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Compound clips are now missing media...

Working with compound clips... they are deleted with the source event regardless of what event I save them to.


Any ideas?

Posted on Feb 20, 2021 11:12 AM

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Posted on Feb 21, 2021 6:30 AM

Yes, I think having an Elements library would be a good idea, and furthermore, I’d keep the media for that in a designated folder and use “leave in place”. This would let you copy these materials to other libraries as needed and not create many copies of the media.

12 replies

Feb 20, 2021 7:48 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Sure. I'm setting up something that I want to be repeatable, and trying to archive these Titles/Effects/Clips as a single entity into another Event that stays in my active library to be used on any subsequent Event/Project.


What happens is when I choose to save the Compound Clip in the proper Event, and then throw the source event in the trash, the media clips are now missing... It's as if the media doesn't travel to the save location in which was chosen on save, just the timeline data and non-linked clips. I thought the whole point of C-Clips was for saving repeatables.

Feb 20, 2021 10:10 PM in response to SethMcGraw

Not sure exactly what you are doing regards:


"and then throw the source event in the trash, the media clips are now missing... It's as if the media doesn't travel to the save location in which was chosen on save''


If you have trashed the Event there will be nothing for the C-Clip to reference resulting in Offline.


One suggestion:

You could export the C-Clip out of FCP then import it back, achieving the same thing without the offline drama.


Al


Feb 21, 2021 12:54 AM in response to Alchroma

I can't leave every project in the library after completion... I have to remove them.

I did state that this needs to be repeatable. To further explain, exporting the compound clip would render it useless.

It needs to remain editable, as those elements will land in different points of a new timeline in other projects.


example:

Event 1, named "Elements" is simply an Event that contains multiple compound clips, each for a different client/project type.

It may contain intro, outro, commercial, etc clips, Titles, customized effects. One of those let's call "Bob's Burgers".


Event 2, named "Bobs Burgers Valentines Day".

This is the active project/timeline.... I drag the "Bob's Burgers" compound clip into the timeline, break apart clip items, and then place each repeatable element into the proper place of the timeline, maybe change the copy of one of the Titles (duplicating them as needed with already assigned customized values and characteristics).


I then finish the project Event 2 named "Bobs Burgers Valentines Day".... I need to delete it. I don't have room to keep every project in the library forever...

Easter comes and I need to do another video for Bob's Burgers, so the elements are there ready for using in the next ad.


When I delete the Valentines Day ad, the media goes with it, even though the original compound clip made the very first time I did a video for them is in the Event 1 called "Elements", in the compound clip named "Bob's Burgers".

When I save a compound clip, there is a dialog where I choose the Event in which it will be saved... I believe it is not doing that with the media, but only with the ones and zeros that represent the Event data. The timeline is there, but the links are broken, because the timeline Event that the original compound clip was created in, is deleted... this is weird, because I didn't save it into that original Event, but the "Elements" Event.


Maybe I'm utilizing this feature in an a-typical way, but I don't see another way to keep often-used elements on hand for projects that use them.


Hope that clears it up a little.



Feb 21, 2021 4:06 AM in response to SethMcGraw


I am sorry to say but there a number of significant misunderstandings.


The first and most obvious one is the notion that a compound clip somehow contains copies ofthe medi. It doesn’t. It merely references that media. So if the media is no more, the compound will not possibly play. The upshot is that a compound is a very lightweight thing, so you are not using more space than what the media takes.


The second misunderstanding is that you seem to always use the same library for everything and creating and deleting projects. While that can work, it is very limiting. You can have as many libraries as you want, and it’s probably best to have one library per production.


A third thing is that you should accept the fact that video uses a lot of disk space and you must be prepared to manage media effectively. You can’t just rely on your system drive and be deleting files all the time to make room. An external SSD for editing and more drives for backup and archiving should be considered.


If there is something like those compounds that you are using on and on in different jobs, and the same media that is used repeatedly, there are easier ways to handle it; but before we delve into that, I suggest you take some time and watch the lessons on media management in the Izzyvideo free course. This will help set up the proper notions and terminology to help you proceed with much greater understanding and confidence.


Feb 21, 2021 6:09 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I really appreciate your input, and I do agree that there are significant misunderstandings, but I'm embedded in a workflow that right now, would be difficult to completely change.


Your first two points seem to point in the direction of confirming exactly what I described, in that if the C-Clip contained cut media (let's say two 10 minute clips as part of the things captured), it does not "package" that media and save it in the location in which the target Event you save the C-Clip. That completely is terrible, but at least it's an answer.


As far as the 3rd point, I think you may have a different understanding of the scale that I'm working with. It's not big by any standard, but it's probably not what you think. I have 22 TB of drives stacked in a few enclosures. I'm turning multiple 5-cam projects several times a month for the same clients over and over. I do not use multi-cam in FCPX, as my computer can't handle it (waiting for M1 chips to hit iMac desktops). This means that I have 5 long form streams stacked and I cut on the timeline. It is very fast and efficient. I do understand how much space it takes.


I really should try and break down my workflow, and I will definitely take a look at the tutorials on my down time, however I'm really trying to solve a very specific problem right at the moment. I have 10 TB of projects I will need cleared in the next week.


If I render and export just the actual video/photos into a directory structure for those specific elements, do you think I could get by for a bit by having them readily available for reuse?


I'm really in need of having these few clients' elements in one quick repository, so I don't have to continuously re-create the wheel with each new project for them.

Also on the Library front, what about having the Elements library constantly loaded, and creating new libraries for each new project? Would that be a cleaner way to function?

Compound clips are now missing media...

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