Library management and best practise.

Hi, this may seem like a noob question but I'm a little unsure of the best way to create libraries so they don't become insanely unmanageable in terms of file size.

On a recent project I had all my supplied footage on a 5TB external drive and when importing into FCP I choose the option to leave original footage in place. I also selected the options for both proxy and optimised footage. 

This has resulted in a FCP library file of 700Gb when the footage I've actually used from the drive is probably 200Gb at most. I *think* the size is down to me choosing the optimised footage option as that is creating Apple Pro Res from clips that were .mts. Clips that where the original were a few hundred Mb are now a few Gb.

But, now that I find myself in this situation, and the project is now finished, is there a way of me reducing the size of the library for archival purposes on an external drive, but will not result in 'missing footage' should I ever need to copy the Library back onto my working internal drive?

Also, for best practise in future, if I don't want to create Libraries that are excessively large, should I 'leave original in place' and NOT select 'create optimised footage' but just keep 'create proxy footage'?

And, IF I did choose those options, what might I notice in terms of slowdown/quality in production, if any?

maybe this should help you understand what to do.

support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/final-cut-pro/ver9c7660349/mac

should be pretty straight forward

A few tips that I have found.

Turn off background render in the playback preferences. This keeps Final Cut from filling your library with unnecessary render files. I work with some pretty complex many layered projects and I have been amazed at how well Final Cut's plays things back completely un-rendered. Unless you have a very underpowered machine or slow drive you shouldn't need the cached renders and I found they sometimes cause problems in complex projects. (I am currently editing on a 2017 iMac pro with my projects on external SSDs formatted as APFS)

Don't select "create optimized footage" on import. You can do that later on a case by case basis in your edit if you notice something isn't playing back smoothly. (Right click on the offending clip in the timeline, choose "Reveal in Browser" then Right click the shot in the browser and choose "Transcode Media"

As a former Premiere editor, I originally chose to leave original items in place, but I have been slowly coming round to either letting Final Cut copy them into the library, or an external footage folder next to the library. Final Cut is not very good at re-linking if things move or you have to share the library.

You can also delete Library render files prior to archive, including the Optimized, Proxy, and Render files. It'll keep the originals, and you can always re-generate the others later if needed.

I almost always Leave Files in Place on an 10GbE NAS and on a producer's portable spinning disk, and opposite from MWood's experience, have not had issues relinking footage.

dmetz's advice to delete the generated library files is spot on to trim your library (dramatically in your case) before archiving.

Thanks very much for all the suggestions.To get rid of the Render files, would I just right click into the library file, navigate to the Render Files folder and delete them? or is there a way through a menu command?

The FCP Library bundle is actually a database, which shouldn't be modified through the Finder.

What you'll do (in Final Cut):
 - Select the library itself in the browser
 - Go to File / Delete Generated Library Files...

support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/ma...iles-ver68a8c250/mac

P_H_L_L_L wrote:

Thanks very much for all the suggestions.To get rid of the Render files, would I just right click into the library file, navigate to the Render Files folder and delete them? or is there a way through a menu command?

That has always worked for me, but I recommend Final Cut Pro Library Manager . Allows you to take a hammer approach to reclaiming space, while retaining control over what is actually being removed. (For example, removing all render files from all but one of your libraries. In a couple of clicks.)

I have no connection to the app, other than being a satisfied user.