Change Optimized Media to Proxy

Working with the new Mac Pro, so I imported a large project of interviews as Optimized Media and not proxy. As a result the Library is 768GB. I now also want to be able to edit on my Mac Book Pro — it can handle the editing, but moving such a huge Library around to different drives is very time consuming, even at Thunderbolt speeds.
Is there a way to switch to proxy even after everything has been imported? Also I have already most of a week keywording, so I don't want to start over.
Another problem is backup. The only way I can figure out as a backup scheme is to copy the whole Library, since you can't just copy or backup the Project and/or Keywords (which is the only thing that is changing at this point).
I'd love to get the whole thing down small enough so I can put it on Dropbox and thus edit from anywhere. Advice?

You can create Proxy after importing by right clicking of the selected clips and choosing Transcode Media.
Check out the section on archiving in this doc.
Good luck.
Russ
PS. You can delete files like Optimized and render files.
If you move a library or an an event to a new library that's on a different drive, FCP will copy it. Before you trash the old event (or library), test the new one to may sure it's functional.

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Getting my head around editing in h.264, Proxy Media, or Optimized Media for Canon DSLR

I'm trying to understand these different workflows, how they work, plusses and minues of each, with a focus on how it relates to file size. Please help me fill in the gaps
Here's what I think I know now.
Optmize meda to ProRes 422
Better for performance, but creates HUGE files. On 30 GB worth of h.264 footage, the optimzed files were over 100 GB, not including any render files, etc. I'm running off a laptop and only use external drives for storage, so I'd like to find a better way that uses less disk space and requires less time to convert (took all night for those 100 GB)
Proxy Media
Creates an easy to edit file that is very poor resolution and quality. You can use this for editing, then before final export, switch back to original/optimized media and it will re-render and reconnect with the good media.
QUESTION: If I ONLY do the Proxy optimization, do I need to also Optimize to ProRes 422 at some point also, or can I just have it refer to the h.264 .mov files and get equivalent results? If I can, this seems like a good compromize.
Editing directly with the h.264 footage
I have read that some people are dropping the footage directly into the timeline and editing without any real problems. Others say it will cause performance issues and to always optimize. Ideally I'd like to do this way as it is the quickest (no conversion) and has the smallest file sizes of all of them.
It would also be useful to start out this way and optimize later if I need to on the smaller sub-set of the footage. But I have found no good way to do a rough cut with little editing and then select only those clips used in the timeline for optimization in case I start experiencing slowdowns. Yes, you can clip-by-clip select them and "show in event browser," but you can't do this with multiple clips as far as I can tell.
So what are your workflow tips for keeping file size down? What am I missing in my understanding of these options?
I'm on a 2010 MBP i7 (dual core) with a 7200 RPM drive for what it's worth since I know the h.264 one largely depends on the hardware.

Proxy Media
If I ONLY do the Proxy optimization, do I need to also Optimize to ProRes 422 at some point also ...
Nope. You don't need to do the "Optimze Media" at all, you can use with the Proxy media for your working edit, then switch the references back to the Original media for mastering/export.
... or can I just have it refer to the h.264 .mov files and get equivalent results? If I can, this seems like a good compromize.
Exactly. And yes it is, an excellent compromise. Start working with the original media right away, but have FCPX create proxies in the background (which it switches to using as soon as each one becomes ready); if at any point you need to check a clip in place in the timeline in full resolution then you can just quickly toggle your general playback preference to "Use original", otherwise just edit away with the proxies and then switch that preference back to "Use original" when you are ready to output.
Editing directly with the h.264 footage
I have read that some people are dropping the footage directly into the timeline and editing without any real problems. Others say it will cause performance issues and to always optimize.
Yep, you can edit just with the original media if you choose but your source footage is H264, a dreadful edit codec by any measure, and certainly you will get much better timeline performance if you work with transcoded Optimized or Proxy media instead.

Proxy-media vs optimized media

Hi Folks,
Upon importing my media I'm able to choose between proxy and optimized media. The difference between and the sense of those is understood. But what I'm not understand - why I'm allowed to select proxy-media AND optimized media at the same time? In my opinion you need EITHER proxy (on a laptop) OR optimized media but never both of them together...
Because if you import as proxy AND optimized, FCPX will take the proxy for editing and the optimized files are useless, right?
So why is that, why can I choose both and not one of them?
Best regards
Jörg

You only need optimized media if your computer has problems working with the original media. Optimized media will transcode your original media to Prores 422, which is much easier CPU-wise to edit with as compared to H264. However, it takes up LOTS of space, so if you have no problems editing with your original media, you don't need to generate optimized.
Proxy media is a low-res version of your original media -- 1/4 resolution I believe, and it uses a reduced quality codec meant only for "offline" editing. e.g., using a laptop. However, like Tom says, if your machine is underpowered and you don't have the space for the optimized media, it's another alternative.
I would not recommend only using proxy media for editing since the resolution is much lower and you won't really be seeing a true representation of your content. I'd say though if your computer can handle editing in H264, there would be no reason for generating optimized media.

Specs on "Optimized" media

What are the specs on "optimized" media? ProRes 422, 422 (HQ), 444?
And when I am exporting a project and I'm in "Original/Optimized" and all of my original clips have been optimized... which clips is FCPX using for export? The original or the optimized?
I have a large project and I'm running out of space on the drive and since everything has been optimized, I'm thinking of throwing the original raw clips off to a separate drive. But I want to make sure that my exporting is still going to be the same.
Thanks!

My question is what is that codec? and can that be changed?
The codec is ProRes 422 and no you cannot change it. The codec for Proxy Media is also ProRes 422, but the resolution has been reduced by 1/2 on each dimension (1080 becomes 960 x 540, etc.) ProRes is the best codec you can use for editing (for FCPX). You may edit in the native codec of your video without converting to Optimized, but unless you have a New Mac Pro, I think most people here would recommend using Optimized.

Choppy playback of AVCHD footage. 1920 x 1080 60p. Imported as optimized media.

So I have some stuff shot on different days, same card, same camera, same settings. 1920 x 1080 AVCHD 60fps progressive, imported as optimized media. I know my computer and external drive are able to handle this kind of footage. What is puzzling is that some clips with the same specs, play back very choppy (like unrendered media) and others play back wonderful. What gives, I must be missing something obvious. Why would some clips play ok and others really badly? I have double checked that everything (codec, frame rate, optimized vs. proxy) is the same by viewing stats in the events browser. Dropping these clips into the timeline does not show they need rendering, but if I output the clip as a master file, it plays fine. I have clips in other events that play great, with the same specs. I am at a real loss. thanks gentlemen.

Sorry, but I can't think of anything during import that would introduce errors that would cause choppy playback. A momemttary loss of connection would be a problem but would typically corrupt the file and it most likely not play at all.
If you hadn't said that some clips played (or previewed) perfectly smoothly, I'd suspect a hardware problem.
Maybe someone else will have some better ideas.
Russ

Are there any benefits to using optimized media when capturing SD footage?

I am going through old MiniDV tapes and I have to say, going through my first project using FCPX has been very good. I have made use of proxy media, but I wanted to see if anyone might weigh in on if creating optimized media is a good idea with SD footage.
And my question might be answered with a bit of a better understanding of what optimized media is. The way I understand it is that the footage is of the same quality of raw footage but much less smaller in filesize (megabytes wise.) Is that correct? In that case, if I capture footage and check the optimized media box, does it capture raw footage and then also create optimized media?
Many thanks!

Nope, DV footage wouldn't benefit from Optimized. Optimized Media is designed for formats that are not especially well-suited to editing, such as AVCHD or H.264- mostly because these formats are more optimized for in-camera use and don't hold up as well to multiple generations in editing. Plus they require much more CPU power to decode and playback.
DV doesn't have these issues as much, is ideally suited to editing and so wouldn't benefit. Proxy mode on the other hand would help a little as it knocks down the file size and amount of processing power. But to be honest the difference in file sizes and CPU requirements between Proxy and DV in standard definition are so minimal that personally I wouldn't bother to use it. Stick with pure DV.

How do i change the media type on a digital booklet when they option bar is greyed out?

I downloaded an album a couple days ago which came with a digital booklet. I am trying to put it on my phone but need to change the media type to book to be able to do this. whenever I go to the get info tab, the options tab is completely greyed out and wont let me do anything to it. I have tried selecting read only on the file and it did not work. I have windows 8. If there's is any different way of getting this on my phone, anything would be great!

The item must not be read only if you want to change it.
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errrrrrrm!
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How to change iTunes Media Folder location after Hard Drive Died

I have been trying to figure this out from other posts but can't seem to find what I am looking for. I store all my music files on an external hard drive. Recently, the external drive died on me. Fortunately, I had the external backed up on another drive using Time Machine. I bought a new drive for the music and transferred the files onto the new drive. My question is what do I do next? Currently iTunes still searches for the files on the dead drive and I get the exclamation marks next to each song which is obviously not a surprise. I want to change the Media Folder preferences to the new drive but will I then lose all my playlists? Basically what I want to do is direct iTunes to the new drive and keep everything else intact. Is that possible? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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http://www.keyscorner.com/archives/2009/03/07/removing-duplicate-files-in-itunes /
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http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/
Message was edited by: Diane Wordsmith

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Change Optimized Media to Proxy

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