best method of sending FCP project over the web???

B

bfsound

Well-known member
I shot some video for my manager for some sponsors and he needs me to send it to him over the net to be edited by his buddy. I have a mediafire account so i know how to get the files to him im just wondering if i put all the footage into FCP arrange it in the timeline roughly how to i want to export or compress or convert the stuff to keeo quality but not be too huge of files to send. i think mediafire free account limit is like 200mb file size.

Thanks
 
common guys someone has to have an idea here? I made up a rough sequence for the editor i would like to export the sequence using compressor, what setting s should i use etc... For web download. Or whats the best way to export so i can send online and still maintain quality for the guy who needs to edit?

Thanks
 
The first thing I would do is chill out. Give people a bit more than an hour to respond to your initial post.

Now, how much footage do you have to transfer? How long is your sequence? How long is the finished piece going to be? Is there some reason putting the materials on a hard drive and sending it via FedEx won't work?

Generally, the FCP project files are not very large, so if he can download the footage via Mediafire (not familiar with that), then you should also be able to upload the project file for him. Then all he has to do is open the project, re-link to the downloaded media and start editing.

If you want to maintain the quality, he needs the same footage you've been cutting and the project file.

You could also try exporting a Final Cut Pro XML of the sequence you've been working on. Again, he should be able to open that in FCP (in a new project) and re-link to the media.

Of course I've never actually done any of this. I just FedEx a hard drive when needed.
 
Cant fedex or mail because he needs it asap and i live in mn and he lives in La.

The rough is around 4 min long the final needs to be around 1-2 min long. How would i send him the project file? I also want him to have an exported version as well i dont know what he is using to edit... So do i attach to project file and then the media for that file in 1 folder and just send him that?

Thanks again
 
If you can send him the media via Mediafire, you can send him the project file (the FCP project file) the same way.

And if you don't know what he's using to edit, you might want to ask him that question. It's pretty important.
 
Im finding that out right now, i keep my FCP projects on my boot disk and my scratch on another other than the FC project what "media" do i need of the scratch disk for the project to open on his computer assuming he is using FC? Just the capture scratch which has the .mov clip in it for that project?

otherwise whats a good way to export so he can download and edit in another program, settings and format?

Thanks
 
If he's using FCP, here's what I'd do…

Open your project. Create a sequence with ONLY the media he needs (or you want him to have) cut together. Select that sequence in your browser window and select File>Media Manager and use that tool to export a new project with associated media files. What you'll end up with is a folder with the new project file and a "Media" folder. These two things should be all he needs to start cutting.

Now, how large will the files be? That depends on what format you shot and edited in.

As for what to do if he works in another program…sorry. Can't help you there.
 
You should try dropbox.com. The free account is 2 gigs and everybody that you get to join gives you 250mb extra.

I would research "Media Manager" and use it to create a folder with all your media and files. If you have 20 minutes of DV footage it will be about 2 gigs. Although it should be said if he is using Avid or any others and has no experience in using FCP started projects and it takes you guys 2 days of trial and error to figure out then the FedEx hard drive solution looks a lot better.

Sneakernet:

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." —Tanenbaum, Andrew S.
 
kgimedia said:
You should try dropbox.com. The free account is 2 gigs and everybody that you get to join gives you 250mb extra.

I would research "Media Manager" and use it to create a folder with all your media and files. If you have 20 minutes of DV footage it will be about 2 gigs. Although it should be said if he is using Avid or any others and has no experience in using FCP started projects and it takes you guys 2 days of trial and error to figure out then the FedEx hard drive solution looks a lot better.

Sneakernet:

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." —Tanenbaum, Andrew S.
Click to expand...

Still why would a hard drive be better? If he is not using FCP and is using a pc editing software i will need to export the sequence as something so he can then open it in his software so its not a FC project file... So sending it over a media hosting site would be the same as a HDD as long as i can fit it on the site.
 
Okay, if my math is right (and it generally is not), you're looking at just under 900MB for 4 minutes of SD DV. So your Mediafire account won't handle it at 200MB. Check out dropbox.com instead.
 
ok if i go to media manager and just do a copy as it sits im looking at 1.3 gb, if i re-compress using apple codec NTSC720 30p it gets me just under 1GB, if i do re-compress whats the best one to use.

I also exported as a .mov and thats about 140mb so thats not bad and i think that would work if he had a diff software would it not?


Thanks
 
Yes but when you send a hard drive it becomes his issue, when you send data via internet it is your issue to debug and figure out what he does not know. If you export XML and put project file on Drive with all the media then if he can not use it he has to start from scratch with the raw DVCAM capture media. If you do this via the web you are never really handing over ownership and might be required to figure it out.
 
bfsound said:
ok if i go to media manager and just do a copy as it sits im looking at 1.3 gb, if i re-compress using apple codec NTSC720 30p it gets me just under 1GB, if i do re-compress whats the best one to use.

I also exported as a .mov and thats about 140mb so thats not bad and i think that would work if he had a diff software would it not?


Thanks
Click to expand...

If you just send him an export of your timeline all he can really do is cut. With out all the original media it may most likely be lots of phone calls and back and forth.

I also recommend leaving it the way it is as far as compression. It really just feels like adding another layer to the complexity scale for the scenario.
 
What ownership i own it its my footage, our band manager just wants his buddy to cut it up so thats why i dont care if its just an export of the timeline. He can do anything he wants to that footage in his software, cut, fade, fx etc... He just wont have the original capture project. Ill prob just end up editing it and just send him the final clip...
 
Sorry. Ownership the way I used it is meant to relay "ownership of the project" in the fact that any issues after delivery will be his not yours. If you send him a timeline export of your edited piece he will lose much edit flexibility and any non cut edits will suffer do to a lack of lead in/out for the media being cut.

We are trying to help you. We are trying to give you solutions that will be less headaches for all involved. You see some of us do this everyday for a living. If he has FCP and all of your original media you can e-mail the FCP project files back and forth. This can lead to collaboration and experience. When you have those things you can attempt to help people with "URGENT" issues that require ASAP solutions for something they have never done before.

EDIT: Not meant to be condescending. Media Management and long distance collaboration is easier then it has ever been. Most people complete there entire project in house and under one roof. With a little forethought bi-coastal production and be sweet and easy. Bonus is if the dude in Cali is good you get great work that you did not have to do yourself.
 
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I get your trying to help i guess i just need to know if he is using FC or not my manager said he is using a mac but that he also runs windows on it so i dunno? if he is using FCP ill just use media manager and walla.
 
So thanks for all the input, in the end i just decided to cut a quick sequence and make it myself. Now i need to export the sequence to send to my manager through mediafire so he can email the video to the people who need to see it. Whats going to be the best method of export here, which format, codec, compression etc...

Thanks again
 
DJDecay said:
My sugesstion would be for you both to keep the media common and as high quality as possible without doing the PROXY method.

In order to pass extremely large files via media-fire and the like all you need to do is "split" them.

You can do this with the unix command slip, yet it offers no checksumming or corrective algorithms for a "join" on the other end.

However new compressors like 7 zip and RAR allow for exactly that - equi-sized part files that join into one "whole" after-wards with check-summing and CRC integirty checking that the content dispatched is byte identical to the content received.

After that you can email each-other the FCP project all day long with revisions, and it will re-link and play against identical media that you both have..

During multi file compression you can designate how many files or their max-size

so you'll end up with

Assets.rar
Assets.r00
Assets.r01
....
Assets.r49

Each lets say 200MB is size which is the media fire limit..
Click to expand...

Did you read my last post??? I made the clip myself so there is no need to send the FC project back and forth justt the finished clip needs to be sent to him over media fire. So whats the best way to export the sequence to maintain quality but keep file size down? I did 1 export using quicktime conversion, kept stock size of 720x480, exported as a quicktime .mov and used the H.264 compression and it was 70 some Mb are these good settings to export with?
 
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