Recommended media organisation for unique post Production situation

Hello, after years of using forums for troubleshooting, this is the first time I have actually created a profile and logged in to ask a question.

I am in the process of (finally) making the transition from FCP7 to FCPX, and I am looking for guidance on organising media. I have watched and read countless tutorials, but I still have some specific queries due to the fairly unusual way that we produce our films.

I run an independent social documentary production company. We produce each of our films with a crew of students learning their trade, and taking their first steps into the industry. On each production we have a team up to 12 editors, each with their own drive, all working separately, organising content and putting together edits. They are continually passing projects amongst themselves, to refine, combine etc

Working with FCP7 we made sure that each drive had the same folder structure, and that the Capture Scratch Disks and other folders containing media on each drive were mirrored, this meant that fcp files could be passed easily and quickly from one editor to another before being reconnected.

Now, working with Libraries and Events, I am unsure of how best to organise our media. Where should media files de saved? Can we easily move media files from a library on one drive to an identically named library on another drive? If I copy a project, does it take all the associated files with it? Can I copy just the project and reconnect the files on another drive? Do we need to fundamentally change the way that we are organising our media and projects?

Essentially, our key objective is to make just one file transfer of media for each drive, and then be able to regularly pass projects back and forth and for them to open and reconnect without issues.

I hope I've been clear with my question. I really hope that someone out there can help me, and most of all I hope that I'm being really stupid and that there is a simple solution staring me right in the face! - almost certainly the case

MacBook Pro, iOS 9.0.2

Posted on Oct 13, 2015 10:21 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,010 points

Oct 14, 2015 1:51 AM in response to TomOTOXO

It's relatively straight forward. I would suggest using external media rather than managed media. Start with one library on the master machine and set the media location to an external folder. Import the media. Copy the library and the media folder onto each drive. Make sure each library has its media location set to the local media folder.

Passing projects back and forth is most reliably done using transfer libraries. To send a project, make a new project and make sure it's set to the media location not internal. (The application defaults to using the last assigned,but it's always good to check.) Copy the project into the new library. Send the library over however you like. It should be a small enough file to email if you wanted. The other editor opens the library and copies the project into his library. Check that the media is linked to the correct media folder, and trash the transfer library. The only thing to watch out for are multicam clips and compound clips, which want to duplicate themselves.

That's about it.

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Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,010 points

Oct 14, 2015 2:03 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

To send a project, make a new project and make sure it's set to the media location

THis should read: To send a project, make a new library

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Answer 3

TomOTOXO Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 14, 2015 2:03 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hi Tom. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. Your explanation is really clear, and I understand the workflow you are suggesting. I do have one question. As we shoot over a period of months, our edit team starts working while we continue to shoot and import new media. In this situation, how should we go about adding the new media to the full set of external drives? Is this also straight forward? With FCP7 we just had to copy the new media into the Capture Scratch folder on each drive. However my limited understanding of organising media for FCPX means that I don't have a clear picture of how I should do this.

Many thanks!

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,010 points

Oct 14, 2015 2:36 AM in response to TomOTOXO

DDepending how the media is acquired you can either import it into each library on each machine, or copy it into the media folder on each machine. Putting the media into the folder does not make it appear in FCP. the files have to be imported, using leave in place because they're already in the correct location.

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Answer 5

TomOTOXO Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 14, 2015 2:42 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

"Putting the media into the folder does not make it appear in FCP. the files have to be imported"

Just for my clarification

Editor A imports media to the media folder of drive A, and creates various projects using this media. The media is then copied to media folder on drives B,C,D & E. When Editor A passes them a project, will that project open and reconnect automatically, or does the media need to be imported first?

Thank you for your patience.

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Answer 6

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,010 points

Oct 14, 2015 4:37 AM in response to TomOTOXO

IIdeally the media is imported into the B,C, D, and E libraries before A passes over the project.

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