Best practice for managing large sound effects library?

Hello -

Sorry if this is addressed elsewhere on the forum, but I couldn't find a definitive answer.

I have a very large SFX library of AIFF files, organized by CD. I'm trying to figure out the best way to access them from within FCPX.

I read some advice here saying to place an alias of the master folder in /Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/Final Cut Pro Sound Effects. I tried that, but my library is so massive that it takes about two minutes for the Final Cut Pro Sound Effects folder to even show up in the Music and Sound media browser upon launching FCPX.

I then tried importing a bunch of the sound effects into an SFX event, using folder names to define keywords. That worked well, but I'm concerned that by the time I import all my SFX, the Original Media folder within my SFX Library event folder will have far too many files sitting at one level without any hierarchy.

As a point of scale reference, my SFX library master folder (prior to import) has over 95,000 items in it (nested within hierarchical folders).

What is the current thinking about managing a library of this scale? I've also heard about adding them to iTunes and accessing via Media Browser, but I'd hate to clutter up my iTunes library with so many sound effects.

Thanks for any help --

Lee

Many ways to do it, no one correct way, they all have pros and cons.

Fact, you have a massive library, nothing will change that, not matter where you put it.

I put all mine in iTunes. I use all the available metadata available to me there to group and categorize them. Even without them my iTunes library has several decades of my album collection in it, so it's massive to start with.

That's the point of a Library application like FCP X or iTunes or Aperture. You have massive amounts of stuff, and a metadata based cataloging system helps you find stuff quickly.

My iTunes library is massive. So what? I don't scroll through the whole list of songs to find stuff. I use the search to find what I need. I use Playlists, Smart Playlists, and Playlist Folders to group things for fast access. The metadata organization in FCP X isn't new, it's been around for many, many years. It's existed previously in Aperture, iTunes, Final Cut Server, many other applications.

Now, I put a lot of thought into organizing my canned music and sfx into my iTunes library, because back in legacy FCP we didn't have direct access. I'd go to iTunes (or STP) and export something to then import into FCP. Now I have a well organized system to find what I need from inside FCP X.

That works for me. I have no slow downs, no issues at all.

Some situations and personal tastes would prefer to put them in an Event folder, assign keywords, metadata, even "custom" metadata fields, then Smart Searches to organize them.

Or like you tried with using folders as keywords.

Just get creative, and know you have more than just Events and keywords to organize and search with.

Anyway, I'm sure later this morning we'll see this thread grow quickly. It'll be interesting to see all the different ways folks implement to organize canned music, sfx, video, photos, etc.

I'm in a similar situation - looking forward to this discussion.

Ben: I haven't used iTunes in this way, but it sounds like it might be the best option. I would have no idea how to set something like this up (metadata). Can you give some insight on what tags you use and where they go?

Thanks,

JT

Thanks, Ben. I would also be curious about how exactly you set up metadata in iTunes. Are you also creating playlists or smart playlists to organize the library?

Pretty basic the way I do it. Info on standard and smart playlists here:
help.apple.com/itunes/mac/10.6.3/#itns22072

I started with one playlist called "Stock Music" when I was using FCP 7. Cause I could search it very easily in iTunes based on genre and other metatadata.

But with the list in FCP X being simplified to just tracks and playlists, I've created a Playlist Folder, Playlist, Smart Playlist system to organize things really nicely, and it all shows up in FCP X just fine.

Here's a blog post about it, while we're at it, why not:
www.fcproxuniversity.com/FCPro_X_Univers...dio_For_FCP_X_2.html

Thanks Ben!

I couldn't get the link to work, but I tracked it down here:

www.fcproxuniversity.com/FCPro_X_Univers...dio_For_FCP_X_2.html

Looks like the way to go. Before I get started, let me ask you this: Is there a way to add the metadata before import into iTunes? If I import a folder of several hundred random SFX files will I be able to track them down easily enough in iTunes? I'm sure some collections would be fine, but I have some random assortment of stuff that might not have any similar metadata. Also, I assume it would be next to impossible to use iTunes Match with this kind of a setup? Isn't there a limit on the number of files it will take? I don't use iTunes Match yet, but was thinking about it. Which brings me to my next question: would it work to have a second iTunes library just for video work? I'm guessing it's possible to switch iTunes libraries at startup.

Any thoughts?

JT

I'd not import "hundreds" of audio tracks into iTunes at one time. I'd do it in smaller batches.

You can point iTunes to other libraries in other locations, but not sure how that would effect FCP X. Try it out and see.

I'd never use iTunes match with this type of stuff. I don't use it, I don't plan to use it. No clue how that will work when it kicks in for ML/iOS 6.

iTunes itself has no limit, but Match will.

I reached out to a contact at Apple, and I was told that given the size of my SFX library, that iTunes was not the ideal way to handle the situation (95,000 AIFF files, almost 500 gigs).

I was advised to instead create a "SFX Library" event, and to then import my library into that event, but to UNCHECK "Copy Files into Final Cut Events folder". In other words, my existing library stays intact in its original location, with its folder hierarchy intact. I've checked "Import folder as Keyword Collections" to keep the resulting event organized by CD.

I found that the resulting ingest took a long time, and the first subsequent launch of FCP took several minutes to load the SFX Library event, but subsequent launches have had normal launch times.

I'll keep people updated if I hit any snags...

Lee

Yeah I tried that to and found it a real problem slowing FCP X down.
I too use iTunes but as a separate library. You can select a different library by holding down the option key as you launch iTunes. This way it's also easier to have your SFX library on an external drive.

Just learned another way while watching the latest MacBreak Studio Live podcast. Late in the podcast Mark shows how to link addition media, music and photos, in FCPX media browser. Open either Music or Photo window, move pointer to top of library window and a pulldown icon will appear, drag down and additional window space appears. Then just drag music or photo folders from another location into the newly reveled space. Didn't know about this hidden area till watching podcast.
While I haven't tried this yet, it appears that it links to original folder, not importing media, (Import prefs maybe) therefore, media can stay on separate drive. If this is true, then it wouldn't slow down X and for people with media on external drives, no need to import media and tag.
You do not need to import your media into iTunes or iPhoto to show up in FCPX media browser.
This is a pretty cool hidden feature because it seems you should be able to add all kinds of graphics, Sfx', custom logos etc... available anytime using FCPX.
Thanks to Mark and Steve.
Need to play with this feature. Anyone tried? Am I right about not needing to actually copy media into FCPX, just link?

Yes, that feature has always been there, but was unstable in early releases. If Steve is showing it, it must be stable now.

What the deal with importing STP files into FCPX could the .caf files be on a separate drive and then dragged into the Music browser like the VidGreg?

If you had STP installed already, and it's files in their default location, there's nothing more to do, they already show up in FCP X.

If you want to install the STP stuff after the fact, put all of STP's stuff on the system level (not user), in ~/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/Apple Loops For Soundtrack Pro/. You may want to launch STP and let it "index" those fines now, not sure if this step is still necessary. I doubt it. They should just show up in FCP X normally. You have a standard installation.

If sounds are already in their own location, drag-and-drop into the media browser, it creates a "link" to refer to the original location.

I haven't got STP (or any of the FCS) alls on my Lion drive though.

Marc Lucas wrote: I haven't got STP (or any of the FCS) alls on my Lion drive though.

Same here. When I installed my new SSD drive I just installed FCPX. If I have the old FCP stuff on an external bu drive what would be the best way to get the files into FCPX?

~/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/Apple Loops For Soundtrack Pro/

Or drop them anywhere and drag-and-drop into the media browser?

Put them in the Apple Loops location, and they're there for life.

Dragging them into the media browser creates "links" to the original in it's original location. Move or delete it, you've lost everything an introduce issues into FCP X.

Thank Ben - works great!!!!!

I've also just about completed moving my SFX clips to iTunes. It's fantastic! So much easier to get to what I need. Wish I had done this months ago.

JT

Just curious when you place any audio files into iTunes for use with FCPX do you set the import settings to import as .aiff files? I know this will increase the file sizes but whenever I have used .mp3's before in FCPX I was getting crashes.
Might try the iTunes route not sure yet.

FCP X supports MP3 now just fine. But, the issue is that MP3 is so compressed, you lose a ton of dynamic range and fidelity. As a musician, I have never let iTunes encode my imports to MP3, I've always used AIFF. Yes, they make bigger files, but they're audio files, they're small to start with. I also have a 2TB system drive.

Fully understand the quality issue. might give iTunes a whirl then