Duplicate clips with XML import

I have a question regarding duplicate clips.

Here’s a quick rundown: I’m migrating a feature documentary project file from FCP 7 via XML to Premiere. I know that normally it’d be ideal to have the “write XMP ID to files on import” option checked in preferences prior to importing footage into Premiere, but to my knowledge, this does not work for XML files.

There are nearly 12,000 individual clips and 200 reels within the project file. Multiple collaborators will be working concurrently on the film. The current project file size is about 150 MB.

My concern with having multiple collaborators is that the clips will keep duplicating when sequences are exchanged from project files and/or when being round-tripped from other software. I'm fine with a few duplicates, but I'm worried that at a certain point, the project file will become too large.

A few questions:
1. Is there a proven workaround for this that works for XML imports?

2. If not, on smaller projects in the past, I’ve swapped out the clips within sequences with the clips freshly imported via Media Browser. Would I have to do a manual individual swap for each clip?

3. How much do duplicates actually bloat a project file? Does anyone have an actual estimate for much the project file increases when there are 100 or 1,000 duplicates created?

4. If I have to swap out the clips, would it be worth the time and energy to do it from the beginning or to deal with it later? My fear is that it will eventually become unmanageable and more difficult to swap out further down the road.

Any suggestions or advice would be great. Thank you!

Here's a way of importing without duplicating clips: [www.digitalrebellion.com]

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Will this work with a project file that started out as an XML (since it was newly migrated over from FCP 7)?

Just checking because I think that would mean each clip would not have its own unique XMP id in the metadata, since it wasn't brought in via Premiere with the “write XMP ID to files on import" option checked in the preferences. Not sure if this is necessary for the workaround that is detailed in your link.

Thanks so much, Jon!

I always switch off writing XMP IDs to the media files and I've never had issues with this workflow.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...