Cannot duplicate event due to same file name

Question

I'm trying to archive some video projects my boss has made using Final Cut Pro X 10.0.7 on OS X 10.7.5. The problem I'm having is that I cannot "Duplicate Project + Used Clips" like I have done in the past because this project uses clips from three different events, and each of these events contains files that happen to have the same names as files in the other events.
For example:
Event A
- 00000-1.m4v
- 00000-2.m4v
- 00000-3.m4v
Event B
- 00000-1.m4v
Event C
- 00000-1.m4v
- 00000-2.m4v
So let's say the project he's created uses all these clips. If I attempt to "Duplicate Project + Used Clips", it won't work because 00000-1.m4v from three different events is used in the project. Apparently FCP is written in such a way that it allows you to fall into this trap. What it should be doing is either not allowing you to import a file into an event if that file name already exists in another event, or it should be smart enough to rename duplicate files on-the-fly when exporting (for example, 00000-1-1.m4v and 00000-1-2.m4v). But it does neither of these things.
The problem here is that these are the three events:
Event A = 108 clips
Event B = 68 clips
Event C = 80 clips
All FCP will say is that "two or more media files use the same name - rename the file or files and try again". Only it's not talking about the name of the file from within FCP -- it only cares about the file name as seen in the Finder. So even if I went into event A and put "A-" in front of all the clilp names, it doesn't matter, because it's not really "A-00000-1.m4v" -- the file is still named "00000-1.m4v" in the Finder, and the problem is unresolved.
Does anyone know any way of sorting out this problem without a massive amount of digging around, renaming files by hand and relinking?

Answer 1

I'm still stuck on this problem and in a couple of days I'm going to be sitting in on a webinar that will discuss archiving in FCP X.
I have tried several things and if I'm missing something I'd like someone to let me know.  I also cannot find much on this subject which is very surprising...or I'm not searching in the right places.  I'm going to submit feedback to Apple as follows:
Error:  “The operation cannot be completed.  Two or more media files use the same name.  Rename the file or files and try again.”
Operation attempted:  Duplicate project with used clips.
Second operation attempted:  Consolidate project media > Copy used clips only.
Cause:  Two or more events contain clips with the same name.
Eg.
event-20130126
          GOPR0002.mp4
event-20130220
          GOPR0002.mp4
Background:
          This video project resulted in a one hour documentary that used recordings from 6 different cameras shot over a span of 4 months.  Each day’s recording, for the most part, was broken into separate fcp events.  This resulted in 48 events.
          AVCHD imports result in media files whose name reflects the date and time of the recording which makes each of the imports’ media file names unique, even across all events.
          Imports from cameras such as GoPro’s Hero use their own original file names such as GOPR0001.  Therefore media file names are not unique across all events.
          Due to render and export problems, the video was broken up into 14 separate FCP X projects, aligned with what would ultimately be a “chapter” in the resulting video.
          The 14 projects “share” events;  i.e. the events used in the 14 projects (chapters) are not mutually exclusive.
          The source media as well as the events span over 3 physical external hard drives.
          All 14 projects are on one hard drive.
Consideration #1:
          It would seem that one way around this problem is to merge all 48 events.  I will not do this since this function moves the events rather than copies them.  Additionally, I’m not even sure if I have enough space to consolidate all 48 events anywhere available to me.
Consideration #2:
          This leaves only one other option which is to rename the source media files and relink all of them across all events.
Questions:
          1.          Why can’t FCP (internally) qualify the media file names that it imports with the event name?  i.e why is it left up to the user to insure that all of the media file names are unique across all events used by a project?
          2.          If it doesn’t do #1, then why were we not warned of this before starting.  I find out about this when I’m done with my project and trying to archive.  Now it’s a huge task to rename and relink.
Thoughts:
          Regardless of whether there is work-around to this problem, the fact that FCP has a “feature” such as events and allows projects to use more than one event but does not manage them properly reveals a weakness and flaw.  If such is the case, then it would be less painful, in this situation, to force a project to use only one event.
I wish that others would speak to this problem.  Or let us know what the answer to this is.
Thanks.