FCP X not recognizing previously created Camera Archives

I just came back from a location shoot, and I created Camera Archives of all my cards on a separate hard drive to work from later. When I plug the drive in and try to import files from these Camera Archives into a new event, FCP X sees the archives, but they are grayed out and they won't load.

I've still got the cards, but I thought that Camera Archives were a way to back them up and move them around.

What am I doing wrong? Many thanks, Bob K.

Are these FCP created camera archives? Are they in a folder called Final Cut Camera Archives? They need to be.

Hi Tom: Yes, they are created by FCP X. But I did change the name on the folder to Camera ARchive Copies, and I did put them into subfolders by topic. Do I need a folder called Final Cut Camera Archives on each drive? Thanks for your help. Working with AVCHD cameras is driving me nuts in this regard!

They need to be in the folder with the exact name FCP is looking for.

Thanks Tom. Can I duplicate that folder (Final Cut Camera Archives) on other drives so I have backup? That's what I'm not clear on.

FCP launches, it looks for 3 folders on each connected drive. Those 3 folders MUST have specific names. "Final Cut Events", "Final Cut Projects", "Final Cut Camera Archives". Changing any of these manually in the Finder is asking for major trouble.

But "Archives" is very easy to rebuild. At the root level of your non-OS drive create a folder called "Final Cut Camera Archive". Move all of the camera archives that FCP created in to it. Let FCP handle it's own data as it must.

If you want to backup your data, there are many ways to do that. Copy the archive files FCP makes onto a backup drive (copy, not move). You can use backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner (free) to automate this and/or simplify it. You can import your original clips into the Event folder, and create the camera archive on the backup drive to start with. Lots of ways to do this.

But don't mess with things FCP creates on it's own.

Thanks Ben. I think my problem was that I didn't have the exact same three folders on the backup drives. FCP X saw the camera archives, but they were grayed out. The kind of hoops you have to jump through to work with AVCHD files makes me crazy sometimes. It's like they try to make it as hard as possible to use a Mac with the format. You can't just grab the .MTS files like you can .MOV files, no, that would be too easy:-).

You couldn't pay me enough to composite and color grade with Long-GOP formats like AVCHD (.mts). I hate them.