Migrating Projects from 3 HD's onto 1 HD with all footage intact.

Hello. I have a sticky situation that I need to rectify ASAP and with no risk of data loss.

I have my FCPX projects on my computers HD, and 2 different external HD's. This was not done on purpose… When I was just starting out with FCPX I did not understand the way that it saved files or how the Database system worked… Now that I have a much better understanding I want to get all of my projects onto my new Thunderbolt drive and organize everything before I go further down the rabbit hole.

Here are the unique issues that I have with this task.

1. Many of the files are "alias" files and I need to be sure that they all are properly transferred to the new HD.

2. I did not optimize my footage upon import (5d mark ii footage) I DO want to do that now but am not sure if I should do so before / after / or during migration AND to be honest I am not sure the best way to do it.

3. I am doing a doc in a foreign language and I have paid someone to to Voice Over Translations of all the footage…. It is Imperative that this footage does not get lost in the migration. as it is FCPX seemingly saves all of these files with a very confusing naming convention and I need to make sure the files do not get crossed or lost.

Please let me know if more info and / or screen shots would make answering this question easier.

Thanks for reading!

First, select each Event in the Event Library. Go to the File menu. Select "Organize Event Files". You'll get a warning window that tells you it will take everything physically outside of the Event, and copy it into the Event folder.

If you want to Optimize, and not worry about the original "linked" files, then right-click each Event, select "Transcode Media" from the pop-up menu. This will make Optimized files inside the Event folder. FCP X will access those files rather than the originals from that point on.

If you don't have any duplicate Events or Projects, you can simply copy everything into the "Final Cut Events" and "Final Cut Projects" folders on the new drive. Then delete the originals (once you verify the new copies work in FCP).

If you're uneasy about copying things in the Finder, then do it inside the FCP X Library panes.

BenB - thank you so much for your detailed / quick response.

Question - I am a little "worried" about messing things up in general and was wondering what you mean by "not worry about the original "linked" files" will this step harm the originals at all or will it simply "replace" my alias files with the new "transcoded" media?

I am very worried about loosing the voiceover translations in the migration process... but I do have to migrate / organize as things are already out of hand.

and 2 more "sub-questions" (1) I believe I will be given an option on how to transcode the media what is the best option to choose for my 5D mark II footage? (2) Ideally I would like to condense my events ( I feel like many of my "organized" projects could live in the same event like Day 1, camera A & B TRANSLATED) is there a post / source of info on how to move your "similar" projects into one event?

thanks Ben I do appreciate it!