I need to specifically ID a clip in a bin back to the actual media file ...

I'm trying to clean up a project file that's been thru a couple of hands ... and I have a whole lot of clips in various bins that I suspoect are just duplicate clips not duplicate files. So, I think I need to be able to select a clip in the project and then match it back to a specific file at the Finder level.


(please excuse the reference but... ) I spent 15 years cutting on Avid and when i needed to do this there was a menu item called "Find file". If I highlighted a clip in a bin, selected "Find file" The Media Files folder would open and highlight the specific media file associated with that clip. I am hoping something similar exists in FCP but I'm having a hard time finding that type of command.

Since the only way I know of to ID a file at the finder level is to match the clip name to the file name .. if the clip name was changed in the project ... it seems for all intents and purposes, that makes the file invisible.

Any tips? corrections?

thank you in advance...
ana

If you right click on the clip (or control click if you don't have a two button mouse) you will get a popup menu. From this choose 'reveal in finder'. This works in the timeline and in the browser.

If you just want to see the file path without actually leaving FCP and going to the finder, select the clip and press Cmd-9 for item properties. The filepath (source) will be the fourth item in the properties.

And there's a column called "Source" that you can display in a bin that will show you the files pathname.
Because Source is the widest column usually, I have a bin display saved with file related columns only and toggle between that and basic ID columns. Handy if your screen real estate is at a premium.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

thank you all!!

I knew there was at leeast one way and here are 3 great suggesstions!

thanks again!!
ana

Once you've mastered the three methods listed above, please keep the following in mind.

There's a HUGE difference between how Avid handles file naming and how FCP does it.

As you already know, with Avid you can "rename" a clip in the bin as much as you want. That's because avid assigns a unique name to every "object". If you peek in the media manager, you'll find an incomprehensible string of letters and numbers and the reel number.

With FCP, whatever you name the clip on ingest is the name used to track that file. Yes, you can "rename" it in the bin, but that would be a mistake. Doing so will make it very difficult to "find" that original clip in the finder. A better approach is to keep your original file names and use the "Comments" column for all of your name changing (like "MCU Walks off left".

FCP's new release promise to have a feature that WILL allow you to rename and have that renaming actually follow through to the file level. While this may help in the short run, there is no substitue for a logical, consistent file structure.

Mark

well that's what i was saying ... part of reason i was having so much trouble ...
the renaming problem

I like Avid's naming protocol ... based on the reel name .. of course, then they add abunch of gibberish ... but it seemed more usuable .. or whatever

i guess I will learn from this to name my clips ... according to the reel name and use your suggestion about the comments column ...

this has all been very helpful
thank you

Ana, you can re-name Sub Clips in FCP all you want. Its very reliable. I sub-clip over thirty hours of material per episode and re-name stuff all day long! It is the only way I can do documentary stories. It even survives Media Manager perfectly for the Online.

- Christopher S. Johnson

all has been said, i guess
but i might as well chime in:

quickest way i know to get to the file, and see it;s path,
is to use "Show in Finder" mapped to a Keyboard command.
I use Shift R
(it's a little like iTunes' Apple R to "reveal", and in FCP "Shift" is often about going somewhere: shift i = go to in point.)

when i'm there, the window is generally in list view (maybe just the way i work)
i hold Apple and click on the folder icon at the top of the window,
and i see the whole path.
(works in list or icon view)
much easier that either of the options in FCP, although i do use them sometimes.

(i use source column to check a group of clips, make sure there's nothing in the wrong place)


cheers,
nick