Michael Eckersley

Q: Accessing project files from FinalCut demo

Some weeks back I downloaded Final Cut Pro Demo and created an edited video project. It worked great! The demo expired and I purchased the application. But after downloading the purchased app, I can't access the project files from the original demo-version project I produced. Are they gone forever? Why wouldn't FCP retain them somewhere on disk for the sake of good user experience and continuity? I suspect this is a common question/problem, but I can't find other help questions on this topic.

 

Thx in advance,

 

-Michael

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), null

Posted on Aug 1, 2016 1:59 PM

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Q: Accessing project files from FinalCut demo

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  • by Tom Wolsky,Solvedanswer

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Aug 1, 2016 3:40 PM in response to Michael Eckersley
    Level 10 (118,096 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 1, 2016 3:40 PM in response to Michael Eckersley

    YYou should be able to double click the library you created in the demo version and open it in the full version. Try right-clicking it and sselecting open with Final Cut Pro.

  • by Michael Eckersley,

    Michael Eckersley Michael Eckersley Aug 1, 2016 4:09 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 1, 2016 4:09 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Hi Tim, Got your note. Such was my assumption too. Unfortunately, though the expired Final Cut Pro Trial app is still on my hard drive and opens up, it immediately locks me out with a dialog offering but two options: Quit or Buy. I "Bought", of course--which was always my intention, but it doesn't seem to recognize or access any of the library files from my Trial project. One would think Apple wouldn't penalize new app buyers for having followed the intended path. Foolishly, I guess, I didn't backup the original library files (though I did try), thinking that I would be able to preserve them following purchase. Thanks anyway.  -ME

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Aug 1, 2016 4:42 PM in response to Michael Eckersley
    Level 10 (118,096 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 1, 2016 4:42 PM in response to Michael Eckersley

    Delete the trial version or right-click on the library and select to open with Final Cut Pro, or use info for the library and change the application to open it to Final Cut Pro and set it for all similar file types.

  • by Michael Eckersley,

    Michael Eckersley Michael Eckersley Aug 1, 2016 5:04 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 1, 2016 5:04 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Tom,

    Well, your suggestions were hard to follow, but it did help tip me off as to where my movie files might be buried in my hard drive--hardly intuitive, btw. But I did find them and did as you said and set "open with" to FCP.

    So much thanks for your help.

    Best,

    -ME

  • by David Bogie Chq-1,

    David Bogie Chq-1 David Bogie Chq-1 Aug 2, 2016 7:40 AM in response to Michael Eckersley
    Level 7 (25,772 points)
    Video
    Aug 2, 2016 7:40 AM in response to Michael Eckersley

    Michael Eckersley wrote:

    Why wouldn't FCP retain them somewhere on disk for the sake of good user experience and continuity? I suspect this is a common question/problem, but I can't find other help questions on this topic

    -Michael

    FCPX put the Library files where you told it to. Or they went to the default location, your user Movies folder. As Wolsky says, they'll open just fine but finding them could be a problem if you put them someplace odd. You can use Spotlight to search for files with the extension .fcpbundle

     

    From the FCPX Help system:

     

    In Final Cut Pro 10.1 or later, you organize your work in libraries. A library contains multiple events and projectsin the same location. The first time you open Final Cut Pro 10.1, it creates a library file in the Movies folder. When you create a new project or event, it’s automatically included in the active library. The library tracks all your media files, your editing decisions, and the associated metadata.

  • by Michael Eckersley,

    Michael Eckersley Michael Eckersley Aug 2, 2016 8:03 AM in response to David Bogie Chq-1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 2, 2016 8:03 AM in response to David Bogie Chq-1

    Thanks for your reply, David. Unfortunately, I wasn't prompted to "tell" FCP to put the files anywhere. They were automatically placed in a default location, buried deep in a sub-directory that makes total sense to FCP developers, but not to actual non-expert users. Problem is, the software didn't recognize that I (a user) had a brief use-history with FCP Trial, and it wasn't smart enough to go looking for traces or data files of that history. Don't misunderstand, I'm grateful to Tom for bothering to clue me in as to where those files might be and how I could get FCP to recognize them, but I'm disappointed that it didn't happen more seamlessly. Blaming a new FCP customer user for such a lapse isn't exactly best interaction design practice, but learning from such a UX gap can be. http://www.fastcodesign.com/3053406/how-apple-is-giving-design-a-bad-name.

    Best All,

    -ME

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Aug 2, 2016 8:17 AM in response to Michael Eckersley
    Level 10 (118,096 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 2, 2016 8:17 AM in response to Michael Eckersley

    When the application launches for the first time it creates a library called Untitled. The default location is the user's Movies folder. The folder's at the top level of the user's home content. The only other option really would be the Documents folder. Not sure how that's so obscure. Any new library you create is placed ion the location you assign it, like any other document created in an application.

     

    The problem is that you had both applications, the trial version and the paid version. Because the library was created in the trial version, that's the version that tried to open. If the trial version had been deleted, the paid version would have opened the library. The system can't distinguish between the two because they are both the same application version, 10.2.3.

  • by Michael Eckersley,

    Michael Eckersley Michael Eckersley Aug 2, 2016 8:37 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Aug 2, 2016 8:37 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Tom,

    Thanks for your note. I don't dispute the internal logic of how the application sets up files. My only criticism is that a new user experience was disrupted because his mental model didn't naturally map onto that file management protocol. It wasn't an engineering error, but a user experience problem that could have been anticipated and designed around. Expecting people to think like machines has costs--like rounds of customer support that could be avoided.

    Best,

    -ME