Delete all unused clips by moving all clips to trash and then "reveal in browser" from timeline

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Level 1

10 points

Delete all unused clips by moving all clips to trash and then "reveal in browser" from timeline

I have been looking for a way to clean complete projects by removing any un-used clips to reduce library space, but never really found a good solution... until I discovered something recently by chance...(using latest FCPX 10.3.1)

Seems like if you do "Move to trash" on a clip that is in use, it will disappear from the clip browser, without being actually moved to trash. Then if you select that clip in the timeline and select "reveal in browser" it will pop back up in the clip browser, and the "undo" menu will show that last action was "add clip to event".

So what I do now is to select the Smart Collection "All Video", then Cmd+a to select all clips, and Cmd+delete to move all to trash. If I now look in the trash, all the unused clips will be there, and if I look into the final cut library structure all used clips are still in the original media folder. However the "All Video" Smart Collection shows no clips. Now, by selecting each clip in the timeline and pressing Shift+F (Reveal in Browser) the clips pops back into the "All Video" clip browser/Smart Collection.

My question is: Is this an acceptable and safe way to clean a project from all un-used clips, or is this just some glitch, and might mess up the project or library? I read in apples fcpx help that move to trash will never move used clips to trash, but was surprised that they anyway got removed from the clips browser, and I had to use "Reveal in Browser" to make them re-appear.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.2), final cut pro x 10.3.1

Posted on Jan 14, 2017 9:44 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 19, 2017 10:20 PM in response to BAAB

Thanks BAAB,

I've been using the trick for a while and encountered no problems so far.

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Answer 2

GeeD

Level 6

9,179 points

Jan 15, 2017 5:51 AM in response to BAAB

You save most space by selecting the library then File > Delete Generated Event Files. You can delete all render files, optimised media and proxy media since these can all be regenerated if needed. Have you already done this and want to save more space?

Managed media files (stored in the library) that are selected for removal to trash are in fact only deleted when FCP is quit (so as to allow undo to work).

I would think that your process is safe but I am not in a position to test. It is correct that FCP will not delete any clips that are used in projects.

Geoff.

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Answer 3

BAAB Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 15, 2017 11:23 AM in response to GeeD

Thanks for the answer Geoff, I already deleted all the generated files.

You save most space by selecting the library then File > Delete Generated Event Files.

Its a good tips, but you do not necessarily save most space 😉 That depends how much of your timeline has been rendered, if you are using proxy/optimzed media, and how many un-used clips you have. I use fcpx to edit together typically 2-3 minute edits from kitesurfing trips, where I have a lot of clips, and only a few transitions etc to be rendered. No proxy or optimized media. So one of my products went from approximately 11G bytes to 10G bytes by deleting generated files, and then further down to around 4G when I deleted un-used media. So thats why I have been looking for a smooth unused media deletion method. Disk space is cheap, but as I also back up my libraries offsite on a paid backup server I prefer to slim down the libraries as much as possible to reduce upload time.

Managed media files (stored in the library) that are selected for removal to trash are in fact only deleted when FCP is quit (so as to allow undo to work).

I think there has been some changes to how this is handled. In the latest version (10.3.1) if you select a clip in the media browser and press cmd + delete (move to trash) as I do with my method the file is moved straight to system trash, and you immediately see the library file size decrease correspondingly and the clip showing up in system trash. You can still undo, as files are then restored from trash and put back into the event.

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