project won't copy to existing library, instead duplicates entire library

It took me a while but I finally have made a copy of the two fcp libraries onto another external hard drive that is formatted as Mac OS Extended. I just tried moving the project from one library to another (using drop down menu "move project to library" and dragging and dropping) and after fcpx asks me if I would like to move project with or without media, nothing else happens. The project I'm trying to copy does not appear in the library I tried moving it to and background tasks are all idle. I don't see a new library duplicated on the hard drive, so that part is good. Any idea why this is still happening? I am also pasting the permissions on the hard drive and folder here: snipboard.io/6geUZY.jpg

From the screenshot you just posted, the right Get Info window seems to be for a backup Library. Are you trying to copy the Project/timeline from the middle Get Info window (in the screenshot) to the righthand one? If so, it's not likely to work, as Tom mentioned at the top of this thread.

Is the source Project/timeline in the middle Library or in the righthand Library (the same-named one but with the date-time added, in other words a backup Library)?

You need to create a new, empty Library and move things into it...

Try this: With both libraries visible in FCP, in the source library, create a "transfer event". Then drag/drop the project to the transfer event while holding the OPT key (that's a copy, not a move). Then right-click on that event and pick "Copy Event to Library" and select the destination library. In the popup, select "Event without media".

If both libraries use internal media and if both media files are the same, it should not require relinking.

Anytime you are doing things like this, have very clear in mind where the media is, ie is it internal or external. You can check that by right-clicking a few clips and picking "reveal in Finder". That will either point to a location inside the library or outside the library. Make sure you always use Finder with the path bar enabled: View>Show Path Bar. Anytime you are checking a location, look at the path bar to verify that.

With a large library you can't do a "reveal in Finder" on every file. However you can use the third-party app Final Cut Library Manager which has a feature to create a .csv spreadsheet file of the full path of every file in the library:  www.arcticwhiteness.com/finalcutlibrarymanager/

Always know where the media currently is for a given library. During any moving of clips or projects, have in mind where you want it to end up. Then check that it got there.

FCP also does some optimizations that may not be obvious such as hard links for media on a single volume. That's too involved to describe here, but it's explained well in Ripple Training's Media Management tutorial:  www.rippletraining.com/products/final-cu...ent-in-fcp-x-10-4-9/

No, I am trying to copy a project from the right-most library into the middle library. I wanted to be clear what I am trying to do, I basically did the same as in this video:

The right-most library is what was created when I opened from the backup library. Is that why it is a backup database? It seems like it has all the media stored in library as it has 280GB. My understanding is that I should be able to move a project to my original library.

Thank you so much.

Wow, Joema. This worked! I can't believe it. I've spent countless hours on this. And, now it works. The project's missing files are relinked automatically. I still will reformat my drive, though I am worried that I will only have one copy of the library while I am reformatting. I would love to understand how this worked.

I have all my media in library at the moment but I'm feeling like I should save to a different location. It is close to a 1tb of media. Is this what you would recommend doing?

I am so grateful. I can now move on and actually finish editing. I learned a lot but that was a long slog. Thank you everyone, you really taught me a lot.