Important Questions about FCP X / MTS files / External HD and Event Exporting

[SGM]

Hello all,
Been shooting my feature and here's what the "dilemma" is.


I've been editing the first segment with the folder of all 32 gig's (SD Card) in a folder with all of the needed information and MTS files. I've labeled my event in FCP X and am on my way to finishing up my first segment. This is all being done on my Mac Book Pro from 2010. No issues with my laptop, all is going well.


I'm soon going to be moving the event from the Mac Book Pro to a iMac and wanted to make sure that it's safe to do so. I've seen articles about transferring Events in FCP X and how it's fairly simple and easy to understand.


Now my question and what isn't known too well based off what I've read, is:


1) If I have the same media on my card, and upload it into the hard-drive and I export the Event onto that drive, do I then need to upload each individual clip again when in Media Import on FCP X, or will I not have to due to it being on my hard-drive which I have plugged in and uploaded all the footage to? Any confirmation on this is grateful, thanks.


My main concern is losing media while exporting the event.


Also, my other question is this:


2) I'd like to keep the clips minimized and as little as possible. I have 32 gig of footage on my SD card. If I delete un-needed footage on my card via my camera, will it effect the other footage? Let's say I have 500 clips, and I want to delete 400. Is that okay to do as far as it not messing up any of the other clips? I'd like to keep the space to a minimum on each hard-drive. I would still upload the 100 clips and Private folder and all contents obviously. Can anyone confirm that this is OK to do?


3) Hard-Drive. I'm really to purchase. I have an iMac so it had USB 3 capability and Thunderbolt as well. What are the best options for editing a feature and how many drives will I need (to chain link, especially if it's a feature length) or shall I buy two drives of the biggest file space that I can? I'm looking to buy two drives for around $250 each maybe?

 

[Nate Haustein]

Ok, I'm going to try my best to make this make sense - first of all, I'm assuming you're shooting to AVCHD, please let me know if that's an incorrect assumption. Rather than critiquing your workflow, I'm going to go over the correct workflow.

1. Shoot footage onto SD card

2. Put card into computer and start FCPX. Open the import window (CMD + I).

3. Your SD card should show up on the left. Click on it once and thumbnails of all the video clips on the card should appear on the right. Highlight all the clips you want to import (Hold CMD and click on each, or highlight with the mouse). After you've selected all the clips desired for import, click the blue button in the lower right that says "Import" or some such thing.

4. At this point, select the desired existing event for the footage, or create a new event. Select ok and the footage will begin to transfer, or more accurately, copy to your event folder. (NOTE: AVCHD clips will always copy to the event, meaning you don't need to keep the card in the computer when editing. It does take a few minutes for a card to copy, however, so be patient and wait for the process to finish. If you see a camera icon on a clip in the event browser afterwards, you know that the clip was not transferred correctly and exists only on the card. This is uncommon, but does happen if something interrupts the import process. Click CMD + 9 to bring up the activity monitor.

5. Once your clips have imported to the event, you can begin editing. If you bring in photos, music, or other non-AVCHD footage into your event by dragging or via the Import window, make sure "Copy Files to Event" is selected in the Final Cut preferences so that all the other files get copied to the event folder. AVCHD requires this but not all formats do, so be mindful of this point.

6. To transfer an event or project to an external hard drive, do so from within Final Cut itself, it causes far fewer problems than trying to drag and drop in the finder. Select a project in the project bin (don't go into the project just yet) and right click. Select "Duplicate." A window will appear asking where do you want it to go (choose your external) and if you want to duplicate any events as well ***

*** ok, bonus point here. If you have multiple projects and events, you need to make sure that the default event is correct for your project. This way, if you add any other media via drag and drop (like music, photos, etc) it goes to the right place and copies into the event you expect. To do this, click on the project once in the project viewer and them click the wrench in the inspector (CMD + 4). Select your desired event. It's best to do this right away when you start a project.

Where was I? Copying the project. In your case, "Copy all referenced events" makes the most sense because you want to keep ALL your media for the edit on the new Mac. Used clips works for when you want to slim down a project, but for now, choose all referenced events. After you click OK (make SURE it's going to the new hard drive) it will take a while for everything to transfer. Again, check your activity monitor for the progress.

7. After the transfer is complete, you'll have two identical projects and two identical events - one on the original drive and one on the external. Disconnect your new project hard drive and plug it into the second computer. Open up final cut and verify everything fit transferred properly. Sometimes a few clips can get missed because they were not copied correctly to the event folder. After that, you should be good to go. To add additional footage, insert your SD card into the computer, open the import window and select only the new clips. Choose the event with your other footage and final cut will add the new clips to your event.

That's it. You're done. As far as cards go, I would recommend starting wih a fresh card every shooting day. You can easily make an Archive Disk Image of the card each day using the import window, saving the card contents in their entirety. (READ: do this) After making a Disk Image, you can wipe the card itself for the next shoot. It is possible, however, to import only select files off the card, as discussed above.

I'll leave the hard drive recommendation to someone else, but hear this: if you can't afford to lose it, back it up - twice.

Dear god I typed this on my phone...