general error message

> No Auto-Save? Relying on a single digital file representing ALL of your work?

Hell no. Manual backups every three hours to two locations -- one folder outside of the current project file's folder, and a USB flash stick that I stick into the computer only during a backup. More (could be 20 minutes, could be 90) if I feel like I've accomplished something in the edit. Not *that* suicidal.

If I do use Autosave, I usually set the time a little on the high side (around 30 minutes) so it doesn't intrude on me too much.

> At least back up that project file daily to some space on the web. Or to one o'
> them USB thingies, no?

Absolutely. I always think back to when I was working in the editing lab at film school. A visual-arts student came in with DV footage. I was working the graveyard shift, 12AM-4AM. She was in there 16 hours straight, from around 8PM on Day 1 to midnight the next night. On the 16th hour, after log-capture-edit-effects-titles-joy of creativity, her computer crashed.

And you know what? She didn't save ONCE.

APPLE-S? Save as? Backup? Nope. Zilch. Nada. No project file at all. This was FCP2, if I remember right, so it didn't yet have that "Project file not yet been saved, do you wish to save" prompt. And no saved project ever means NO AUTOSAVE VAULT. SIXTEEN HOURS. She was back to a blank project file with no edits at all, just clips. She cried fat tears and I couldn't do a thing to save her.

So as soon as Autosave becomes a fast enough operation, that option is coming back on at my home station. FCP5 seems to have a less intrusive Autosave than FCP4, so if and when I upgrade, I'm turning it back on.