Library files way too big

Hi! i'm working on my MBP mid 2012 i7 with a 256SSD drive and the original 750gb HDD working with the media.
My disk is getting full because of the 10 libraries of FCPX, witch in sum gathers about 120GB. That's half of my SSD storage space.
That being said, my question to my fellow colleagues working with FCPX: is there a way to get rid of those large, large, large files?! I know that they're actually important, but i'm looking for a way to get my SSD looser. My editing workflow has become slow and messy (almost impossible when i'm working with 2k timelines and MTS files), and i think it has something to do with the little amount of space in my SSD disk.
I have already deleted the Generated Library Files but nothing seems to change.

thanks in advanced, and being my first topic on the forum i'm... shamefully... kind of excited to know your thoughts.

If you have selected your library and "deleted generated library files" depending on your subsequent selections then that should eliminate any render files associated with your project as well as any proxy, and optimized clips. The biggest file hog is probably optimized media, if you chose to optimize upon importing your footage. This is only necessary if you can't smoothly (efficiently) edit the native footage, and the optimized files can be very large. If you haven't selected "Optimized Media" when you deleted generated library files, those large files are still occupying a lot of library space. They can always be re-created if you need them in the future. See if that solves your issue, and if not, post back.

That's hardly anything compared to some studio working drives. First, don't put your Libraries and media on the system drive, put them on a fast external drive. Free's up bandwidth from your system drive to the CPU. And the OS and app(s) are reading and writing hidden "working files" to that drive. Video editing eats up ever bit of drive connection bandwidth it can. So when too much is being written/read on a specific drive, things slow down.

About all you can do is, in FCPX, select a Library, go to the File menu, to Delete Generated Library Files (or something similar to that). In the resulting window, choose to delete ALL render files.

As far as deleting proxies, you can do it, they are easy enough to duplicate again. You can delete original media, which you never want to do IF you did not save duplicates of your camera cards. I never generate Optimized or Proxy files, but I delete a hell of a lot of render files often!

And move it all to a fast external drive. Or at least move the Libraries you're finished with to an external storage drive. But putting it all on an external could be nicer to do.

I second everything that had been said above.

gon.alzaibar wrote: My disk is getting full because of the 10 libraries of FCPX, witch in sum gathers about 120GB.

That doesn't impress me at all, and I am just a little wedding videographer. That's typically what I get with three 64GB cards (not filled to the limit) and one library for one day shooting. As it is my habit to backup the media as camera archives, I need 120 GB right from the start (but the archives may be on cheap, slow USB drives). I import only the stuff I previewed and find useable, that usually adds ~ 60 GB (fast drive). Native editing is fine, but I enjoy the luxury of so much fast external space that I optimize anyway for the mere chance of small performance boosts. For instance, if you apply something like TrackX, you will experience the difference immediately. Depending on the camera's codec and the resolution, I tend to need between 500 GB and 1TB to store the media I work with. For a feature that's 10 minutes long or less.

The concept of having any kind of media external was strongly encouraged by Apples policy over the last years, particularly with FCP X and thunderbolt. As a consequence, you have to buy external storage that's fast enough. After a project (I don't mean timeline by that) is finished, you can easily consolidate it externally, without optimzed media of course. I rarely need this for my kind of work, the clients approve, and that's it. I don't keep the libraries until the divorce ...

Axel wrote: … I don't keep the libraries until the divorce ...

Be careful what you promise, my last wedding movie was just 5 months ahead of divorce…

(another good reason, why I should keep away of this business…)

FCPX.guru wrote: First, don't put your Libraries and media on the system drive, put them on a fast external drive. Free's up bandwidth from your system drive to the CPU. And the OS and app(s) are reading and writing hidden "working files" to that drive. Video editing eats up ever bit of drive connection bandwidth it can. So when too much is being written/read on a specific drive, things slow down.

Thanks! You've been really helpful. Any suggestions on external drives for a faster archive reaching?

dgwvideo wrote: The biggest file hog is probably optimized media, if you chose to optimize upon importing your footage

I don't optimize media regularly, but i will keep that in mind!

Axel wrote: I need 120 GB right from the start (but the archives may be on cheap, slow USB drives). I import only the stuff I previewed and find useable, that usually adds ~ 60 GB (fast drive). Native editing is fine, but I enjoy the luxury of so much fast external space that I optimize anyway for the mere chance of small performance boosts.

Thanks!
That's great, i'll keep that in mind as well.

Axel wrote: I rarely need this for my kind of work, the clients approve, and that's it. I don't keep the libraries until the divorce ...

At least keep them in USB drives. They're reliable... not like a marriage!

gon.alzaibar wrote: ... MBP mid 2012 i7 with a 256SSD drive and the original 750gb HDD working with the media....My disk is getting full because of the 10 libraries of FCPX, witch in sum gathers about 120GB. That's half of my SSD storage space.... is there a way to get rid of those large, large, large files?!....My editing workflow has become slow and messy....working with 2k timelines and MTS files....i think it has something to do with the little amount of space in my SSD disk....I have already deleted the Generated Library Files[/b] but nothing seems to change....

As already stated, 256GB is not much space when dealing with 2k or 4k video, plus the associated cache files, proxy files, optical flow files, etc. By default those are all kept inside the library. My documentary team can shoot 256GB before 10AM, and that's H264 not ProRes or raw.

You probably need additional external storage, which could be either Thunderbolt or USB 3. Also everything should be backed up so you must also account for that. For portable use the 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Fast USB 3 drives are pretty good. They are probably the fastest bus-powered rotating drive. However they are internally RAID-0, so they should definitely be backed up: a.co/gWPLiL7

The Thunderbolt G-Tech G-RAID is available in various sizes. Since it's AC-powered it's faster than bus-powered drives. It also is RAID-0 so backups are important: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/858457-RE...l/?c3ch=CSE&c3nid=98

Deleting all generated library and proxy files from each library should clear up some space. However it may be easier to inspect and verify this with the inexpensive 3rd party tool Final Cut Library Manager: www.arcticwhiteness.com/finalcutlibrarymanager/

Slow performance can also happen from using bare .MTS files outside the AVCHD package. If you import those with "leave files in place" that can cause significant I/O performance problems. The best solution is either (a) Leave them in the AVCHD package and import from there, or (b) Re-wrap them before import using EditReady: www.divergentmedia.com/editready

If you have 10 libraries and you don't need them all, you can move some to external storage.

...not like a marriage!

Mine is extremely stable and reliable, FYI.