Mid Way through new FCP Editor need Back up Advice! at DVinfo.net

Tim Kay · April 30th, 2009, 11:51 PM

Hi Guys,

So heres my issue - i'm about 70% through my project and my media management is mess. Worked with one editor, now i'm picking up the tail end and footage is everywhere. Plus all my source footage is on my EXT drive. My friend told me horror stories about a failing drive and he scared me straight. Heres my question:

At this stage of the game how do I not only back up my footage but switch, so all my footage is now edited from my IMAC and not my external. How do I bring over all the files (audio & video) without knowing where they are? (my project is a short movie with tons of source footage) Looked around but haven't found that magical button yet!

Thanks!

Christopher Drews · May 1st, 2009, 01:04 AM

Called Media Manager (or Mangler if you use it wrong). Search the forum and check the FCP manual.

It will allow you to copy (with options) every clip in your project to anywhere you choose.
-C

Mike Chandler · May 1st, 2009, 07:51 AM

Chris is right that Media Manager can become Mangler very easily--so why don't you just keep your external drive and get another one to back it up every night, using a program like Synchronize ProX or Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. Lot easier (and less risky) than bringing all that media into your Imac. Even if you do bring it all into the imac, you've still got the same problem, i.e., all your media on one drive. It just happens to be your internal drive now. You're still going to need a backup.

Tim Kay · May 1st, 2009, 12:03 PM

Well the main drive is a firewire 800 and so it's works quickly. All my other drives are USB 2.0 and don't really want to buy another drive ( would bring my total to 5!)

Read the manual last night regarding the mangler and it was just as useless as its function.

But thanks for the tip and now I have a backup of something on my driver, just not sure what it is. Save 2 arbitrary sequences and it only backed up like 1gb (think my project is closer to 80-100gb. All my footage is built in the time line so is there something more specific I can do ?

Mike Chandler · May 1st, 2009, 01:19 PM

For serious editing, Andy, you're going to have to start using either fw 800 \or esata drives, either singly or in RAID configurations, especially for larger projects or for dealing with HD.

For less than $200 you can make your own 1 tb drive

OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad eSATA/FW800/FW4... (MEFW934F8QI) at OWC $85

1.0TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB Cache... (HD103UJ) at OWC $105

or buy one for less than $300.

G-Technology - G-DRIVE Q - Professional Strength, Quad-Interface Storage Solutions $280

It will make your life a lot easier and editing a lot faster.

Tim Kay · May 1st, 2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Chandler

For serious editing, Andy, you're going to have to start using either fw 800

Currently that's what i'm using - firewire 800. It's my main drive. Unfortunately my Apple is only a 320gb and after all apps and what not are added I have only 50gb free.

So i do all my editing on Lacie 1tb 800fw drive. My next closes drive is a 500gb usb. Currently reformatting it to APPLE compatibility as a temp. back up.

Since I treat my ext Lacie as a primary I'll need to back that up - thinking my easiest option is buying another 1tb drive (Either western digital or another Lacie). Would this now be considered a RAID drive ?

William Hohauser · May 1st, 2009, 04:20 PM

Nothing wrong with an external 800 drive for editing. The one you have should work. You can use a USB2 drive as backup, just transfer all the important data on the FireWire drive to the USB and put the USB drive away until you really need it.

Mitchell Lewis · May 2nd, 2009, 09:13 AM

Another option is to use Apple's free built-in Time Machine software to backup your system. It's been working VERY well for us. Simple to set up and simple to use. My only gripe with Time Machine is that when one back up disc gets full, you can add another and have it span multiple discs. For this reason I recommend your primary drive be smaller than your Time Machine drive. In our case we use a 1TB RAID for our primary editing drive and a 2TB fire wire drive for Time Machine back up.

Tim Kay · May 2nd, 2009, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitchell Lewis

Another option is to use Apple's free built-in Time Machine software to backup your system. It's been working VERY well for us. Simple to set up and simple to use. My only gripe with Time Machine is that when one back up disc gets full, you can add another and have it span multiple discs. For this reason I recommend your primary drive be smaller than your Time Machine drive. In our case we use a 1TB RAID for our primary editing drive and a 2TB fire wire drive for Time Machine back up.

Thats exactly what I did yesterday - backed up a couple hundred gigs on my USB drive (painfully slow) via the media manger (just like the image provided above). What exactly transferred over ? Was it everything in the timeline. Was it everything in the project ? Was it everything ? I also set up Time machine via that same drive. Does that back up my FCP project as well ?

Thanks for the help and hope I don't need to find out if it worked!

April 30th, 2009, 11:51 PM	#1
Tim Kay Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SF & LA Posts: 195	Mid Way through new FCP Editor need Back up Advice! Hi Guys, So heres my issue - i'm about 70% through my project and my media management is mess. Worked with one editor, now i'm picking up the tail end and footage is everywhere. Plus all my source footage is on my EXT drive. My friend told me horror stories about a failing drive and he scared me straight. Heres my question: At this stage of the game how do I not only back up my footage but switch, so all my footage is now edited from my IMAC and not my external. How do I bring over all the files (audio & video) without knowing where they are? (my project is a short movie with tons of source footage) Looked around but haven't found that magical button yet! Thanks! __________________ Event Production Services \| Video Production San Francisco

May 1st, 2009, 01:04 AM	#2
Christopher Drews Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 628	Called Media Manager (or Mangler if you use it wrong). Search the forum and check the FCP manual. It will allow you to copy (with options) every clip in your project to anywhere you choose. -C Attached Thumbnails

May 1st, 2009, 07:51 AM	#3
Mike Chandler Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Moab, UT Posts: 264	Chris is right that Media Manager can become Mangler very easily--so why don't you just keep your external drive and get another one to back it up every night, using a program like Synchronize ProX or Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. Lot easier (and less risky) than bringing all that media into your Imac. Even if you do bring it all into the imac, you've still got the same problem, i.e., all your media on one drive. It just happens to be your internal drive now. You're still going to need a backup. __________________ www.packcreekproductions.com EX3, Mac Pro, FCP

May 1st, 2009, 12:03 PM	#4
Tim Kay Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SF & LA Posts: 195	Well the main drive is a firewire 800 and so it's works quickly. All my other drives are USB 2.0 and don't really want to buy another drive ( would bring my total to 5!) Read the manual last night regarding the mangler and it was just as useless as its function. But thanks for the tip and now I have a backup of something on my driver, just not sure what it is. Save 2 arbitrary sequences and it only backed up like 1gb (think my project is closer to 80-100gb. All my footage is built in the time line so is there something more specific I can do ? __________________ Event Production Services \| Video Production San Francisco

May 1st, 2009, 01:19 PM	#5
Mike Chandler Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Moab, UT Posts: 264	For serious editing, Andy, you're going to have to start using either fw 800 \or esata drives, either singly or in RAID configurations, especially for larger projects or for dealing with HD. For less than $200 you can make your own 1 tb drive OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad eSATA/FW800/FW4... (MEFW934F8QI) at OWC $85 1.0TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB Cache... (HD103UJ) at OWC $105 or buy one for less than $300. G-Technology - G-DRIVE Q - Professional Strength, Quad-Interface Storage Solutions $280 It will make your life a lot easier and editing a lot faster. __________________ www.packcreekproductions.com EX3, Mac Pro, FCP

May 1st, 2009, 04:20 PM	#7
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Nothing wrong with an external 800 drive for editing. The one you have should work. You can use a USB2 drive as backup, just transfer all the important data on the FireWire drive to the USB and put the USB drive away until you really need it. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

May 2nd, 2009, 09:13 AM	#8
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	Another option is to use Apple's free built-in Time Machine software to backup your system. It's been working VERY well for us. Simple to set up and simple to use. My only gripe with Time Machine is that when one back up disc gets full, you can add another and have it span multiple discs. For this reason I recommend your primary drive be smaller than your Time Machine drive. In our case we use a 1TB RAID for our primary editing drive and a 2TB fire wire drive for Time Machine back up. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor