Hi, I hope you don't think this is a stupid question, but here goes:
Using FCP 3, I want to delete a sequence from the hard drive and free-up some space so I can start the sequence again. but I dont' want to loose the clips from the bin. So if I delete the sequence will I also loose the clips and have to re-capture?
Regards to all

David,
Not a dumb question at all; quite a logical one, actually.

No, deleting a sequence from a project will not also delete its associated clips. (Did you actually mean to ask about deleting a "project"?) But it will not free-up much measurable space on your hard disk. The clips and rendering files consume the majority of space. Project files are quite small. A good way to save space is to convert your footage to offline RT format for editing.

Thanks Ken, yes I did mean deleting a 'sequence'. I thought it took up more spce than it did.
Many thanks, David

Yeah, those project files are real tiny, in fact I may save several versions of the same sequence until final decisions are made.

One thing I have found very powerful in terms of clearing harddrive space is to use the Media Manager to delete unused portions of captured video. You may start with 45 minutes of captured raw footage and wind up with a 5 minute finished piece, and all those gigs of video stay on your computer at full length until you do this. It's a good way to keep the job live for future editing (as long as it's only in the direction of shorter because the excess media is actually destroyed, unlike the edit decisions).

Speaking of dumb questions, here's mine...

Ken, I don't have any experience with Offline RT, although I should start because I do some of my work on a Powerbook, and the Help doesn't say very much about it. Like what do you do to bring in the actual hi-res media once you are done editing and have it down to just needing the few minutesd worth of selected video...does this require a re-capture?

Thanks.

Mike,
Yes, Offline RT is a functional compromise. Because it uses such highly compressed Photo JPEG format it's very compact and zippy on Powerbooks. The "bad" news is that you will ultimately need to re-capture the footage in your final sequence(s) before you can export them.

I've been in the closet on this a bit as well. So you recapture simply by..hooking up the camera, runnig the tape, and letting timecode find the bits?

And if the media is spread across a number of different tapes? How does FCP respond (besides grumpily)?

Thanks Ken. Don't tell anyone I asked.

"And if the media is spread across a number of different tapes? How does FCP respond (besides grumpily)?"

Grumpily...haw! The recapture process operates just as if you were recapturing footage that's already been logged. That is, FCP will organize its operation according to the tape volumes originally specified for each clip. So it's imperative that you take care in labeling your tapes and in accurately specifying the tape volumes when you perform your original log and capture.

(I won't tell anyone, Diane.)

"The recapture process operates just as if you were recapturing footage that's already been logged. That is, FCP will organize its operation according to the tape volumes originally specified ..."

Aha! That's what I was wondering about. I knew that it used ultra-compressed media and that re-capture was necessary, was just unsure about how that would go. Hate to find out after editing a whole project that it won't cooperate for some reason.

And yes, I very strongly believe in properly marking and logging reels even when doing standard capture, just to keep the job organized and just in case something happens.

Thanks, maybe I'll get brave and try Offline RT on my next laptop-bound project.