Leave files in place question

I shoot with a Canon C100. I copy my camera files to the external drive I will edit from. I would like to leave the files in place when I import them into FCPX, but that option is greyed out and I am forced to copy the files into the library. Is there a reason I can't do this? thx

Because FCPX sees a camera card structure, and won't let you make the huge mistake of leaving in place on a camera card. One possible work around is to use FCPX to create camera archives of your cards, rather than just copying them raw onto the hard drive. You can import with leave-in-place from a camera archive.

It is odd when you're working with files on a hard drive. Fill out the feedback form, request they need to differentiate between that card structure on a hard drive, as opposed to an SD card. Then, that may not be something software does very well.

I just watched MacBreak Studio's segment on this and they claim you can't leave files in place using camera archives either. You can then copy the files to another location and then leave them in place from there. It just seems like an extra step.

parkerhqj wrote: I shoot with a Canon C100. I copy my camera files to the external drive I will edit from. I would like to leave the files in place when I import them into FCPX, but that option is greyed out and I am forced to copy the files into the library. Is there a reason I can't do this? thx

It's because the C100 internal codec is AVCHD. Even if copied to your local hard drive as a complete AVCHD package or made into a camera archive, you cannot import and select "leave files in place".

Ironically if you do the wrong thing and copy the individual .MTS files out of the package, *then* FCP X will allow importing with "leave files in place".

If it's technically possible to leave them in place if outside the AVCHD package, it is possible inside that package. If the goal is to protect the user from the wrong behavior of copying video files out of the AVCHD package, why penalize them by causing duplicate data. This only further encourages doing the wrong thing by copying out the .MTS files in order to obtain "leave files in place".

The likely answer is it's not programmatically possible to distinguish an AVCHD package on a camera card vs on copied to a local hard drive. There is simply no API for this. A camera card is in fact a mounted volume just like a USB stick or a portable hard drive. If FCP X allowed "leave files in place" on a local hard drive, it would also be allowed on the camera card which is deemed too dangerous.

I personally think they should allow import from AVCHD with "leave files in place" with a popup disclaimer, possibly as a configuration setting you must enable. Like it or not AVCHD has become widely used even on higher end cameras. The C100 Mark II allows MP4 but the C100 is only AVCHD.

Your best bet may be to just get an Atmos Ninja Star. It's just $295 and allows recording ProRes 422HQ from the C100. This improves quality, avoids transcoding on input and bypasses the AVCHD "leave files in place" problem: www.atomos.com/ninja-star/

I was just experimenting and I found that when you have made a copy of your card to an external harddrive you can do the following:

In the Library Properties in the Inspector, modify the storage location for your media and set it to the external drive.
In the Finder you navigate to the folder containing the copy of your card on your external drive.
Drag and drop this folder in the appropriate event.
You will get a warning that FCPX will ignore a bunch of files (XML's and the likes).
Just click OK and your done!
No copying at all.

Regards,
Robbert-Jan

rjvddoes wrote: ...In the Finder you navigate to the folder containing the copy of your card on your external drive. Drag and drop this folder in the appropriate event...

When I do that I get the error: "No importable files".

BTW further study shows it is possible to programmatically determine what drive type -- whether camera card or local drive. That is why FCP X will not allow import of .mp4 with "leave files in place" from a camera card, yet will allow if copied to a local hard drive. I don't know what API or algorithm, but they are doing it.

If it can distinguish camera card vs local drive for .mp4 it should likewise be possible for AVCHD and allow import with "leave files in place" on a local drive.

I don't get the "No importable files" error.
I am using SxS card copies from a Sony F5.
The filetype tested was XAVC in an mxf container.
Does also work with MPEG HD 422 files from Sony F5
Does not work with MP4 files from Sony EX-1

Another way to circumvent the whole AVCHD restriction is to use ClipWrap to rewrap .mts essence files to simple .mov extended files and while doing this very fast "undressing", just chose your external drive as your target, that's where your camera files will then be able to stay in place.
Those H.264 files are now freed from the AVCHD structure and furthermore easier to read with QT based players.
It's close to the solution of only extracting the .mts essence files, but offers two operations in one "move" and brings in the .mov extension into the workflow.

rjvddoes wrote: I don't get the "No importable files" error...

I tried AVCHD material from a Canon HF-G10 and HF-G30, got the above error on both.

However -- I *could* import from AVCHD using "leave files in place" if instead of dragging the folder from Finder to the event, I drill into the AVCHD package using CTRL-click "show package contents", and drag the .MTS files. That worked whether the library is managed or unmanaged. Note in this case there is no explicit "leave files in place" option, your only indicator is the little arrow on the cursor during the drag.

That may not be the best procedure, but it does avoid having to needlessly duplicate AVCHD files, re-wrap them with ClipWrap, or manually copy .MTS files out of the package.

"Note in this case there is no explicit "leave files in place" option, your only indicator is the little arrow on the cursor during the drag."

Actually, there is. In the Preferences, the Import settings there are what take effect when doing a drag-and-drop from a Finder window. So you do have control of that function.

Robbert-Jan,

I took your advice and changed the destination in the Library Properties. Then I simply imported the files via FCPX and they went straight to a folder I created in the external drive I've devoted to the job. Now the files are MOV files and are in place right where I want them as aliases. I can also archive the original card likes separately. Works great. thx