Final Cut Pro

Getting started

New Install

Reference

Guides

Final Cut Pro

Welcome to your new Final Cut Pro workflow with creative.space shared storage.

Welcome to your new Final Cut Pro workflow with creative.space shared storage spaces. With version 10.3, Final Cut Pro users were given the ability to store both their Libraries and media on SMB-mounted volumes, such as those accessed from your creative.space node. By leveraging the SMB protocol, multiple editors can access, edit, and share projects and media simultaneously, facilitating a seamless workflow.

ℹ️

SMB stands for Server Message Block, which is a network communication protocol used for sharing files, printers, and other resources between computers on a network. It allows multiple devices to access and share files stored on a central server or network-attached storage (NAS) device.

Final Cut Pro does not provide any collaboration features outside of Library locking. This is automatic, so there is nothing custom that needs to be set up. The first user who opens a Library from the shared storage will be given write access to it. Any other user who opens it will be given read-only access, meaning they can browse and pull media from the Library, but not make any changes.

⚠️

It's important to ensure that your network infrastructure supports the bandwidth requirements for editing video over SMB, especially when working with high-resolution media. Additionally, backing up your Final Cut Pro libraries and media regularly is essential to prevent data loss.

If you are having issues with Final Cut Pro, check out this official resource from Apple:

If Final Cut Pro isn't working - Apple Support

Learn what to do if Final Cut Pro for Mac won’t open, won't play a project, or isn't operating as expected in other ways.

support.apple.com

Getting Started

Your creative.space system is already optimized for use with Final Cut Pro. A series of behind the scenes tweaks provide the hooks that the application is looking for. This section covers what you need to know to to integrate your shared storage into your Final Cut Pro workflow:

Mounting - Mount creative.space to your operating system for access in Final Cut Pro.
Library Creation - Choose a location in a shared space to store your library on, so that any user can access it.
Modify Storage Locations - Configure the settings for your Library for where imported and generated media will be stored.
Change Import Settings - Specify whether media will be copied or referenced where it already is.

Mount the shared storage

Mounting with creative.space is available through a few different methods:

Desktop App: Use the creative.space application to simplify mounting and access Spaces or folders as a file browser. This method is suitable for remote users with high latency.

Web App: On MacOS, you can simply copy a path from the web app for a space or folder and paste it into the address bar of your browser to mount and open it in Finder. You will be prompted to put in your creative.space username and password to authorize access.
Operating System (OS): Mount to your desktop using the SMB protocol and your specific operating system’s network mounting functionality.

Create a Library on a shared volume

If you have existing Libraries, all you need to do is drag and drop them in Finder to your mounted shared storage. This section will guide you through the process of creating new Libraries on your centralized storage:

Go to File > New > Library… in the top menu bar.
Give your new Library (.fcpbundle) a name.

ℹ️

If you are configuring a Library for use with a Folder Structure Template, then you should use square brackets, i.e. [ ], to define variables, such as [Project Name]. Since Events in your Library are subfolders, you can put variables in their names as well.

Click the ⌄ next to Where: to select a custom destination.
Under Locations, click on your computer’s name to see the mounted volumes listed.

⚠️

Don’t see your computer listed?

‣

How to add your computer to Finder Locations

In the top menu bar go to Finder > Settings…

Go to the Sidebar tab

Under Locations, check the name of your computer, which should be the first item on the list.

Modify your Storage Locations

There are storage settings that are custom to each Library that are secondary to the app settings that are used across Libraries in connection to your MacOS user. When you modify these settings, they will be used only in the event that media is set to Copy to instead of Leave in place :

Open a Library in Final Cut Pro and go to the right sidebar, which should display your Library Properties.
Next to Storage Locations, click on the Modify Settings button.
Configure the storage locations based on your workflow

Media:

In Library - Within the .fcpbundle, which MacOS looks at as a file even though it is a folder. If this option is chosen, then you will need to right click on the library in Finder and select Show Package Contents to reveal the subfolders and access media.

Choose… - Navigate to the directory your want to store media in for the Library and click Save.

Motion Content: Leave this setting as is, unless you have a specific reason to change it.
Cache:

In Library - When users open the Library from the shared storage, they will also access the cache, since they are both in the same place.
Choose… - Specify a dedicated location for the cache, such as a faster SSD pool, that you’ve coordinated with your team.

Backups:

Final Cut Backups - Default location for backups is in the Movies folder in your MacOS user’s home directory. This means each user will have their own backups.
Choose… - Navigate to a custom location that is relative to each Library or is central across Libraries.
Do not save - Don’t use the built-in backups feature and instead rely on snapshots in the web app.

Change your Import Settings

You have the option to change your import settings at the Application level, which will effect all Libraries, and also each time you import media. These will determine whether the files are copied or referenced form where they are, i.e. Leave in place.

Application Settings

Go to Settings… in the top menu bar
Click on Import in the popup
Change Files: to Leave files in place
(Optional) Under Transcode: check Create optimized media and/or Create proxy media and configure the settings based on your requirements for higher performance local and/or remote editing.

Within the Import Wizard

Go to File > Import > Media…

In the right sidebar, go to the Files sections and select the option for your workflow

Copy to - Copy imported media to the location specified in your Storage Locations. Creates multiple copies of the same media files for each Library.
Leave Files in Place - Access the media from where it already is. References media files from where they already are on your shared storage.

(Optional) Under Transcode: check Create optimized media and/or Create proxy media and configure the settings based on your requirements for higher performance local and/or remote editing.

Media Management

Once you’ve followed the steps in the Getting Started section, you should be good to go. If you need more advanced version control, then we recommend a git-based system like PostLab.

Consolidation

Sometimes you want to put all of the media files referenced by your Library in one centralized location. Final Cut Pro has a feature for this called “Consolidate Library Media”.

“In the course of creating a project, you might use media files from a variety of locations, including your local computer and external storage devices. If the media being used in a project, event, or library is located in multiple folders or on multiple storage devices, you can consolidate all the media in one location, on one storage device. This process facilitates archiving and makes it easier for others to access the media (using shared storage, for example).” (Apple Help files)

If you change the Library storage settings, it is generally a good idea to move any existing files into the new locations so that everything is in one place. That’s what Consolidate Media does.

Apple Help files state: “The Consolidate command follows these rules:

When you consolidate files out of a library to an external folder, the files are moved.
When you consolidate files into a library from an external folder, or from an external folder to another external folder, the files are copied.

These rules prevent broken links from other libraries.

ℹ️

If the media is already external, and no other libraries are using it, you can manually delete the original media after consolidating to save storage space.

The three checkboxes give you control over what media gets transferred. More on that next.

Use Cases

In general, we recommend to Leave files in place when importing media – specifically to keep overall library file size small. However, as soon as you need to share a library or archive a project to another storage location, consolidation comes into play:

‣

Move to a new working location

You just purchased a new hard disk and want to move all library media into it.

Use Inspector > Storage Locations > Choose to select a new location.

ℹ️

It is always best to store media in a folder, rather than as loose files.

Click Media > Consolidate to move media stored in the Library and copy media stored outside the Library to the new location.

ℹ️

Don’t use this technique to create backups. Rather, use a dedicated backup utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner.

‣

Archiving, i.e. migrating off of working storage

You finished an edit and delivered the master. Your normal workflow is to store media outside the library. However, now, you want to create a version for archiving. You have two options:

Store all media in the library then archive the library
Store all media (and custom motion templates) in an external folder, then archive both the media folder and the library.

To store all media in the Library, verify that Storage Locations > Media is set to In Library. Then, click Media > Consolidate.

To store all media in a single external folder (especially if media was stored in multiple folders during the edit), change Storage Locations > Media to point to that external folder.

ℹ️

I generally create a new folder specifically to hold media for archiving.

‣

Consolidate Motion templates

Templates that come with Motion do not need to be consolidated. Every editor who has Motion has access to the same templates, and they are always stored in the same location.

However, customized Motion templates are usually stored in the personal folder of each editor. It makes sense to centralize them in the Library if the Library is shared among editors, if the library needs to be archived, or if the library is stored on a server.

“If you have created or customized any Final Cut Pro effects, transitions, titles, or generators in Motion, set the storage location for your Motion content to In Library before starting any copy or move operations between libraries or storage devices. Otherwise, the Motion content is not included in those operations. Regardless, you must manually track and move any third-party (FxPlug) content, because it is not managed within the Final Cut Pro library.” (Apple Help files)

The last sentence is important: Motion templates that you purchase are not automatically managed by Final Cut. You need to manually copy them to the new system.

For example, you want to consolidate proxy files into the library for archiving or to send to another editor. Set Storage Locations > Motion Content to In Library.

Click Motion Content > Consolidate. All custom motion projects that are currently use are copied (not moved) in to the Library.

ℹ️

If a message appears stating that there’s nothing to consolidate, it means that all of your media files are already consolidated at one location, on one storage device. (Or that no custom templates are used by the current library.)

Transcoding

There are two types of transcodes that Final Cut Pro will generate and associate with imported clips: Optimized and Proxy.

Optimized Media - Apple ProRes 422 format, which is performance accelerated on MacOS, and intended to be a higher-quality and less-compressed alternative to camera native formats offering better performance during editing. Intended for editing on the local network.
Proxy Media - Apple ProRes Proxy or H.264 format, which can be set to percentage based frame sizes or maximum resolution to minimize the bitrate to either accommodate slower network connections, such as remote workflows, or reduce storage capacity usage.

When importing media, Final Cut Pro allows you to choose whether to create optimized and/or proxy files. You can also make this decision after import by selecting your clips and choosing "Transcode Media." It's worth noting that not all camera formats require optimization. If the "Optimize" option is grayed out, it means that the camera format is already in an optimized form.

ℹ️

Final Cut Pro manages these different media types intelligently, using optimized media for editing by default if available. If optimized media doesn't exist, it falls back to using camera native files. Proxy files are used only when you specifically switch to them, which can be done easily in the Final Cut Pro preferences or the viewer switch. This flexibility allows you to edit with proxy files for improved performance, then switch back to optimized or original media for final output, ensuring high-quality results.

For a general overview of proxy workflow across applications, check out the video below:

Application Settings

Go to Settings… in the top menu bar
Click on Import in the popup
Under Transcode:

(Optional) Check Create optimized media
(Optional) Check Create proxy media

Choose a Codec:

ProRes Proxy - Less compressed, i.e. higher bandwidth, but decodes more easily.
H.264 - More compressed, i.e. lower bandwidth, but may cause performance issues on decode, especially when effects are applied.

(Optional) Change the Frame Size: to reduce the resolution, and therefore bandwidth, of the transcoded media.

SCALE - Set to Same as Source, 50%, 25%, or 12.5%, which will dynamically scale the proxies to reduce the bandwidth used.
UP TO - Select 3840 x 2160, 1920 x 1080, or 960 x 540 to set an upper limit on the resolution of the transcode.

Within the Import Wizard

Go to File > Import > Media…

In the right sidebar, go to the Files sections and select the option for your workflow

Copy to - Copy imported media to the location specified in your Storage Locations. Creates multiple copies of the same media files for each Library.
Leave Files in Place - Access the media from where it already is. References media files from where they already are on your shared storage.

(Optional) Under Transcode:

(Optional) Check Create optimized media
(Optional) Check Create proxy media

Choose a Codec:

ProRes Proxy - Less compressed, i.e. higher bandwidth, but decodes more easily.
H.264 - More compressed, i.e. lower bandwidth, but may cause performance issues on decode, especially when effects are applied.

(Optional) Change the Frame Size: to reduce the resolution, and therefore bandwidth, of the transcoded media.

SCALE - Set to Same as Source, 50%, 25%, or 12.5%, which will dynamically scale the proxies to reduce the bandwidth used.
UP TO - Select 3840 x 2160, 1920 x 1080, or 960 x 540 to set an upper limit on the resolution of the transcode.

Navigate to where your media is, select it, and click on the Import Selected button.

← Previous

Onboarding

Interfaces

On this page

Final Cut Pro
Getting Started
Mount the shared storage
Create a Library on a shared volume
Modify your Storage Locations
Change your Import Settings
Application Settings
Within the Import Wizard
Media Management
Consolidation
Use Cases
Transcoding
Application Settings
Within the Import Wizard