Edit in place and versioning

Question

Hi
Having built a very fast network to make use of 'Edit In Place' we are surprised to see that Edit in place does not appear to support versioning? i.e we want to drag out a project, work on it and then drag it back into FCserver, where a new version is created. Any thoughts?
There only seem to be hints in the manuals about using EIP, contradicted each time by the statement that 'Checking in and out' is the best way to use FCserver...
Thanks
Dan

Answer 1

Thanks John - I think you made a vital link in my understanding!
I've been messing about this morning and all my problems (touch wood) seem to be resolved after your last comment.
You may remember replying to my thread a while back about metadata... Even that seems to be fixed now!
I think I should outline my workflow - it may help anyone reading!
Firstly, I have changed my compressor cluster to a custom one. I was having problems using 'this computer' cluster; freezing transcodes and i think it was screwing with my Log and Transfer metadata too. Anyway, it tells you how to change it to a custom cluster in the setup guide - takes two minutes. I recommend it, even if you only ever use the admin user to use FCServer like we do.
Ok, the workflow:
-Create a new (filesystem) device with an Edit In Place path using the java client app (not the server pref pane). call it XXX_JOB for example. remember to create a folder in your storage/raid/san first!
Local Directory:
/Volumes/Data/FCSvrDevices/XXXJOB
Macintosh edit-in-place:
file://localhost/Volumes/FCSvrDevices/XXXJOB
(nb: our server has a RAID called 'data', it's share is a mounted as a volume on the local machine called 'FCSvr_Devices')
-Create a production scan for the device - set it off - make sure it is setup to read the correct directory levels for its production name and metadata name. in my experience this takes some fiddling! the workflow example book regarding this setting features a few misprints too!
-In this order; open FCP on the local machine, set the capture scratch to the XXX_JOB device you just made (our devices are on a server volume mounted locally - v.important for EIP to work). Save the project with the exact name you want the production to be - XXX_JOB.fcp. Open log and transfer, add your metadata and set it off. when it is done save your project and close FCP.
Check locally in finder that as a result of changing your scratch you have something like:
FCSvrDevices/XXXJOB/capture scratch/XXXjob/mvixxx.mov
(Where FCSvr_Devices is your storage device/raid/san, XXX_JOB is the new device and mvi_xxx.mov is a file from L&T.)
-If all is well you should soon after have a new production folder called 'XXX_JOB' in FCServer. If you double click this you should see all the files you ingested using L&T. You may now upload your local FCP project to this production. If your Edit In Place has worked properly then you will not duplicate your original media. We do this because we don't want to have any extraneous copies or have to take any unnecessary steps in deleting them.
-When you check this project out you will get a pop up asking you if you want to use original or proxy media. since we are editing in place it doesn't matter. hit 'check out' and only the FCP project will come down. you can now edit away, adding more media as you go from any EIP enabled device - we've found it even works using finder (allowing the use of finder's cool spacebar preview that FCServer doesn't have!). When you check back in FCServer doesnt duplicate any media. you just get a nice new version of your project and no uploading or caching! you can view the assets used in the project by double clicking to 'enter' the project.
This seems to work perfectly now. If anyone has any thoughts as to if this is the best way of doing it i would be interested to know.
Thanks again John
Best
Dan