Final Cut Pro X and Xsan

We have been working with Final Cut Pro X on a Xsan for awhile now with no issues. But there is one thing that seems not to work.

Reading Xsan Best Practices documentation there is one step that seems not work or we do not understand:

To create a storage folder on the Xsan volume
1. Open Final Cut Pro X on the media import/edit system (named “EDIT1” in this example).
2. Choose File > Add SAN Location.
3. Navigate to the working level of the mounted Xsan volume.
4. Click New Folder and name the folder “Music Video.”
5. Click Add.
The folder you created on the Xsan volume appears as a storage location in the Event Library and the Project Library.
Next, import media from a hard disk to the SAN location.

For some reason we could never get a fold to appear in the Event Library. Has anybody experience this?

Thanks

XSAN works pretty well for us, maybe this little paper may help: visuals1st.com/?p=53

Do you have a "SAN Locations" folder at the top level of your XSAN, where you store all the project folders ?
Oh, and try adding a folder that does not have the word "VIDEO" in its name. Does that work?


- Ronny

No there is no such folder on the Xsan. (Finder)
When adding the SAN location in Final Cut Pro X and creating a Event it will create the typical Final Cut Pro Events folder in the root of the SAN.
None of the folder have the word Video nor anything related in them.

Doe sit have something to do with the open directory? User do have read and write access no the Xsan.

Are your XSan volumes formatted as HFS+ ? FCPX will not show XSan mounted volumes in either the Event or Project Libraries if they are not HFS+ formatted.

If this is not an urgent issue I would wait a few weeks. Some of these things may change with the new version.

- Ronny

Yes they are, as I mentioned we have been working with Xsan in Final Cut Pro X since the release that supported it.
I could never get a folder to appear as a Xsan location. Only the dedicated San itself.

We don't have any of the problems you're seeing. Our workflow puts each FCPX job into a job folder, then within that a FCPX folder… Works fine. Which version of XSan are you running? What OS is your MDC running?

They should be all up to date Mavericks, Server 3.0.1 and Xsan 3.1.

Simmie could you give me a example how archive this?

We don't do anything special - we just open FCPX, go to File "Add SAN location" then just navigate to the folder we want to use and hit add. We can chose any folder on the SAN to do this with - nothing is greyed out.

Yeah that the same as we did only difference we do not see any Folder in Final Cut Pro X.
Do you have something special setup on Open Directory side or maybe the settings of the LUN's?

I'm a little confused by what you mean by "folder" when you set a SAN location that's all you are doing - setting a location for your Events and Projects. Once the SAN location is set then you can make all the Events and Projects that you want. You're just telling FCPX where to put it's "Final Cut Events" and "Final Cut Projects" folders.

Maybe I'em confused but when I read the following:

2. Choose File > Add SAN Location.
3. Navigate to the working level of the mounted Xsan volume.
4. Click New Folder and name the folder “Music Video.”
5. Click Add.
The folder you created on the Xsan volume appears as a storage location in the Event Library and the Project Library.

Sounds like you can have a folder on the Xsan to store your assets. Then the traditional way.

That's what happens. You don't see the folder in FCPX though - you only see it at finder level. So your folder Structure would be:

XSAN > Projects > Job 001 > Final Cut Events & Final Cut Projects

The Final Cut Events folder and Final Cut Projects folder can live anywhere on a SAN, not just at the top level of storage.

If you are expecting a folder to appear in FCPX, that isn't how it works.

Thats the thing I can get it to use the folder on the Xsan.

I think you should have a word with your XSAN integrator then - this should work with no issues. it feels like perhaps a permissions issue? Sorry I can't be of more help.

I stopped dealing with XSAN some time ago, but I'd say it does sound like some XSAN configuration issue. Have your IT guy check in to this.

Well I guess I got it work I. I disabled Xsan on all the clients and re-enable them and now it works.

Computers! :dry: