Transcoded media double size?

Hi,

Shot some footage with my GH4 1080p 25fps. I've imported the stuff in FPC X. When I look in the library the original media is around 27gb the transcoded media 61gb. This is eating up my disk space. Any ideas how to reduce this, or is this 'normal'

thanks.

Normal. Optimized media used for production is high resolution and high data rate.

Yes, normal. FCPX by default makes optimized media ProRes 422, I believe.

I'm not sure what codec the GH4 uses, but for me when working on AVCHD footage from my FS700 and A7S I never optimise the footage as my computer handles the files just fine anyway.

So if you're not seeing any performance issues editing the non-optimised footage, then you can just skip the optimisation. As far as I know, there's no quality gain using optimised media.

Brinky wrote: Hi,

Shot some footage with my GH4 1080p 25fps. I've imported the stuff in FPC X. When I look in the library the original media is around 27gb the transcoded media 61gb. This is eating up my disk space. Any ideas how to reduce this, or is this 'normal'...

It is normal, and in fact optimized media can be much larger than that -- 8x in some cases.

FCP X handles native camera files fairly well. On a higher-end iMac you can usually edit 1080p H264 native files directly without generating optimized or proxy media.

4k is different and this often requires proxy media. Fortunately FCP X handles this very well and is almost seamless. As 4k rapidly proliferates, this is a huge advantage over Premiere, which has no integrated proxy workflow. In that case they must manually transcode externally and copy files around by hand and hope everything syncs up.

With FCP X you just transcode to proxy either on import or afterward the change the viewer to use proxy. Before your final export, remember to change back to original media.

A good utility to help track FCP X library space is Library File Manager: www.arcticwhiteness.com/finalcutlibrarymanager/

It's normal, but here is how you can delete those files and regain the space. If it works without them, uncheck 'optimized' in future, if not, select clips and choose 'create optimized' from some menu…

delete generated

The following also allows for deleting render files in the same window, at the same time.

Cleaning up optimized and proxied media:
help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.2/#/verb8e5f6fd

Delete optimized or proxy files

You can delete optimized or proxy media files at any time, no matter where they are stored. Original media files are not deleted, so you can always regenerate optimized and proxy files from the original media.

Do one of the following:

To delete optimized or proxy files for one or more projects: In the Browser, select one or more projects.

To delete optimized or proxy files for one or more events: In the Libraries list, select one or more events in the same library.

To delete optimized or proxy files for a library: Select a library in the Libraries list.

Choose File > Delete Generated [item] Files.

In the window that appears, select any of the following:

Delete Optimized Media

Delete Proxy Media

Click OK.

The selected files are deleted from your storage device.

Note: The Delete Generated Library Files command is unique among media management commands in Final Cut Pro in that it affects external media as well as managed media (in the library).