File Managment - FCP X Vs Imovie

Hi,
I'm trying to optimize my videos file managment I have a lot of clips and movies created with FCP. I was wondering if for the pure file managment make more sense to use iMove rather than FCP X. Anyone using both?
Moreover, I'm used to store original clips in my external HD, but If I import them with FCP 10 they are incorporated in the library file, how can I import clips and store them without the library issue? Ideally puting them directly in the external HD?

Thanks, I will then use FCP only.
I had still a couple of questions.
a) How can import clips from my camera with FCP 10 without having original encript in library files? Or should I use a different tool just for import?
b) All clips I imported in the past from my camera (sony) are .mov they are terrible heavy, one trip orinal clips only are hundreds of GB. What is the best file format for original clips in your view?

Similar Messages

AVCHD: how to deal with the .MTS files in FCP 5 or iMovie 08

I just bought a Canon HF10 AVCHD camcorder and stumbles into the difficult editing process with FCP 5. Here are my steps:
- Conversion of the camcorder .MTS files with iMovie 8; they are then transformed into a .MOV sequence. A 14secondes sequence recorded in the highest quality (FXP, 17Mbps) is captured as a 28MB .MTS file by the camcorder, rendered as a 231MB .MOV file by iMovie 8, and it took 53 sec to process it !
- I export the sequence as: Share >Export Final Cut XML…
- In FCP 5: import XML…then I tried different modes: AIC 1080i60 (image is overstreched), AIC 720p30 (proportion is OK, but I captured in 1080…), AIC DV NTSC 48kHz (not HD…) BUT none of the resulting sequence is rendered, I still have the red bar above the timeline.
For financial reason, I’d like to avoid to go to FCP 6, which seems to work natively with the AVCHD format.
My questions are:
- is there a way to reduce the size of the iMovie converted files: 900MB per minute ?
- is there a way not to have to render the imported files in FCP ?
Can anyone help me ?

I have the same camera and the reality is you're going to go through that translation from AVCHD to some sort of Quicktime file format no matter which tool you use. I do it with FCP6 and it needs to do the same translation from the .mts files to (they recommend) ProRes files. AVCHD is a highly compressed format and when you move it to an editable form, the file(s) is going to get much larger. It is HiDef content after all which can be quite large.
In my case, once I do the transfer to ProRes format nothing needs to be rendered in the FCP timeline unless I add some sort of filter or effect to it.
The rendering problem you are describing is often caused by the Sequence setting not matching the content settings. This is automated in FCP6 where it detects the content format of the video you're trying to add and changes the sequence settings to match the content. Take a look at the sequence settings and see if they match the structure of the content and that should resolve the 'everything needs to be rendered' situation.

Anyone using FCP's file manager to remotely share files, anyone using FCP's file manager to remotely share files?

Hi:
I am looking to build a solution for a prospective client. I want to use FCP server's file manager to allow remote users to access and obtain content. This arrangement is actually for healthcare solution. I know FCP is used to manage and transfer files, but I am not sure what controls, access, etc are available to make assurances these files are not manipulated.

I've been using FCP for a long time and I do not know of "file manager" tool. Are you looking for an evaluation of FCP Server? That's a different forum, not many users of that app here.
bogiesan

Best way to organize/manage FCP X files?

In addition to the product list below I have a Promise Pegasus 4 x1TB Raid Stack, and a LaCie 3TB USB 3 for Time Machine. Someone has suggested locating FCP events on the first drive of the stack and FCP projects on the second drive and use the 3TB external hard drive for backing up the whole system. The whole system includes a Solid State Hard Drive 250GB (which is currently the default location for FCP events and projects) and a 2TB hard drive both internal to the iMac 3.4 Ghz intel core i7. I also have Carbon Copy Cloner for backing up but is it still useful here? Is there a concensus about the Pegasus set up or is there a better way to manage FCP files?
I'm a bit new to this. So you might have state the obvious as well the essential manoevers, one or two extra sentences to give the clearest possible procedure. Many thanks. christophermark

Either a) or b) is fine.
However, c) will not work with iDVD, which wants a muxed file. The Compressor presets were designed ith DVD Studio Pro in mind.
I would let iDVD do the encoding and the resizing. In other words, give it a 1080 resolution Pro Res file with square pixel shape and it will do all the necessary math to preserve the wide screen aspect ratio (changing the pixel shape) and should produce very good looking image quality if you use the Professional quality setting.
Good luck.
Russ

Final Cut Pro X File Management Issues

I have several issues
1. Does anyone know if it is possible to import from camera to the standard Mac file system? I can't see a way to avoid importing media in the FCP library and I definitely DON"T want any of my media files in the FCP library.
2. Also I know I can copy the media files out of FCP back into the file system but I am not sure how to delete the FCP copy and re-point everything to the media I have stored in a proper file structure on a specific media disk.
3. It doesn't seem to be possible to have FCP default new libraries to a media drive - it only wants to create them on the boot drive and the library has to be moved manually. Am I missing something?
4. Backup is an issue now - it looks like a change to any component within a library will trigger a backup of the whole library - it certainly does with the backup software I am using, and who knows what Time Machine does with FCP libraries... (but Time Machine DOES appear to delete files without notice when it runs out of space, so it is not suitable for any environment where permanent data retention is an issue - so beware...)
ps: don't EVER use the "move to library" function. If it crashes you won't get a reason, you can't undo or recover, and the originals may be deleted even though the media never made it to the other library. This is not good...

Hi Tom: It was "Move Event to Library" that crashed, deleting the media from the originating library but not copying it to the new library.
I lot of my issues are down to lack of familiarity with the new interface after migrating from the old Final Cut; manuals which are incomplete or in error; courseware created in earlier versions of Pro X and which have not been updated, and what I regard as counter-intuituive defaults and assumptions by the Apple development team. I spend a lot of time searching for answers: For instance I spent at least an hour searching in the manual and on the net for a way to extract or move the media from an FCP library. I came up with nothing. It would never have occurred to me to search for the term "consolidate".
Another thing that caused me an issue was that I copied a library from one drive to the other to create a backup before I started trying to regularise the media locations in the original library. I changed the name of the backed up library in file manager. When I open it, FCP still uses the old name - hence a library which is opened on one disk and appears to point to data on another. In fact I hadn't noticed that there were two libraries of the same name open at the same time in FCP - the apparently duplicated library was in fact the backup library on the other disk which was renamed in file manager but not in FCP.
In iTunes and Aperture, which both use this bundled library approach, you can only open one library at a time. FCP is different - and I have no problem with this, but any user familiar with the other products would assume, as I did, that FCP worked the same way. That it does not gives rise to the possibility of confusion.
FCP is a very complex piece of software. That means it is impossible to make it easy for a first timer to understand - an experienced Final Cut user has to unlearn as much as he or she has to learn - and all this places much greater reliance on the manuals. The writers of the manuals need to try and put themselves in the heads of their users and make sure that their TOC, Index and terminology corresponds to the thinking of the user - not the new terms they have created for the new version (e.g.: "consolidate media" - which means extract media from the library and move it into the file system, but who would know?)
In an environment where the file sizes are enormous; a library may contain several hundred clips and audio tracks organised in various events and projects; FCP can crash and "disappear" media; the manual is hard to search and the software behaves in an unexpected manner (library names in FCP do not necessarily correspond to the actual name of the library on disk and multiple copies of a library can all be open at the same time, with the same name) this all creates a great deal of stress. One mistake and a great deal of work can be lost irretrievably.
However, with your advice, I have consolidated the media files from my largest library and confirmed that the library holds only the metadata now. However, the new file organisation is unusable, so I will now need to change the file names and reorganise them into subfolders that make sense to me - I guess I will find out if this breaks FCP's links. At the same time I have to figure out which files in the original file structure correspond to the newly extracted files so that I only have a single set.
My big mistake was to copy the files into the library in the first place. This is the default, and also recommended on the Lynda courseware (which was created on an earlier version of FCP). Since most of my existing files were imported in the old version of FCP prior to the upgrade (so already on disk), this meant creating duplicates of all files initially. However, all the newer files are only in the libraries and not in the file system - reconciling this now is tricky. Since I retrieve SD cards on my notebook in the field and then copy to my Mac Pro, some of the new files have ended up in the file system and not in the library. I am yet to find out whether FCP will automatically pick up new files added directly to the file system, or whether they have to be "imported" through FCP before FCP can see them.
The overhead of all this duplication is enormous and the inconsistencies tricky, and it is only now that I understand better how FCP Pro X works (and that it can lose stuff) that I now realise I have to undo all of this and move the media back into file manager and out of the libraries.
If you have to transition to a new, and radically different, version in the middle of a project you really need to understand all the implications. I did not. And now that I do, it is difficult, stressful and time consuming to sort out.
If I were able to go back and give myself some advice it would be to ignore the defaults, create logical and sensible file structures for all your media, keep all media out of the libraries and use the file structure to force FCP to organise your clips in a logical manner so that you don't then have to go through and laboriously assign keywords to organise them in FCP.
I don't know if the way I work is very different to other film-makers. This is a doco - typically around 5% of what is shot will make it into the final program, and I double that because I use three cameras a lot of the time. That's about 40 hours of HD plus WAV audio files. Some of the clips are an hour in length and impossible to synch between the cameras until they are chopped up and new combined clips created - this is very laborious! An hour of HDD is about 400GB (more if I shoot raw) - so there will be about 2TB of data associated with this doco by the time I finish shooting. In an interview I record a separate audio track - and I generally use this as the master track since it is the only clip which can be guaranteed to run for the full duration. But FCP Pro X assumes that the master track will be a video file and it is not possible to add an audio file to the timeline first. I found a workaround - but, again, I am fighting FCP and the developer's preconceived ideas about how people might use this software.
Apart from the doco itself various other projects use the same media - but I don't want these projects cluttering up the doco library which is already cluttered enough. If the media is in the library I have to copy clips to other libraries for these other projects, leading to more duplication. Its another reason to move the media out of the library and another indication that FCP was not really designed for large projects.
Even just within a single library, file management is unsuited to the volume of files I use. For reasons known only to themselves, the FCP developers have used a very specific view of the file organisation - and its not the view I use in file manager (which is the column view). That makes using the file management in FCP very cumbersome - but its essential if you have a large number of clips. My smallest library takes 30 minutes to copy from one Thunderbolt2 disk to another, so creating a backup before changing things in a library is not a trivial event.
Also, the keyword process is clumsy and, I think, poorly conceived but it is the only way to organise clips if you haven't created a file structure prior to import. I haven't yet figured out how to erase the keywords I used for one event so that I can reassign the keywords for use in another event. But I assume that means that if I go back to the first event, I will have to put all the keywords back in - or ignore the shortcut keys and type them manually (which is necessary for much of the time anyway because there are only 9 - a good indication of the size of the projects for which this software was designed). Also, oddly, there is no shortcut key that I can find for turning on/off the keyword window - which is annoying because it takes up a lot of screen real estate). It is issues like this that leave the impression that FCP has been conceived as a kind of iMovie + and that it just isn't architected for real-world proper film making. It can be bent to that, and it has some nice features, but I find myself fighting it a lot of the time.
After all of this I can't find a reason why Apple would create library "files" anyway. What advantage does this provide over the standard file system? What are the implications for backups? (If you are backing up incrementally only the components within a library then how can you be sure any version of the actual library file is current? And if not, then is any minor change to any file in the library going to trigger a full backup of everything - (in this case 1TB+)? And how does this differ between various backup options? Again, assuming FCP users are mostly making home movies, with small file sizes and using Time Machine then a library concept might make sense. But that is iMovie thinking. And that Apple have implemented a "move to library" function without any transactional integrity (no deletions should be made until the successful copy is confirmed) further underpins the non-professional positioning of this product.
I hope it improves with age...
But thanks again for your help - it was timely and very much appreciated.
Stephen

Is there any downside to using a reference type library if I use Time Capsule and will do file management only from within Aperture?

Have done a lot of reading to get prepared to convert to Aperture 3 and have this question regarding setting up my library type.
I'm not a professional -just a heavy user hobbyist.
It appears that the major factors in using reference style is to backup the images with Time Capsule and always do moves or deletes from within the Aperture application.
If my architecture matters here's what I have that may be involved in photo management and editing:
iMac (latest 27" high power version with lots of memory)
Internal 2TB HD where the library is stored
External (FireWire) 2TB HD where the images are stored
External (FireWire) 6TB HD backup drive
In the future an iPad for remote work on images (when/if available) and a Mac laptop (for same remote use)
I see major downside issues to letting the library manage my files - such as inaccessibility (or awkward accessibility) to the images for other programs, and performance issues when the library gets large (thousands of images or 100+ gb in size)
The chief complaints I've seen regarding using a reference mode is the broken link issues created if file management is done outside of Aperture (adds, deletes, moves of files) and the inability to use the Vault function for backup.
One feature that I imagine I'd like to have is maximum integration with Final Cut Pro X and that's one area I haven't seen much on and would be interested to hear about if that integration is affected with the choice of managed vs referenced library types. (I like to produce film clips that are combinations of pics and video and want to be set up so that is done in the easiest fashion when working in FCP X)
I'm sure I've not seen all sides of this issue and would like to see some discussion around this question.
Thanks to everyone contributing!
Craig

Goody, Goody, you hit a few of my favorite subjects! Herewith some comments, with the usual caveats - true to the best of my knowledge and experience, others may have different results, YMMV, and I could be wrong.
I run Aperture on two machines:
-- 2007 Mac Pro with 2x2.66 GHz Xeon, 21 GB of RAM, a 5770 GPU, and multiple HD. I have about 11,000 images, taking up 150 GB. (Many are 100 MB TIFF, scanned slides)
-- 2006 Mac Book Pro with 1 2.0 GHz Core Duo, 2 GB of RAM and a 240 GB SSD.
Two very different machines.
-- Aperture Libraries are all the same - Managed or Referenced. If Managed, then the Master image files are inside the Package, if Referenced, they are outside, and you can have any combination you want. Managed is easier, but Referenced is not hard if you are the least bit careful.
-- While the sheer size of an Aperture Library is not a big issue, the location on disk of the different components can have a tremendous impact on performance.
-- Solid State Drives (SSD) read and write faster than regular Hard Disks (HD) and, what is more important, empty HD read and write much faster than full HD.
-- Aperture speed requires a combination of RAM, CPU, graphics processing unit (GPU) speed, and disk speed. The more RAM you have, the less paging you will see. With enough RAM, the next bottle neck is CPU (speed and cores) and GPU speed. But even then you will still have to fetch an image (longer if you pull the full resolution Master, read and rewrite the Version file, and update the Preview and Thumbs.
So what works?
-- RAM, RAM, and more RAM. 4 GB will work, but you will page a bit. 8 GB is much faster. On my old MacPro the sweet spot was about 16 GB of RAM.
-- Keep your Library on your fastest (usually internal) drive. Keep that disk as unloaded as possible. How do you keep it unloaded? Either buy BIG, 1 TB+ or move your Masters off onto another disk. The good news here is that as Master files are written only once and never rewritten, speed of this disk, as opposed to the disk that holds the Library, is not important. There is a one second pause as the Master is read into memory and, if you have enough RAM, that is it - the Master will never be paged out. If, on the other hand, you do not have enough RAM, and you do a lot of adjusting at full resolution, then the speed of the disk that holds your Masters will become very important due to paging.
-- I found that I picked up a tiny bit of speed by keeping the Masters on a dedicated disk. Thus, in your configuration, if you can dedicate that 2 TB FW HD to your Masters, you should see very nice performance.
Final notes on backups and archives:
-- One conventional wisdom is that you should make an archive copy of every image file before or as you load them into your system. (Aperture in this case.) This archive is then never touched or deleted.
-- An alternative approach is that you do not keep such an archive, but only the images that you have in your Aperture Library. And when you delete from the Library, you no longer keep a copy anywhere.
I do the following:
-- Card to Aperture. Card is then kept at least 24 hours until all of my backups have run. (I use three - Time Machine, Clone, and off site.)
-- I do not keep archive copies. If I decide to delete a file, my only recourse is to recover it from Time Machine during the six month cycle of my Time Machine backups. Thereafter, it is lost.
There are merits to both approaches.
Hope this is clear, correct, and responsive to your needs.
DiploStrat

MPG to Final Cut Pro , convert mpg files to FCP freely

Why need to convert/import MPG files to Final Cut Pro?
Final Cut Pro is the premium choice for any Mac video editing, and it is widely used by Mac users now. These MPEG standard files can be these different codes and cause failure in importing to Final Cut Pro. If anyone comes across the situation, the best solution is to get aids from MPEG/MPG to FCP converter for Mac, which can help you to convert MPEG group files to FCP compatible video format and then files can be easily imported for editing job.
As we know that Final Cut Pro don't natively support MPG, MPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 files, it can import MPEG-4 files (but need to be rendered once you place them on your timeline) and MOV files (without rendering). Therefore, to import MPG to Final Cut Pro directly, the best way is to convert MPG to Final Cut Pro supported Apple ProRes MOV files.
How to convert MPG to Final Cut Pro(fcp)
Step 1: Import MPG files
Download the latest version of MPG to Final Cut Pro Converter, install and run. And then, click Add Files to import MPG files to FCP, or you can also drag MPG files directly to MPG to Final Cut Pro directly.
Step 2: Choose output format and directory
You can click the drop-down list of Convert Toto select output format as "Final Cut Pro"-> "Apple ProRes MOV ". After that, click "…" of Save Toto designate a directory to save your converted files.
Step 3: Convert MPG to Final Cut Pro (X)
Click Convert to transcode MPG to MOV for editing in Final Cut Pro.
MPG to Final Cut Pro Converter is a practical tool for you to convert MPG, MPEG files to Final Cut Pro supported MOV files in order to free import MPG to Final Cut Pro (X) , FCE, iMovie on Mac OS X Mountain Lion . Besides, it is also able to convert MPG to other video files AVI, WMV, MP4, MKV FLV, DV, 3GP, ASF, RM etc.
Related Article:
MOV to FCP: How to convert MOV to FCP
How to convert mp4 files to fcp freely

Import unsupported MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 to Final Cut Pro 7/X, Final Cut Express
Summary:If you are looking for the best way to transcode MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 videos to ProRes MOV for FCP 7/X and FCE, you can follow this post, it has offered best solutions for editing MPEG videos on Mac in Final Cut Pro 7/X, Final Cut Express.
Cases:
The following are two problems when some users import MPEG-1/MPEG-2 to Final Cut:
"I am trying to import MPEG-2 files into Final Cut Pro X. I have the raw files from a Sony Handicam HDR-SR5 as well as raw files from an Sony Handicam MDR-CX560. These files were recorded as MPEG-2 files and copied from the camera hard drives (entire folders were copied containind the MPEG-2 fies) to a local hard drive on my computer. Final Cut Pro X does not recognize the files and will not import them. I have tried to use Compressor to conver the fies. I am using the very latest version that touts being able to export to Final Cut X format. I don't see that option anywhere in the settings."
Question:
Is there a way to get MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 files into Final Cut Pro X without having to convert them?
Answer:
Don't try to work with (highly compressed) MPEG 2 in FCP X. Use software to convert to ProRes 422 first, it's best codec for final cut pro or final cut express. Life will be much easier for you if you do. ProRes 422 is roughly between 5 and 8 times bigger than native camera footage - sometimes as much as 10 times, I believe, but it's well worth it for editing, effects and playback quality. The time required depends largely on your processor power but 30 mins sounds realistic.
Software you need:
Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac
This software can convert MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 to Apple ProRes 422 codec for Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro 7, Final Cut Pro X or Final Cut Expr editing without rendering.
Step by step guide:
1. Download and install the best MPEG1/MPEG2 to ProRes Converter and launch it to add your videos to it.
2. Choose output format. Click on the “Format”> Final Cut Pro, Apple PreRes 422(HQ), Apple PreRes 422, Apple ProRes 422(LT), etc are all the proper choice for you.
3. Click "Settings" to adjust the parameters as you want, like Video Codec, bit rate, frame rate, Audio codec, sample rate, bit rate, channels. Set the video frame rate as 30fps, video size as 1920*1080 will be better.
4. Click Convert button to start MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 to Final Cut friendly Apple ProRes 422 for native editing on Mac OS X.
5. When the conversion ends, you can run the Final Cut Pro and click File --> Import --> Files to import the resulted MOV files and edit them in FCP easily, you can follow this import video to fcp guide.
From the steps above, I think you got the point to convert and import MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 files to Apple ProRes 422 for Final Cut editing, please have a try, this software will solve you MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 importing and editing problems, and then you can import and use your MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 in Final Cut Pro 7, Final Cut Pro X or Final Cut Express on Mac without any problems.
Now you can get DVD Creator which can help you easily burn video to DVD disc/ISO files.
Buy One Get Another Free?! Yes, just join Pavtube's Special Offers to get the promotion.
PS. If you have any problem, pls contact with [email protected] to get more information. You also can leave a message on Pavtube Community or Pavtube Facebook, we will answer your questions as soon as possilble.
Learn more Cameras/Camcorders related tutorial, pls view our FCP Column, etc. on http://www.pavtube.com/hot-topics/

How can i use a wmv file in FCP ... urgent !!

Hello
I created a PowerPoint presentation (45 minutes with full animations recorded) (on my PC laptop) that I now have to add audio to.
I saved it as a video (of course, it's .wmv format) and was going to add the audio and adjust the bits in Final Cut, but it won't recognize the file.
Tried to use imovie to make a .mov , but same problems.
Is there a conversion software that I could use to convert the wmv to a FCP recognizable file?
Help needed quickly as this is for a promo dvd that i need for next week ... i thought i was going well ontrack until i hit this snag!
thanks muchly
Elizabeth

Thank you
Switch is just for audio, but i searched their home and found Prism, their video converter. It worked well and i've imported the .mov it created into fcp .... gonna take a few hours to render it, but it' seems like a go. Then I can work on syncing the audio clips to it.
after I posted the first, i thought that i could possibly just open the power point in my Mac's powerpoint, which it did. but when i exported that one as a video, the animations were out of sync , or not there, and the quality of the image wasn't good. ... so then i found prism (the free version) and used it.
Thanks for the tip!
Elizabeth

CS4 - file management

Would someone be so kind to steer me towards the literature that explains how PPro manages media.When I capture I end up with files scattered across multiple locations. I've tried leaving the scratch disk setting at "same as project" and I've tried indicating specific folders. What happens in both instances is that PPro still makes it's own folders, for instance, "encoded files", "preview" and "auto-save". I just want to keep things tidy and in separate folders. Ideally if all of the encoded media went in one folder and all of the auto- save in another etc. The other ideal alternative would be everything contained in it's own project folder. If that is the default and I've changed something to prevent that then ....help. Also as a test I saved some things to the desk top and now I have these Peak files scattered across the screen. So basically is there a good resource to understand the files that PPro creates when capturing and in the course of making a project, where does it like to put things and is it customizable.
I'm on windows vista 64
TIA

Ah, now I understand. Yes, I can assure you that you will get over it. How do I know? Well, I come from an Avid pedigree as well. I spent over ten years on Avid systems before switching to PPro (motivated by cost, as I went from the corporate sector to being self-employed)--in fact, I purchased my first Adobe bundle without ever having used PPro. I went through all the same gnashing of teeth when I switched over, not so much because of the user interface or the general operation of the software, but because file management was so foreign to me!
With Avid, everything you capture or even import is converted into an OMF or MXF file, and subsequently dumped inside of OMFI Media Files or Avid Media Files folders. It's because of the Media Manager (which is the best of any NLE, hands down) that this can be done. However, this is a wholly inefficient way of dealing with a great number of media sources. For example, if you import a graphic file, you don't actually use the TIF or TGA or PSD or whatever it is. Instead, the import process turns it into what basically amounts as a fixed-duration video clip. Well, this makes sense if all you've ever done is worked in the Avid arena, but it's pretty dumb when you look at it from the perspective of any other editing application. Why would I want to go through an import process AGAIN if I decide to make a change to my graphic? I don't; that's a WOMBAT (Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time). With PPro, FCP, and others, you work on the graphic file itself, so all you have to do is make changes to that file in your graphics app and the changes are automatic inside of the NLE. The same goes for tapeless acquisition formats, like P2 or XDCAM EX--Avid imports and rewraps these; another WOMBAT. Now, that's changed in the latest revisions of the Media Composer because there is a new feature called AMA (Avid Media Access) that allows you to much more quickly get media into your project. It's been a few years since I've touched an Avid, but this represents a quantum leap for media management within the Avid-sphere. You're still shackled to some extent by the way media files are treated in the Avid, but since it's a platform that's been around since the dawn of desktop video editing, it's understandable that they can't break out of that thread.
PPro and other applications work with media in a far different way. With them, there is no converting of imported media to a "preferred" container file like Avid does. Because Avid works that way, it requires no user intervention to point the application to the correct folder to store that media--it just "knows". But PPro is working directly with your captured and imported AVIs, MOVs, JPGs, PSDs, WAVs, P2 MXFs--you name the media file, and there is no "changing" of the media happening (unless you do it before import). PPro doesn't really care what the file is (within reason) or where it is; if you import it, it'll work with it wherever it's located on your computer. Obviously, this represents a sea change from the way you operated in Avid, but it's much more liberating when you get down to it.
That said, for those of us who have been accustomed to working on Avid and the way that it deals with media, it's daunting at first. It requires more organization on the user's part, and a little bit of set-up work to make sure that everything's in its right place. It seems a little kludgy to have to point PPro to the folder you want to capture to every time you create a project, but it only takes a few seconds, and it provides incredible flexibility. For example, if you're capturing all of your tape-based media to a specific folder on your media drive, it's a simple thing to just drop that folder onto an external drive for backup. Likewise, you can drop your project folder (as I've outlined how I set mine up in previous posts) on that same drive, and you have a total backup that can be restored very quickly. Media management, like deleting unused files or old renders, isn't quite the same as Avid, I'll grant you. However, there are ways to accomplish these and other media management tasks, both within the software and at the OS level.
Let me address a few of your points now:
For instance when I read the words Master Clip my ears perk up because those are pretty important in Avid Media Composer. But the "log clip to" option is just a way to indicate a bin/folder to store your logged clips in case you want to batch capture later or if you like to keep things tidy in the project window like I do and have all of the stuff you brought in from tape in a specific bin. FCP has that feature but they call it something else "default capture bin". Same thing different name.
Master clips are pretty much the same in PPro as they are in Avid--they are your virtual representations of the media files on your disk. They are part of the project, not separate free-floating beings. I liken them to "Shortcuts" on Windows and "Aliases" on Mac OS; they're just pointers.
"Log Clip To" not only points where logged clips go, but also where clips that you capture on-the-fly are stored, within your project. Avid provides the same in their Capture tool, if I remember correctly, and FCP does this by setting the "Logging Bin". Potato, potato.... that doesn't work so well in print.
I found it odd that an "encoded" folder is an automatic when encoding is not a given - you may lay off to tape most of the time or dynamic link to Encore. It led me to believe that that was were the captured footage would be sent to by default and when it wasn't there when I chose "same as project" I was like WTF.
Yeah, I get this. It seems rather pointless; as I mentioned previously, sometimes I use this folder, sometimes I don't. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is some kind of holdover from the pre-"Pro" days of Premiere. Unfortunately, the only recourse is just to ignore it.
Different editing programs call captured footage different things. Avid calls it digitizing, FCP calls it capture. I used one package once called it the "magic morphing mechanism" (kidding) In Avid all of your digitized files have to be in a folder named OMFI or MXF which of course can be put on the scratch disk of your choosing but they have to go in that folder and it's automatically created. But the inside of an Avid OMFI or MXF folder is a real conglomeration of file types all spread out a lot like this PPRo (at least PPRo creates the folder named after the project for the captured footage). However, AVID has a very robust media manager that helps you find asssociated media by project, type and location.
Does Avid still call it "digitizing"? I can't remember what they called it, last time I used it. Again, that's due to Avid coming online sometime around the late Cretaceous period when people still shot on analog tape (gasp). Nowadays, with most shot tape being digital, "Capture" is probably the more accurate nomenclature, as the video is already in a digital form. I like the "magic morphing mechanism" though--I need to get me one of those.
I touched on the Avid points above; I won't re-spew.
Premultiplied files are AVID's name for previews so you can do a search for those, it finds them all for that project in the one OMFI folder for example and you can delete them or whatever.
Now, now--as an Avid editor, you should know they're called "precomputes" Just ribbin' you...
FCP calls them rendered files and puts them in a centrally located folder called rendered that it creates seperate and automatically for each project but all the projects are in that one render folder. In FCP you get a quicktime inside your automatically made centrally located capture folder/inside a folder with the project name. And you only set that capture location once.
FCP probably has the most flexibility of any of the NLEs when it comes to media folder creation, but it's also the most dangerous. I spend some of my days on this system, and it's sort of weird, powerful hybrid of how Avid handles media and how PPro handles media. The problem is that it's REALLY easy to screw up, and you can end up with "Capture Scratch" folders stacked inside of others to the nth degree if you're not careful. FCP creates just as many (in fact, I think more) "system" folder as PPro--like the Waveform Cache folder, and the Constant Frames folder, and Renders folder, and lions and tigers and bears, oh my. I've grilled a buddy of mine who is an FCP editor for hours about this (he also came from Avid) and he said he finally just gave up trying to make it make sense, and just goes with it. Apparently it's some sort of zen thing.
My point is, you can make it work the way you say, and to an extent I'd like to see PPro offer this as an option, though not a standard.
Maybe it's a windows thing but I wasn't expecting anything but the .mpeg or whatever and now I have multiple file types associated with the one capture. .caf .pek. I just like to keep things in tidy but simple folder structure and understand what the files are so when I go to clean my drive I know what to delete and what to save. To me it's a bit of an annoyance to have to set these locations for each project. I'll get over it, maybe.
Well, in the case of .CFA (ConFormed Audio) and .PEK (waveform PEaK) files, those are generated when you import/capture media with audio. CFA files are created when an audio clip doesn't match the sampling rate of your project's audio, and PEK files are the waveforms that are drawn on audio clips. FCP does the same thing; that's what the Waveform Cache folder is all about. You might also come across things like .MPGINDEX files, which are index files created when an MPEG clip of some sort is imported (it tells PPro where independent frames in an MPEG-encoded video stream are located). You don't see things like this on Avid because of the "rewrapping" that goes on--Avid simply forces every imported clip to play by its rules. Because PPro is all kumbaya about media, it has to create this "helper" files. It might seem a bit messy, but for the most part they'll be stored with your media files. In fact, there's a preference in Edit > Preferences > Media to save these generated files next to the media they are sourced from. They're typically small files, so they're not much to worry about. I assure you, you'll get over it.
I think your method of creating a project folder on a seperate drive of course and then pointing everything to that is a good method and should keep me organized and sane.
Honestly, the way that I've set up my projects and media drive is influenced by my time on Avid. Using the present options available within Premiere, it's the closest approximation that I've been able to create that mimics the media file/folder relationship as it is in Avid. It's not perfect, at least not when you compare it to how you're accustomed to working in the Avid, but in time I really think you'll start to like it even better.
...maybe you know if there a way to decompose a sequence or batch capture a sequence with PPRo?
No way to decompose as you do in Avid, but you can try a couple of things to slim down a project if this is what you're trying to accomplish. For one, go to Project > Remove Unused and that will remove all media from your project that is not being used. It doesn't delete the media from this disk; it simply gets rid of all the master clips that are not being referenced by any sequence in your project. Additionally, you could try the Project > Project Manager. It's not the Media Manager from Avid, by any stretch of the imagination, but what it will allow you to do is either collect all files used in your project and move them to a new destination, or you can trim your sequences (with handles) and move that trimmed media to a new location. Check it out on a COPY of your project first, just to be safe.
To batch capture, simply highlight your offline clips in the Project panel, and select File > Batch Capture. The Capture tool will open up, and will prompt you for tapes as they're needed; I'm sure you've done this in Avid, and it's not a whole lot different from that. Here you can read all about it...
Hope some of that is helpful...

Does not play mov file in fcp x smothlly

few days back i shoot with xdcam, but i didnot know that time i need all the files to do editing in fcpx so i delet all support files n just copy the main video file which is in mp4 fermat.
then after i try to import that file in fcp x which doesnot work n i convert that file into mov format. then after i could manage to import the file in fcp x but now when i try to play thoes clips, it doesnot play well. its like frame drop or like stop sec by sec i dont know what happen?
plz somebody canhelp me with this. im really tried with this problume

innocentius wrote:
Does he not need tools like XDCAM transfer (or XDCAM browser) from Sony ?
midnightraj said he had converted the mp4 movie to mov, and that this mov file played (albeit dropping frames) inside FCP X, so my perspective was in working with content thas was already inside FCP X.
I have no specific knowledge of xdcam, and it may well be that using the xdcam transfer tool is the best choice.

Import 32 GB of AVI files into FCP X?

Hello, I need to import 32 GB of AVI files into FCP X. It seems iMOVIE has no problem accepting AVI's, but FCP X says they are not "importable" (as I believe AVI is not a supported format in FCP X).
Can someone please recommend the best way for me to import 32GB of AVI into FCP X? With brief research, I believe Mpeg Stream Clip (?) would be an option, but I want something efficient and will be able mass convert if necessary (don't want to convert each individual clip).
Also what would be the best filetype to convert the AVI's into?
Any prompt insight would really be appreciated, thanks in advance.
GSI

Well, I've got time if thats what it takes.
My goal is to convert the 32gb of "AVI files" into something compatible in FCP X without reducing the video quality. I don't know a specific file type, I just imported them from MINI DV into Sony Vegas (and then just dragged the files from Vegas onto an external and now just want them to get into FCP X)
I just downloaded Stream Clip, added 100 clips (4gb) of avi clips to batch list, but am having trouble converting. I tried converting to DV or Quicktime and the response is "Error: Can't create the MOV file"

Unable to capture in FCP, Quicktime and iMovie, camera not recognized.

I am unable to capture in FCP, Quicktime and iMovie.
I have been dealing with this problem for quite a while now, and I think I have tried everything posted on these forums regarding this issue. I have been to the Quicktime, iMovie, and this FCP forum looking for the solution. Hopefully someone has a suggestion that I have missed or have not tried yet. I have a Powerbook G4 running OSX Tiger 10.4. I am running Quicktime 7.04, and FCP 4.5.
My problem is this… I am unable to capture from my Canon ZR-200 Mini DV camera, using Final Cut Pro, iMovie and also Quicktime. FCP says no camera recognized. iMovie says no camera attached, and Quicktime says no recording device found. In FCP, I am using the Firewire Basic setting, and NTSC DV settings. I have captured in FCP with the same camera several times in the past. I think the problem started when I upgraded to OSX 10.4, or one of the Quicktime upgrades.
Here are the details…
- Camera is connect via Firewire. I have tried the built in ports, as well as a Firewire Carbus card.
- OSX recognizes the Canon ZR-200 in the System Profiler, so I know the computer sees the camera.
- I have tried the camera on a Windows XP machine, and capture works perfectly, so I know the camera is functioning properly in VTR mode.
- Deleted my FCP pref’s using FCP Rescue.
- Deleted the Quicktime receipts, and re-installed Quicktime 7.04
- Reverted back to Quicktime 7.01
- Set the audio to 44.1 in the the Audio MIDI setup in the Utilities folder
- Tried the “GarageBand” fix, opening the programing, playing a few notes and closing.
- I have installed Quicktime using the program “Yank” to completely delete Quicktime and re-install.
I may have tried more solutions, but these are the fixes that I can recall.
If anyone has any others suggestions, it would be much appreciated.
Brent

Hi Brent:
Although it looks as if you have tried all of the 'fixes' that are normally suggested here, please read through this Apple Article to see if some obscure thing applies to you.
iMovie: Cannot see or control camera
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43000
Sue

Using bash as your file manager?

Hello,
My belief is that all file managers suck. There are no exceptions to this. So, for the past few months, I've been sourcing a file with a bunch of tricks I've invented / found through browsing the web to make using just bash as a file manager much more convenient.
Here's what I currently use:
# fm v1.9.1 by Kiah Morante
# A very simple file manager.
# Depends on pycp/pymv, http://github.com/yannicklm/pycp and feh
# 'source' this file in a BASH shell
showHidden=0 # Hidden files not shown
showDetails=0 # ls is replaced with ls -lh if showDetails is 1
shopt -s autocd # cd to a dir just by typing its name
PROMPT_COMMAND='[[ ${__new_wd:=$PWD} != $PWD ]] && list; __new_wd=$PWD' # ls after cding
# Shortcuts
source ~/.config/fm/shortcuts # Call all custom shortcuts
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ....='cd ../../..'
alias h='cd ~'
alias n='cd "$n"'
# Keybindings
bind '"\C-l":"list\C-m"'
bind '"\C-h":"hide\C-m"'
bind '"\C-o":"details\C-m"'
bind '"\C-f":"makedir\C-m"'
bind '"\C-n":"n\C-m"'
bind '"\C-y":"cpwd\C-m"'
bind '"\C-p":"cd "$OLDPWD"\C-m"' # Hint: You could also type '~-'
# FM prompt appearance
if [[ $(whoami) == 'root' ]]; then
# So that the user knows if they have root privileges:
PS1="\[\e[0;32\]mf\[m\e[m\] \[\e[0;31m\]root\[\e[m\] \[\e[0;34m\]\w \[\e[m\]\[\e[0;31m\]> \[\e[m\]"
else
PS1="\[\e[0;32\]mf\[m\e[m\] \[\e[0;34m\]\w \[\e[m\]\[\e[0;31m\]> \[\e[m\]"
fi
# Functions
# Usage
fmhelp () {
echo "hide - toggle hidden (hidden by default)
ls - lists contents of dir(s) passed in args.
lsd - list directories
cd - changed to directory \$1
cp \$@ \$2 - copies file from \$1 to \$2
mv \$@ \$2 - moves file from \$1 to \$2
rm \$@ - deletes \$@
sc \$1 \$2 - make a shortcut called \$1 pointing to \$2. If no \$2 is passed, it is evaluated as \$PWD
cpwd - copy current working directory
.., ..., .... - cd .. etc.
o \$1 - opens \$1 with xdg-open
hm - how many files are in the current directory
details - show file details (ls -lh)
fmhelp - this help menu
n - Intelligent guess of the next dir you wish to cd to. Last $1 in open, list, or makedir; last argument in copy or move; pwd before a cd
~- - BASH shortcut for \$OLDPWD
img - feh frontend with the following usage:
img -t \$2 - views the dirs/images specified in \$2..\$n as clickable thumbnails
img -s \$2 \$3 - views the images specified in \$3..\$n as a slideshow with a slide change speed of \$2 seconds
img \$@ - views the dirs/images specified
Shortkeys:
Ctrl-f - mkdir
Ctrl-h - hide
Ctrl-l - ls
Ctrl-n - cd \$n
Ctrl-o - details
Ctrl-p - cd \$OLDPWD
Ctrl-y - cpwd
Ctrl-u - clear line # urxvt default"
# Toggle display hidden files
# If $showHidden is 1, hidden files are shown
hide () {
showHidden=$(( 1 - $showHidden ))
list
# Toggle display file details
# If $showDetails is 1, file details are shown
details () {
showDetails=$(( 1 - $showDetails ))
list
# ls
listToggle () {
if [[ $showHidden == 1 && $showDetails == 1 ]]; then
ls -C --color -A -lh "$dir"
elif [[ $showHidden == 1 && $showDetails == 0 ]]; then
ls -C --color -A "$dir"
elif [[ $showHidden == 0 && $showDetails == 1 ]]; then
ls -C --color -lh "$dir"
else
ls -C --color "$dir"
fi
list () {
clear # Unclutter the screen
# List pwd if no $1
if [[ $@ == "" ]]; then
set '.'
fi
# List multiple folders:
for dir in "$@"
do
listToggle
done
n="$1" # See 'n' in fmhelp
# use feh to view thumbnails/images/slideshow
img () {
case "$1" in
-t) nohup feh --thumbnails "${@:2}" --thumb-height 120 --thumb-width 120 -S filename -d --cache-thumbnails -B black > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
-s) nohup feh "${@:3}" -S filename -d -B black --slideshow-delay "$2" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*) nohup feh "$@" -S filename -d -B black > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
esac
list
# cp
copy () {
if [[ $showHidden == 1 ]]; then
pycp --interactive --all "$@"
else
pycp --interactive "$@"
fi
list
n="${@:(-1)}" # n is the last argument (where stuff is moved to)
# mv
move () {
if [[ $showHidden == 1 ]]; then
pymv --interactive --all "$@"
else
pymv --interactive "$@"
fi
list
n="${@:(-1)}"
makedir () {
if [[ $1 == "" ]]; then
read -e n
set "$n"
fi
if mkdir -- "$1"; then
list # Update pwd to show new dir(s) that have been made.
n="$1"
fi
# rm
remove () {
rm -rfI "$@"
list
# open files
o () {
# To use xdg-open
#nohup xdg-open "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 &
if [ -f "$1" ] ; then
case "$1" in
*.tar.bz2) tar xjf "$1" ;;
*.tar.gz) tar xzf "$1" ;;
*.bz2) bunzip2 "$1" ;;
*.rar) rar x "$1" ;;
*.gz) gunzip "$1" ;;
*.tar) tar xf "$1" ;;
*.tbz2) tar xjf "$1" ;;
*.tgz) tar xzf "$1" ;;
*.zip) unzip "$1" ;;
*.Z) uncompress "$1" ;;
*.7z) 7z x "$1" ;;
*.pdf) nohup zathura "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.html) nohup luakit "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.blend) nohup blender "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.avi) nohup mplayer "$1" ;;
*.wmv) nohup mplayer "$1" ;;
*.rmvb) nohup mplayer "$1" ;;
*.mp3) nohup urxvtc -si -sw -sh 30 -e mplayer "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.flv) nohup mplayer "$1" ;;
*.mp4) nohup mplayer "$1" ;;
*.ogg) nohup urxvt -si -sw -sh 30 -e mplayer "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.wav) nohup audacity "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*.jpg) img "$1" ;;
*.jpeg) img "$1" ;;
*.JPG) img "$1" ;;
*.png) img "$1" ;;
*.gif) nohup gpicview "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
*) nohup urxvt -si -sw -sh 30 -e vim "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 & ;;
esac
else
echo "'$1' is not a valid file"
fi
n="$1"
# Add shortcuts
makeShortcut () {
if [[ $2 == "" ]]; then
set $1 .
fi
echo ""$1"=\""$2"\"
alias "$1"='cd \""$2"\"'
" >> ~/.config/fm/shortcuts
source ~/.config/fm/shortcuts
# Copy pwd to clipboard
cpwd () {
echo \"$(pwd)\" | xclip
# List directories
lsd () {
ls -F "$@" | grep \/$
# Command aliases
alias mv="move"
alias sc="makeShortcut"
alias cp="copy"
alias ls="list"
alias rm="remove"
alias mkdir="makedir"
alias hm="ls -l . | egrep -c '^-'"
list # ls when fm starts
Could all of you fellow file manager-haters post your little tricks, whether just a few lines added to ~/.bashrc or fully fledged files that you source like mine?
Last edited by greenmanwitch (2011-02-07 19:58:40)

3]) wrote: once you have video files cluttered all throughout your hard drive and folders all over, thats where the 'bash' filemanager system lacks its use in terms of effectiveness.
Actually, I found this to be one of the best advantages of using bash is that it forces a user to think about file organization and making useful naming schemes for files.
For example, instead of having 1000+ media files in one directory I subcategorize theme by genre or whatever, and then probably subcategorize them again.
Then I usually rename the files to something meaningful, like if I have 50 pictures of my kids birthday, just do a for each loop on the directory and rename all the files donovan_birthdayX.jpg where X is an integer incrementation.
essentially. just don't "have files cluttered all throughout you hard drive and folders all over". and your life will be much happier regardless of how you manage your files.

I would like to find a file manager/ image browser like ACDSee 32

Coming from the Windows environment (it is where I make my living) I have found the Mac environment to be significantly different and pose a considerable learning curve especially when it comes to file management. I like to be able to view and manage files from within the same application but have yet to find something that will allow me the freedom I am used to. Ideally I am looking for something like ACDSee 32 (the last good version) which acts like a typical file manager but has a full sized preview pane as well. This allows you to preview a picture then drag and drop it into a folder of your choosing. The software also allows you to do some minor edits and create folders as well.
Preview on my MacBook is a still born idea, iPhoto want to take all of my photos and store them in a proprietary environment (not happening) and Xie is a very nice file viewer but does nothing else. Any useful suggestions of a software that will do what I would like it to do would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Photoshop.

How do I... (1) "play" a ppt; (2) "see" my sub-folders and their files in "Docs To Go" or "File Manager"?

This is written for the Playbook blog writer in the hope that he will see it here and post a blog answer. However, a reply from anyone would be appreciated. Thanks.
[2 questions about PPBB OS 2.0+]
Hi. Thanks for your very informative blog. I would appreciate it if you would consider writing blog tips to answer the following:
1) Why can't I organize my files in "Documents" or "File Manager" to "see" them in their sub-folders?
BBPB allows me to create SUB folders in the Documents folder, through my pc's access to the "Documents" folder in the Playbook. However, then I cannot "see" these created sub-folders on my BBPB after I disconnect my BBPB from my PC.
All the files I downloaded into these "sub" folders end up all together in the file list in "DOCS TO GO", either in "Documents" or "Music" or "Video" or "Pictures" ---- but these files are NOT separated into the sub-folders I created. The same thing happens in "FILE MANAGER" i.e. all files on the Playbook are in ONE place only.
Is the Playbook OS ever going to allow one to view sub-folders and what is in them, other than using the pc to do it? For example, it would be desirable to put all my ppt files into one folder.
2) How do I "play" a PPT file in the BBPB?
The BBPB "User Guide" says that I can "view, edit, or play" Powerpoint Presentations. However, although it describes how to "view" or "edit" individual slides, it does not say how to "play" ("run") a slideshow. How do you "play" a self-running slideshow?
For example, in Windows, you can click "play.bat" (in a saved "presentation cd" folder on a cd or USB stick) to run the ppt with sound and pictures saved in that folder (you don't need the Powerpoint program itself for this, since you are using the "pptview.exe" file in the same folder to "play" it). However, after downloading all the files in this "presentation cd" folder to the Playbook, I could only see one of them, the ppt file itself ---- and there is no icon in the Playbook to "play" the slideshow, it seems. Help?!
Thank you.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

First, I use an app called "File Browser" to view those subfolders.
As for running a powerpoint, I can open a ppt file and it runs in Documents to go. Next to the "Close" button there are three icons. The third one runs the ppt file as a slideshow.
1. Please thank those who help you by clicking the "Like" button at the bottom of the post that helped you.
2. If your issue has been solved, please resolve it by marking the post "Solution?" which solved it for you!

File Managment - FCP X Vs Imovie

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