimizing is more about getting good playback performance (not just, but mostly).

You can always optimized only parts where you don't get good performance, and this can be done at any time, not just while you are importing.

Instead of springing for a larger drive right now, I suggest you delete that optimized media (File->Library->Delete Library Generated Files).

You're likely to recover 80% or more of the space.

A lot of media will play and edit fine without Optimising, keeping space to a minimum.

All you need are Original files.

Can you tell us the type of files in use?

Al

Get some proper training, also. FCPX is a very deep application, and doing a proper self-paced, hands-on training will get you up and running much faster, and save you tons of headaches down the road. Best on the market is this book for self-paced, hands-on.

http://www.peachpit.com/store/apple-pro-training-series-final-cut-pro-x-10.2-pro fessional-9780134384153

There are a lot of questions here, many of which overlap, and I’ll start off by saying there is no right answer, except perhaps for one. You almost never need to optimize on import.

My project is quite large (making a 20min film with my entire source media totaling about 750gb, on my external 2TB HD). I elected to optimize the media when importing (it is not all imported yet, i am making the film in sections), and also to copy the files over.

First, you should use the Delete Generated Library Files function to get rid of optimized, proxy, and render files. Remove them all to start with. If you have optimized, this is will resurrect a huge amount of drive space. So who needs to optimize and when? With a recent computer, with a fast processor and fast graphics capabilities, you almost never need to optimize to start. Your computer is capable of playing back the media without problem.

One of the default preferences is to optimize multicam clips. You should switch this off. If your system has difficulty playing back multiple streams of video because of processor capabilities, or more likely because of drive capabilities, increasing the file size to giant ProRes files while certainly not improve drive performance. If you have difficulty with playback for multicam clips, it’s much more beneficial to create proxy files, and that’s what I would recommend. You might want to use FCP feedback from the Final Cut Pro menu to request the option to select proxy files for multicam clips.

I have since decided to leave files in place because the fcpbundle file was just getting too massive (800gb+ and i have barely started editing, which means my ext HD is already running out of space). I read in other threads that you suggested turning background rendering off. Does this mean at some point there will be a huge rendering process that will need to occur? but in the interim it will save me space?

There are many different questions in here that aren’t really related. Let’s consider the leave in place option. I almost never recommend this option, primarily because, a, you can’t leave camera media in place and have to make a decision for that, and b, because you quickly end up with media scattered in various places on the system and perhaps on multiple drives, which makes backup and archive much more complex and more likely to create mistakes.

The only time I use the leave in place function is if I move a file, like still images, into the library location (more about that in a moment), inside FCP’s Original Media folder. Then I import from that location and leave in place.

In Import preferences, set importing to copy to library storage location. This can be inside the library or outside, but do not use the leave in place option. You can always select this if you need it in the import window. It also means if you drag and drop, files will not be left in place, but will go into the library location.

I rarely recommend using the in Library option for importing media. Except for small projects, maybe a commercial with a relatively small amount of media, that you’re working on yourself, it’s usually better I think to specify a library location for your media. Whenever you need to collaborate, either with other users or with other applications, it almost always better to use external media, not managed media, which is media that’s stored inside the library.

Because you have changed your import options midway through the production you now have media both inside and outside the library and in different locations.

For most productions, it’s better I think to use an external location for your media. When you make a new library, select it in the Browser and in library properties in the Inspector, change the default librarylocation for Media by clicking the Modify Settings button. For Media select choose and make a new folder on your media drive to store the media. I usually just give it the same name as the library and it usually sits next to the library. For Cache I choose the same folder so the cache bundle is saved inside the media folder. For Backups I use the default ~/Movies location as it’s on the system drive, separate from the media drive. Now whenever I import, I import into the set library location. When I want to add audio or stills or other graphics files, I simply save them into the media folder that FCP creates inside the assigned folder. Then when I import I use the leave in place function because the files are already where they need to be.

So what to do about the state where there is media all over the place, both inside and outside the library bundle? This is what the Consolidate function is for. At any time you can create a new location for the library media. As described above, in library properties use the Modify Settings button to create a new library location. Once that’s set, use the Consolidate function to put everything into that folder. Clips that are inside the library will be moved to this folder and replace with symlinks; clips that are outside the library will be copied into the library folder. Obviously it’s better if you do this right to start with rather than part why through the production.

The question of rendering is entirely separate from this, and again whether and when you render depends on your system capabilities. In most cases computer systems and graphics card are sufficient for playback even if there is reduced quality during playback. This will be most apparent on still images. When stopped, the image will look great, but during playback it will look soft or pixelated. Most editors accept the limitations of playback of unrendered media and opt for better performance. Maintaining the continuity and fluidity of editing is much more important to me than seeing a pristine image during playback. If I have effects applying and the computer drops frames and stutters in playback, I will accept that as a small price to pay for continuing creative work without interruption. If it gets bothersome, at that point I will select the area that’s causing playback problems and use the keyboard shortcut to force the area of the timeline to render. Remember, when you render you’re not rendering an individual clip, but an area of the timeline, all the layers and all the effects and content in a timeline area is selected and collapsed into a single high resolution, high data rate file. And remember that after you’ve worked on a section and moved on to a completely different part of the timeline, you can always discard the no longer needed render files.

- in my situation, in terms of importing, do you think i should just check the box for proxy files, leave 'copy files' unchecked, and turn off background rendering? Will this affect my final project in the long term? And also is there a way to rectify what I have already imported, to reduce its size?

- as a related question, if i choose not to optimize as i import (to save space as well), will this affect the quality of the final film, or will the quality ultimately be there, but just not as i am editing?

Whether you use optimized media, proxy files, whether you render or don’t render has absolutely no affect on the quality of the output file. In most cases when you’re sharing, the application is working directly from the original media files to the output file. All the other files are largely irrelevant. So when do you use optimized and proxy? I mentioned already using proxy for multicam media. If you are working with large format files, RED media, 2K or 4K media, you will always certainly want to create proxy files. You should be aware for these large formats proxy files are often not in the ProRes Proxy codec but in ProRes 422, which is small in comparison to the gigantic files created by media such as RED RAW. Proxy files are also useful if you want to use FCPX as an offline system, take the project on the road with a laptop. There is no real system for creating offline media with proxy files in FCP, though it can be done with care, but that’s another discussion. An option for creating an offline library might be another opportunity to visit the FCP feedback form.

There are instances when you might want to optimize. Many people working with color correction in FCP, using either the built in color board, or third party tools like Color Finale or HyColor Pro or Hawaiki AutoGrade, will want to optimize their media. Most H.264 based formats do not hold up well when using extensive color correction, which seems to have become the norm these days. Often it seems this is done just because it’s possible without real benefit, and to considerable distraction from the storytelling process; but that’s a different discussion. For extensive grading ProRes 422 will handle image manipulation far better than a heavily compressed format. What’s really needed at this point is a way to select the clips in the timeline and to have the application generate optimized files for the selected clips; again it's time to use that feedback form. When doing extensive effects and color correction work you may well want to optimize your clips using the transcode media function.

This has probably raised more questions than I’ve answered. Ask, and I’ll add an answer, at least an opinion. All of this is my opinion. There is no right way. There is no single answer to how everyone wants to work, and I’m sure many would disagree with me, but you asked my opinion, so here it is, for whatever it’s worth.

I've also put this on my web site as well. http://www.fcpxbook.com/tips/optimize-proxy-and-render.html

Thanks very much to all of you.

Yes, I fully realise I have a lot to learn about this program. I have only edited with Final Cut Express in the past, and although I find the editing process itself quite intuitive, the process of storage of media, importing, file types, codecs etc, I still find all a bit daunting. Making films is still just a part time hobby, and my full time job has meant I haven’t had a lot of time to learn the basics (of computers in general as well as programs!). Learning quickly though. And I thank you all for giving some advice.

I have now, as you guys have suggested, deleted the library generated files. And that has clearly solved the space issue.

Tom, I followed your instructions and have now created an external location on my ext HD for my media. I then consolidated everything to there.

Just to answer your file type question Alchroma, all of my footage is shot on either canon SLRs (so 1920x1080 H264 .mov files) or gopro 4’s (so 1920x1080 h264 mp4 files, at different frame rates).

Incidentally it’s the gopro 4 stuff (especially the stuff shot at 120fps or even 50fps) that my computer (an iMAC with 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 12GB RAM) finds really hard to process and always appears jumpy on the timeline. That was part of the reason I thought I should be optimising the footage originally before I started editing. (and I thought optimising would affect the end quality, which I see now it doesn’t).

Perhaps instead, I should be converting these high frame rate files to 25fps before importing if, say, for a given clip I don’t need to slow it down? (It is footage of sport, and so I shot most of the action at higher frame rates so I would have the opportunity later to slow things down if I wanted to).

With regards to colour correction, I planned to do a bit of this using the built-in colour board, but only small amounts. I shot the gopro stuff using protune so all the colours are currently quite flat – likewise the Canon stuff was shot as flat as possible.

So there is no way to optimise individual clips within the timeline? I did look for that function and thought I was just missing it somewhere. The 'transcode media' function doesn't seem to be able to be used whenever I highlight a given clip on the timeline.

Thanks again for your help Tom, and the extensive reply. It is the second film that a mate and I are making. Just so you have an idea of the type of stuff we are trying to make, our first attempt is here https://vimeo.com/114339723 . We’re hoping the second film will be better, with a lot more storyline, and less like a montage.

-Pete

Just to answer your file type question Alchroma, all of my footage is shot on either canon SLRs (so 1920x1080 H264 .mov files) or gopro 4’s (so 1920x1080 h264 mp4 files, at different frame rates).

Incidentally it’s the gopro 4 stuff (especially the stuff shot at 120fps or even 50fps) that my computer (an iMAC with 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 12GB RAM) finds really hard to process and always appears jumpy on the timeline. That was part of the reason I thought I should be optimising the footage originally before I started editing. (and I thought optimising would affect the end quality, which I see now it doesn’t).

Perhaps instead, I should be converting these high frame rate files to 25fps before importing if, say, for a given clip I don’t need to slow it down? (It is footage of sport, and so I shot most of the action at higher frame rates so I would have the opportunity later to slow things down if I wanted to).

Optimizing is not an all or nothing proposition.

You should simply optimize those clips that your mac has trouble processing and leave the others non-optimized.

FCP X uses optimized media when available, and original media otherwise, on a clip basis. Plus you can later delete that optimized media when no longer needed and recover that space.