Render files end up inside Final Cut Express package

Question

With all of the discussion here about rendering, I thought I'd let folks know that that 'ol bug that plagued Final Cut Pro for so long (and perhaps still does) is present in Final Cut Express 4.0.1 too: render files sometimes end up inside the package for Final Cut Express. I know this because I just experienced it while running FCE 4.0.1.
With Final Cut Express not running, control-click or right-click on the Final Cut Express application file, then choose "Show Package Contents". After that, open the folder, "Contents", then the folder, "MacOS", and inside, you may see a folder for video render files, one for audio render files, or both.
Assuming that you don't want to render to that location, then with FCE still quit, move any render folders (that you found inside of the package) elsewhere; and delete the four preference files for FCE, according to the instructions given in Tom Wolsky's on-line guide:
http://www.fcpbook.com/Misc1.html
Then start-up Final Cut Express and open System Settings. Once there, choose your scratch location(s): usually /Users/<username>/Documents/Final Cut Express Documents, if you are rendering to your boot drive. (If rendering elsewhere, simply specify a folder at that location.)
Next, move the render files from the package (that are now residing elsewhere) into the respective folders inside /Users/<username>/Documents/Final Cut Express Documents, if in fact you find their respective folders there and wish to use that as a scratch location. If not, or if you have specified a location on another drive, of if you want maximum integrity of your render files, then simply open your project file and re-render everything. But you might want to stop that process just a few seconds after starting it, then check inside your scratch folders to make sure that new render files are now being stored there. After verifying that, you can go back to your project file and resume re-rendering.
This issue may answer the question, "where are my render files". By the way, if you do a "Get Info" on the Final Cut Express application file and "Get Info" reports that that file is huge (say, several gigabytes in size), then it is likely that your render files are being stored inside.
Please excuse this post if the subject matter has already been discussed in this forum.

Answer 1

Eidschun, thank you for this thread. It doesn't matter how often it occurs, this information works on many levels and was a pleasure to read.