Quick Lad
Level 1 (4 points)
Video

Q: Best way to store an extremely large FCPX library?

I am working on an a project that is creating an extreme amount of data (twenty 25 minute 4K videos that were shot 2 - camera, each shooting 4K).

 

I have the original media created by the cameras, I have the imported media that FCPX brings in, I have a multicam clip for each video - which in essence is two optimized files from the two cameras, and then I have a 4K master output file.

 

Once all the videos are complete, I would like to 'hibernate' the project - but be able to come back to it if needed.

 

Would it be better/faster to get rid of the media created in FCPX and then reimport/relink if needed using the original camera media cards?

 

Better to get rid of the original media cards and maintain the imported media in FCPX?

 

or even get rid of all the GCPX generated files and then be able to recreate/optimize them when needed?

 

Any thoughts? Just trying to save drive space and still be able to have a working library when needed.

 

Thanks

Eric

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 16GB RAM

Posted on Mar 17, 2016 9:32 AM

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Q: Best way to store an extremely large FCPX library?

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  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Mar 17, 2016 10:52 AM in response to Quick Lad
    Level 7 (21,890 points)
    Quicktime
    Mar 17, 2016 10:52 AM in response to Quick Lad

    Any of the computer-generated files cam be trashed and re-created later if necessary.

     

    Here is a support doc that has a good description of the archive process,

     

    Russ

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Mar 17, 2016 11:17 AM in response to Quick Lad
    Level 6 (12,682 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 11:17 AM in response to Quick Lad

    In addition to what Russ said:

     

    Multicam clips do not take up much space at all, as they refer to, rather than replicate, the media on the associated clips - that is, unless you check the "create optimized media for multicam clips". You probably don't need that.

     

    The media cards should be safely backed up somewhere else. I would avoid creating optimized media altogether, as that takes a huge amount of space; and I surely would use external media - you don't want the library to engorge to hundreds of GB or a few TB.

  • by Quick Lad,

    Quick Lad Quick Lad Mar 17, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Mar 17, 2016 5:58 PM in response to Russ H

    Awesome - I will check this out - Thanks!

  • by EcoGreg,

    EcoGreg EcoGreg Mar 17, 2016 6:29 PM in response to Quick Lad
    Level 3 (554 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 6:29 PM in response to Quick Lad

    You can move your FCPX Library bundle, the media files and any other files to an external drive and store them there. When you want to work on the project again, you can open it from the external drive and work off of it assuming it is fast enough. 4K files need very fast drives. Best to use either an ssd drive or a RAID set of drives for multi-cam 4K projects or use proxies for editing and then convert to original files for export (share)

    I prefer to leave my media on external drives (mostly ssd) while editing and keep my boot drive only for the app and back-up files.

    You can move the files inside of FCPX in the Library Pane or via the Finder. I prefer inside FCPX.

     

    Hope this helps, Greg