Workflow to copy media locally from NAS while retaining folder structure?

Coming from Resolve, I've been using Final Cut for a half year now, and I love it.

But I'm not sure to manage my media back and forth from my NAS while retaining folder structure.

In Resolve, I would use the media management tool to copy the footage from my NAS to my local hard drive while retaining the folder structure.

Is there a way to do this in Final Cut? I know there is the consolidate function, but that sounds like just moves everything into a single directory?

How do you guys deal with this?

I've figured out a bit of a workaround. I export my project from final cut and send to resolve. Then I use the resolve "media management" tool to copy the footage from the nas while retaining folder structure.

Then I'll go back to final cut and relink to the now local files.


This all seems like a pretty wild excursion, which makes me think that I'm thinking about this all wrong.

dutch wrote:

... I'm not sure to manage my media back and forth from my NAS while retaining folder structure....In Resolve, I would use the media management tool to copy the footage from my NAS to my local hard drive while retaining the folder structure....Is there a way to do this in Final Cut?...

In general you would copy the folder tree using an external tool, then relink in FCP. Depending on your confidence level, you could do that with Finder or some checksummed copy/verify tool. 

In FCP you would make sure the media is imported using "leave files in place", otherwise it would be copied within the library during the initial import. During that copy the media tree (and even filenames) could be changed. 

Some cameras use tree-oriented media or have "sidecar" files to contain metadata. In some cases (such as MXF from Sony FX6 or MP4 from Sony A7SIII), FCP will allow import with "leave files in place" from those media trees. In other cases it will not allow this. You must be aware of that otherwise you can inadvertently copy media within the library. That is OK if intentional and provides a single large container for both edits and media. However in many cases you don't want that, esp. for continued interaction with other NLEs or tools.

With FCP it is best to avoid extracting the "bare" media files from the camera's folder tree and importing those. One solution is rewrap (not transcode) tree-oriented media using EditReady before import. That folds into the flat file all relevant metadata, plus wraps it in a Quicktime container which can be imported using "leave files in place".  hedge.video/editready

Due to the integrated FCP media database, this may place less emphasis on folder/file organization before import. In an all-FCP workflow you could theoretically import 10,000 files comprising 100 TB and do 100% of the organization, keywording, rating, etc within FCP. However most editors on large FCP projects use some type of folder/file organization, but the degree varies. If you are interacting with a large post production team or using other NLEs, you have to consider their needs and workflows.

Thank you for the reply Joe, much more in-depth than I expected and gives a lot of great context surrounding this issue.