Best Way To Store Files

I have some very important video files that I am not going to be editing for about 3-4 years. At the moment they are imported into a library in FCPX. I recently opened the library and it told me I had to update it for use within FCPX. I did that and the files came back fine. But it got me thinking:

What is the best way to store these files? I am concerned that FCPX will update and make them redundant? I really can't afford to lose these video files.

Is there a best way / place to store old video files so they are useable in the future without issue?

Thank you,
Phil

What is the file format/codec of your video files? If they are unedited files you just imported, you can export them individually to a ProRes master file. This increases the likelihood that the MacOS and FCPX can recognize them in future updates, but in 4 years from now there is no guarantee that any current file format will still be valid. As for storing them, I would suggest making a few copies of each and placing them on separate high quality hard drives, and maybe in the cloud also.

dgwvideo wrote: What is the file format/codec of your video files? If they are unedited files you just imported, you can export them individually to a ProRes master file. This increases the likelihood that the MacOS and FCPX can recognize them in future updates, but in 4 years from now there is no guarantee that any current file format will still be valid. As for storing them, I would suggest making a few copies of each and placing them on separate high quality hard drives, and maybe in the cloud also.

they are mainly .mov and .mp4 files

I guess my question is, do you think I need to save the mov and mp4 files outside FCPX or is it OK to just save the library with all the files inside it, and then back that up.

Thank you

MOV and MP4 are containers and say nothing about the codec inside of them. That said, I still think it would be better to create a master file of each clip and store those outside of FCPX. If you just save the files within the FCPX library, that library in the future will need to be updated in later versions of FCPX and if it contains outdated or unsupported codecs then issues could arise. Having a master file in ProRes of each clip is your best bet for compatibility 4 years from now, and even that is not guaranteed. Saving the library is useful if you are trying to preserve edits and project data, but you indicated you were just importing the clips for future editing, so I wouldn't bother importing the clips, just convert the files to ProRes and back them up in a couple locations.

dgwvideo wrote: MOV and MP4 are containers and say nothing about the codec inside of them. That said, I still think it would be better to create a master file of each clip and store those outside of FCPX..

What would be the best way to do this:

At the moment, the files are inside an FCPX library so presumably I "show package contents." and take all the original media into a folder. How does one then create a master file of each clip?

Thank you,
Phil

phil@circuitfactory.ae wrote: ...the files are inside an FCPX library so presumably I "show package contents." and take all the original media into a folder. How does one then create a master file of each clip...

FCPX now supports batch exporting from the Event Browser. Just select all the clips you want, then File>Share x clips>Master File, where x is the number you selected. Pick ProRes 422 or higher for the output format. Each file will be encoded separately and placed in the output folder.

If you don't want the entire clips exported, you can also pick a selection of ranges, not just clips. You can even pick multiple ranges within a clip. For details see "Manage multiple range selections in event clips": support.apple.com/kb/PH12533?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US

This does not work with multicam clips.