Help in recovering old project in FCP X

Background info. I completed a project using FCP X on a iMac. That iMac suffered a hard drive failure and I was forced to backup what I could. I backed up the Movies directory which contains two folders for FCP X: Final Cut Backups and Final Cut Pro Projects.

Today: I am running on a wholly different computer with the external hard drive which has the Movies directory I backed up from the broken iMac. I have no idea how I am supposed to get those files into this version of FCP X on this Mac. All I see are .EDT files and FCP won't let me just import those.

Can anyone please give me a tutorial on what I need to do to get this computer up and running with a project that was done on another computer?

Thanks!

Hi Perfecthundred
Welcome to the forums.
Some more info would help us help you.
Like what version of FCPX and what OS were you using on old system and what are you using now? Do you still have access to the old hdd and can you still recover files?

You do not mention if you have Back-Up files from Time Machine, another back up program or a "Clone" of your hdd??? If you do, then this is the simplest way to recover the missing files. If you do not have a viable back up plan, now you know why this is Soooo Important!! It is not a question of "IF" a drive will fail, it is only a question of "WHEN" a drive will fail. I recommend at least 2 (really more) separate back ups and clones. Place on separate drives, even having an offsite version is good practice.

What you are missing seems to be the actual media, the original clips. Depending on how you set up FCPX these could be in the "Managed" FCPX bundle or stored on different external drive. The FCPX bundle is the most important file to recover, it is most likely in your "Movies" folder in your User Home folder. The bundle is the file with a 4 segment purple icon that is slightly tilted and should be titled by your Event name.
By default this contains the files you need. The Final Cut Backups files are also important.
Can you, or did you recover the Bundle file?
Place the FCPX Back up files and the Bundle files into your new "Movies" folder and then double click the latest version of the Back Up file.
If you store your "Media" externally, recommended, then you need to attach that drive as well.

If you cannot recover the FCPX Bundle and it contains your media, you will have to re-import your original media. This is often difficult if you are not creating "Camera Archives" or making Back-ups of the drives you store your media on. Most people erase the cards from the camera after importing.

Give us all the info you can, and good luck.
Hope this helps, Greg

Sorry for the delay. Here's some more information.

My OSX is 10.6.8 and my FCP version is X (not sure of the exact version, maybe 10.2) The OS on the other machine is El Capitan (not sure what OSX version that is). I have access to the old files, including the .EDT files including the actual media files. What I have done is recreate the exact setup from the old machine on this new machine. I have included the same folders and files by creating the Final Cut Backup folder and placing the four EDT files in their and even duplicating the Final Cut Projects Folder. In essence what was on the old machine I have on this new machine all files in the same places and in the same folders. I double clicked the EDT file and I got an error message. "The document “20151015_1435_EDT” could not be opened. Final Cut Pro cannot open files in the “package” format." Not sure where to go from here.

Thanks for the help

Hi David
Ok I am still confused about versions, etc… and it is important in order to help you.
You say your OS is 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) but then say FCPX is version 10.2; no it is not, 10.2 requires OS 10.10(Yosemite) or 10.11(El Capitan).
So on your current functioning system is this on a new computer(?) with El Capitan and FCPX 10.2?
The iMac that failed, was it running Snow Leopard 10.6??? Is this where you got the old files from??
Or are we talking about another computer all together???
Please clarify.
The requirements, file and library structure for FCPX changed a lot over the years and in general you can not open a FCPX project from a later version in earlier versions of FCPX. In other words if you are trying to open a FCPX10.2 project on a Mac running Snow Leopard it will not open. But I don't think this is what is happening, but I still don't know what Mac, OS and FCPX versions you are currently using and what was the old computer using.

You say you have the original media files, but it sounds like you only have the Back-up files for the library, not the actual media files. FCPX automatically makes files that record changes you are making as you edit and places them in the Movies>Final Cut Back-Ups>Project Name>(incremental files goes here).
These files do not include the actual media, only change files. Click on one and it will most likely be only a couple of MBs at most, not GBs like you would see it actual media. These files will also have Date Modified time stamps that are about 15 minutes apart, assuming you were actually editing the timeline.
You are going to need the actual media files. Where they are located depends on the version of FCPX you were using on the iMac that died. Without them, there is no way to open a project.
In the latest versions of FCPX, by default(if you didn't move them elsewhere), should be located in the FCPX Bundle, but will be hidden inside. Again a bundle is designated by a purple icon with the Event name. To see if your original media is there you need to right (control) click on the Bundle and then select "Show Package Contents". Once opened you should see more folders, go to the event you want, select it and the next set should be viewable and one folder should be titled "Original Media". Inside this folder you should see .mov, .mp4, jpg, etc… files. Hopefully these are the actual files, but they could be "Aliases". They could also be missing entirely.
Moving files around in the Finder, creating folders, etc… may not in fact work. It also may really mess up your system. Where and how files are created and placed varies between versions. FCPX library structure has changed over time. If you are trying to open an older project in a newer version of FCPX, then FCPX needs to convert the files to the newer structure/formats. If you are trying to open a project created in a new version (10.2) this will not open in any earlier versions of FCPX.
Also in moving files between computers, hdd and folders not created within FCPX does not link the files to the event/project.
A screen shot of your Movies folder fully opened might give some clues.
If anything, this post should demo how involved it can be to find the files on someone else's system. Giving all the info in as precise manner as possible can really help, otherwise I'm just guessing.
Hope this helps, Greg