Completely confused by Final Cut x Libraries, Events and Projects???

I can show you an example of a standard workflow.

Lets say I am booked to edit 3 Movies for a client. A Music Clip, an Interview, a behind the scenes clip.

Lets say worst case you get everything in a single folder.

First thing I do is creating a library in FCPX where all the footage (also future generated media, Logos, Photos) will go in.

Now you can create three different events in the browser for each video you are going to edit.

Start ingesting your footage to the different events. (You will see the option in the second window after you’ve selected the clips to import.)

Now you have your library where everything has been imported to but also three events with assigned material.

Selections from the library.

If you want to start with the interview click on the appropriate event, create a project (which will be your timeline) and start editing.

Duplicate your project to keep backups and alternative edits.

Same thing for the Music Clip. Import your Audio, Animations, Graphics to the event. Create projects and save versions.

The next thing you should do is creating keywordcollections in your events to keep your material in order. These are like bins in FCP7

but much more powerful. For example you can add the same clip to several keywordcollections.

The internet should be full of examples by now. I won’t go further.

Now you start with the behind the scenes and at one point you want add Footage from the other events to your behind the scenes event.

Choose the clips you want to use and drag them (holding alt) to your event. You may have created a keywordcollection named footage for behind the scenes e.g. while keywording for the other two videos. This keywordcollection will be imported to the third event.

The clips will not be duplicated on your harddrive since they are in the same library. Events are selections from the library just the same as keywordcollections are selections from an event and a project (the timeline) has selections from keywordcollections.

Its up to you and your “job” how fine you want to organize your material. I would always suggest to create a library for every new job coming in.

Or at least for every new client. For bigger projects you want to create events for each day or even libraries for each day.

There is much, much more to say about libraries e.g. that you can leave your files where there are, letting the library refer to them.

Its a great concept and you are able to manage your material in FCPX like in no other NLE.

Watch tutorials on youtube or buy some from licensed trainers like ripple training for constant quality.

Good luck

You may find this helpful:

How to open projects

Al

Zombola wrote:

… When I start a completely new video from scratch I go file>new event>…

No.

At first you decide in which Library ... or a new Lib.

A Library helps you to have all material at hand; for your very simple example, mostly senseless, but larger projects divide material acrosss several locations, NAS, SAN, hard-drive #1 #10 ... (think of episodes, seasons, diff. teams/leagues, clients, themes)

The fun stuff with Libs is: you don't have to care - even when you delocate material (audio, graphics, video), the Lib cares for you and has the oversight. When you don't need this Lib, you can close it, and FCPX has plenty of room for new ... (=no need to load last seasons episodes).

Zombola wrote:

… When I start a completely new video from scratch I go file>new event> and title it 'whatever footage' for example. I then import all of my footage from that day.

Within that 'Event' I go file>new>project and called it 'whatever' music video, for example.

…

whenever Ive done this and come back to FCX I can never ever find my original video timeline with all my editing. …

ok, you have a Lib, you have an Event, inside the Event are your imported clips AND your Project(s) related to this Event. (for unknown reasons, you could save the Project into another Event - if you want to …, lately read about a fella, having an Event just for his Projects! a bit weird, 'cause you then miss all the marvel of smart lists, keyword filetring etc... but if you want to......)

On next launch, FCPX will automatically open the last sessions set-up: Lib/Event and your last Project you edited ...

If you want to work onto a diff. Project, look at the very start of the things listed in your Event, projects have those clapper-icon.

Or in another Event (if you loacted at there). Or in another Librarys Events, if you stored it there.

Just recommended it in another thread:

Lessons for FCPX << link to AppStore, from ripple training. First 10 lessons are for free, but the other 10 are worth every penny.

On risking to sound grumpy; … have you actually used FCPX? 😉

OK it's easy to get confused to don't worry, we all do. Try to remember some of you FCP 7 workflow

FCP 7 Project = FCP X Library

FCP 7 Bin = FCP X Event

FCP 7 Sequence = FCP X Project

In FCP X, a Library is a CONTAINER for all your stuff, it includes your footage, music, sound, graphics, bins, cuts, everything. Inside your Library you create Events into which you can organise all your material, analogous to Bins in FCP 7. You can call them whatever you want to make life easier for yourself. When you've organised all your material into Events and keyworded them, it's time to start assembling and cutting, you do so by making a Project (= FCP 7 sequence). Personally I make a new event to contain my edits and I call it CUTS. I keep all my versions and revisions in here.

For every new job I take on, I make a new Library, this way I keep all jobs separate and don't put them all in one huge Library - I keep them separate.

I hope this helps a bit ...

Pro Editor with Avid, FCP 7 and X experience

www.intercuts.com

After ten or twenty projects, oops, umm, sessions or movies or jobs, you will begin to understand and seamlessly incorporate Apple's paradigm for video organization. Another ten or more movies and you'll be accustomed to the timeline construct, its frustrating limitations, multi-click routines to do the simplest things, and the customer-aggressive, egregiously silly things they left out, like white balance.

There was never a good reason for Apple to reinvent and replace a perfectly valid editing metaphor but, hey, you know, APPLE. If you stick it out, FCPX will eventually become fun and useful. But you may always resent being forced to learn an ultimately useless paradigm; you cannot jump onto any other editing platform on the planet and exploit your knowledge of FCPX and expect to get anything done.

David Bogie Chq-1 wrote:

you cannot jump onto any other editing platform on the planet and exploit your knowledge of FCPX and expect to get anything done.

iMovie? 😉

Russ

Free on every Mac, and anyone who's used iMovie can jump right into FCP.

Zombola wrote:

.......this something to do with compound clips or 'storyline'?

OR Magnetic Timeline, or 'abusing' compunds as track-replacement' or .... It shares the name, but FCPX is a from e ground new app. You don't learn it via sharing some Q&A on a Forum.....

and do NOT structure 'by hand'! FCPX is a data-base app! Let it do the work it has to do. Not you!

spend some days to learn it frm the ground, I posted some suggestion from rippletraining.

RIppdletrining is dead-tree-free = tons of hands-on video tutorials. That Lessons thingie offers the first episodes for free - just try it'

Echoing previous sentiments, try Ripple Training, also available from the Mac App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lessons-for-final-cut-pro-x/id952621966