Organizing projects and timeline

BenB wrote: …We here thrive on Compounds, don't write them off as 100 percent evil. They are necessary, useful, and very good. Just don't nest too many inside each other. But we have tons of them in every project, and they work fine....

don't let me kiddin' you, Ben ... :whistle:
most of my projects rely on MultiCam=compounds, sortof, I couldn't work without them either.

But I don't get it, why people compound stuff, which is 'grouped' anyhow - magnetically.
Or, in the OPs example, fusioning several projects to one - cmd-a, cmd-c, cmd-v - and I have the Master Project in all its shiny beauty, easy to apply final over-all adhustments, easy to egalize role-names, audio levels, fonts, easy to adjust layout of titles etc etc etc - no need to open/collapse 'bin replacements'....

And yes, matrushking compounds brings even nMPs to an halt ....

clever used, compounds are useful [strike]stupids[/strike] parts of the family...
I'm just fostering my image as the grumpy-nay-to-compounds-sayer .... :silly:

FCPX is flexible, so there's not singular correct way to do anything. Most NLE's are like this. All of these options are really quick, really easy.

- Do a Select All in each Project, Copy, switch to your master output Project, paste. Very quick, very easy.
- Do a Select All in each Project, create a Compound, drop those into your "Master" Project for output.
- You could just put it all into one Project timeline to start with.
- Start each as a Compound Clip to start with, don't bother with Projects. This is how we're doing our show and it works just fine. I can edit each CC individually, and then have them all inside one main Project for output at the same time.

To version a Project timeline, select it in the Browser, right-click, and either Duplicate or Duplicate As Snapshot.
help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.2/#/verfd45ffa45

To version a Compound Clip, you create a new Parent for it.
help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.2/#/verbbd3496b

Everything in FCPX is just a container, with it's own timeline. Each container type has its own unique characteristics that help it serve a specific purpose. Clips contain your original master media. Event contain media. Libraries contain Events. Compound Clips contain multiple other Clips, edited together, and can be trimmed, or have effects applied to, as a whole. Auditions contain multiple other clips, in which you select which one to use in that space at that time.

Yes, CC's are sort of a sub-project, but they can exist as a stand alone, also. So "sub-project" isn't really technically accurate. You can't apply effects to a Project as a whole like you can with a CC. Can't nest a Project inside of another Project.

Spending time learning the FCPX media management structure would be very helpful.

BenB wrote: On this page I have a video about FCPX media management basics;
finalcutprox.guru/tutorials/page12/level1finalcutprox/

We here thrive on Compounds, don't write them off as 100 percent evil. They are necessary, useful, and very good. Just don't nest too many inside each other. But we have tons of them in every project, and they work fine.

Thank you! The videos are great and very helpful. Both the narration and the explanation is so clear. Well done!

Karsten Schlüter wrote: ...I like to explain the Event area as pre-production zone...Events are NOT the silo/pool/dump/morgue, but the sorting place, here starts editing!...

And with the current FCPX search/filtering features, you don't even have to use multiple events. You generally go through all the material anyway, rating and tagging it. There is a good argument that a very large project could be done in a single event.

Events are still a useful organizational tool, but I see cases where people are using many events without understanding why. The superficial bin-like appearance can lead a new FCPX editor to using events as their main organizational tool simply because all they had on other software was bins, and events look familiar.

OTOH now that we have cross-event, database-wide smart collections, that means using multiple events has fewer limitations than before.

Can I just say that based on what the OP has written, I think that he has not embraced the new paradigm of FCPX and his mindset is still based on Legacy FCP. Not sure I am right, but I had this issue myself and lots of others do too.
You really need to unlearn what legacy taught. I think it is also difficult and not correct to use comparisons like sequence=project, bin=event, nested=compound clip, etc… This only leads to not understanding how different everything is.
Start fresh, don't relate backwards! FCPX is very flexible, powerful and can be customized to work however you want.

I think that from the OP's original post, he assumed that you create separate "Projects" and then placed on Timeline much like Sequences. This leads to problems as he experienced. Unlearn old(just totally forget is best), learn new.
Like earlier comments said, FCPX is a Data Base with a video editor thrown on. If you embrace this, then you can start to unlock the power and speed of FCPX.
Karsten, Ben, Joema and others have all attempted to demo the use of this DB as how to make it be all it can be. Ben's link to video he did is great, thanks Ben.

In my earlier post, I attempted to simply his issue by saying 1 Timeline = Project in a single Library bundle. Over simplied, yes but I thought it went to fixing the initial problem.
I sometimes have more than 1 project within a Library. Main movie and trailer is just one example. If I was doing training tutorials, I might have multiple "Projects" and I might even create an "Event" to hold just the projects for easy finding. Each of them would draw on the same media inside the Library, but be totally different in final output.
That's the beauty of FCPX's flexibility. Not to mention that each of these "Projects" are not copying/duplicating the original media. Only a database file is created. Fast and efficient.

OP says "…A single project with many events does make sense to me. But what stumps me is that a project instead of being nested under a library, is nested under an event, and event is not nested under a project." One way to look at this is that an Event is just a Folder for organizational purposes. It is in fact "nested" or placed within the Library. Everything is revealed under the Library. Events can contain lots of different resources. Think more as "Associated with" than as "nested".

"… I have many old videos taken with 8mm and VHS camcorders. They are priceless memories, but the imports have these large clips with a bunch of different topics. Unless there is some way to break these clips up, key words, favorites become harder as there are parts of each clip which are junk."
Read Karsten's comments, that's what all of the organizational tools are for. Junk = Rejected. Organize the rest in all the ways you can think of. One click in a smart collection/event/keyword, etc… nirvana happens.

Joema
Whole library search/collections and color correction changes were major reasons I updated mid project, although I did it on a separate bootable external drive, just in case. I still use multiple Events for organizational purposes. "To each their own said the little old lady as she kissed the cow".

"Embrace The Force Young Cortlander"

Happy Editing,
Greg

Thank you Greg, for once again taking the time to help.

Actually, I have never done any editing before. I bought FCPX a while ago on an impulse, but never really used it. Whatever time I had left from my day job of running a cyber security software company was spent taking still photographs and making large format prints. Video editing is new for me, and an opportunity to finally organize the collection of videos collected over the years.

You are quite correct that I started by envisioning putting projects on Timeline as sequences. Generous folks in this thread have been very helpful in educating me. The easiest concept to understand was key wording, smart collections and non destructive editing as I have used these for years in Lightroom and Capture One. The other concepts were new, but now that I have been enlightened, I shall go forth and "Embrace the Force" .

I did keyword, favorite, reject, hide various clips and things seem to be falling in place.

Thanks to all the good folks for your help.

I created an account just to login and reply to this post to say THANK YOU! I have been editing with Final Cut for 10 years and FCPX ever since it came out. I have produced hundreds of videos but never really used keywords in the way that was described in this thread.

I developed a workflow that felt like I wasn't using FCPX the right way. Once it was described as a database with an editor attached it clicked for me. I am working on a project with a ton in interviews. I have compound clips for each interview with video/audio synced. I created smart collections for this so they are easy to find. Then I set ranges for best sentences as they pertain to different parts of the video. Like magic I can see the this list of clips emerge. No more timeline based editing. So fast.

thanks
Brick