restore point

Is there a way to save everything that's on my timeline as a backup point (in case I screw up later) and then I can return to this point and continue from there ?   something like time machine

Duplicate project as Snapshot is designed to do what you want I think.

I will try this , thank you !!

Duplicate as snapshot works well enough but sometimes I end up working on the wrong timeline version as, if you do it bunches, it populates with numerous choices and unintentionally working the wrong one, as does using a FCP auto saved version.

I'll get to a point and export an XML tagged with date-time exported. Multiple undo, undo, undos doesn't always work for me. FCP autosave is acceptable but there are times I wish I could save manually and then revert to last save like Resolve & most other apps offer. (Certainly don't like FCP treating me like I'm too feeble to remember or know when to save on my own accord.)

How do you export this XML file ?

Thanks !!

Another option is to select the Project in the Browser and use the Edit/Duplicate function to duplicate the project.
If you name your project like this “Project Name V 0” the “0” will increment to the next higher number every time you make a duplicate. The space between the “V” (version) and the number is required.

Awesome , thanks

Larrie, I believe the duplicate method means that the compound and multicam clips in the duplicated project still point to their original parents so any changes to this later version's compounds or mullticams will also affect prior versions. Maybe the OP is not using compounds or multicams so this would not be a concern.

support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/du...45/10.6.2/mac/11.5.1

That's why it's so important to use Duplicate as Snapshot for this.

"When you duplicate a project as a snapshot, Final Cut Pro embeds copies of compound or multicam “parent” clips in the duplicate, so any changes to other instances of those clips do not affect the duplicate."

When you use XML be aware that some settings like Drop Zone are missing, RGB color values probably will have "rounding errors"

Thank you Andreas for noticing this.