Message About Needing More Disk Space for Writing

hi:

been dealing with a few issues lately with X. here's the latest:

when rendering some files today i got a pop-up message that said my mac was running out of disk writing space. however, i have like 340 left GB on my harddrive. why would i get this message? what can i do?

also, when transcoding/copying files, should i be doing this to both the ext. harddrive i'm working from and my mac's harddrive? X kind of confuses me this way. it seems like there is a lot of copying, a lot of redundancy.

i know this has to do with proxy files. what are the ins and outs of using proxy?

would like to come up with the ideal import workflow that streamlines my editing and maximizes disk space--and is easy to manage in terms of file storage. seems like right now, diff. files are spread out btw. my mac's harddrive and the various ext. harddrives i use.

thanks for your help!

nicolle

> X kind of confuses me this way. it seems like there is a lot of copying, a lot
>of redundancy.

Foreword
FCP X is a little more Avid-like in the way that it keeps a database of the rushes in your project, as opposed to FCP Classic, which lets you put rushes anywhere, and that fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method created quite a bit of problems for many beginners.

The Events Library
FCP X stores rushes in the Events folder. This is like the database of rushes. Media can either be copied directly to the Events folder, or linked to the Events folder.

How Media is Linked
When the media is linked to the event folder, little pointer aliases are created within the Events folder. If the format you are importing is not supported natively (eg. non-QT or RED), then FCP will always copy the rushes (Eg. Re-wrap to QT). When the media is copied to the Events folder, or "create optimized/proxy" options are used, those will be self contained files.

Where the Event Library is stored
The Events library can be either stored locally, by default this is set to the Movies folder, or you can choose to store your events folder on an external media drive. You can only have 1 Event library per drive. You can think of the Events library as similar to Avid's Media Files, except that these contain either self contained QT movies or pointer files.

Optimized, Native or Proxy Media
You can also choose to "create optimized media" or "create proxy media".

Create optimized media transcodes the footage to ProRes. This makes it easier for the machine if you are editing processor intensive footage like RED.

Create proxy media transcodes the footage to ProRes Proxy. This is essentially what we used to call "the offline", where footage for offline editing is imported at low resolution to save on drive space and bandwidth or if you are editing on the go off a small laptop with limited drive space. When the project is locked, you can re-link back to the source rushes/optimized media for finishing.

Native, is native. This means that the rushes will not be transcoded to ProRes/ProRes Proxy. In some cases, media will be re-wrapped to QT and copied to the Events Library, if for example, you are cutting AvcHD, which does not use the QT wrapper.



www.strypesinpost.com

>however, i have like 340 left GB on my harddrive. why would i get this
>message?

This baffles me, but FCP X is known for quirky odd bugs. Just to troubleshoot, have you by any chance set the renders onto a thumbdrive?



www.strypesinpost.com

thanks for the clarification strypes. not familiar with AVID--have only edited on FCP. 6.0 then X.

i'm shooting in h.264 and avchd, which i believe are native to FCP. do i need to create optimized and/or proxy media for these? i was told at one point by FCP, yes. i want to render out in pro rez.

my events folder is currently stored locally. i'm aware i can move it over to an ext. HD but will this mess with the linking at all? i have backed up project files on ext. HDs. it would be nice if they could all be in one place--on an ext. HD.

to answer your question re. renders onto a thumbdrive--no, i didn't do that--and wouldn't have known to do this in the first place!

any more input you can provide would be helpful!

nicolle

Hmm... Check your local drive to see if you are running out of space. FCP X is deceptively complicated in this way. It is a lot less DIY and you need to set up FCP X properly, because by default 1) it copies everything to local storage, 2) it background renders onto local storage (or where your project file is). These will fill up your local drive in no time. Avchd will also automatically re-wrap to QT to where your event is.

Yea, you can't set renders separately. It renders to where the project file is.

> i want to render out in pro rez.

Rest assured, FCP X will do ProRes, in fact, I think it only renders out as either ProRes or Uncompressed, or H.264. For the rest of the formats, you need to send it to Compressor.

No, you don't need to create optimized or proxy media if your machine is able to play it back fast enough.

> i'm aware i can move it over to an ext. HD but will this mess with the linking at all?

You need to move the event and projects with FCP X not via the Finder.



www.strypesinpost.com