Followup on my post about disk images

Probably everybody knows why those Disk Images are an important part of the FCPX workflow.
There are some tutorials out there for a while how to create them using Disk Utility and/or Terminal.

I thought might be a good idea to write a GUI application for that to simplify the needed steps.

You can download the free app from www.spherico.com/filmtools/createDiskImage/index.html
Though it's pretty self-explaining app you can have look at the help file.

-Andreas

I'm sorry I must've missed your first post. Why are disk images important? I've never used one.

FCPX manages Events/Projects on local disks or SAN volumes.
For backup or final store of a finished project it's the same behavior.

Depending on the amount of events/projects you have at a time both Event Library and Project Library can be confusing cause there are to many of those. To get bit more organized sometimes people just unmount the disks not needed, so they won't show up in the Event Library -- that's an option. Working with a SAN is the same, just unmount the SAN volume.
But you may have several events on the same disk and don't want them to show up all the time you're working on a new event -- that's where Disk Images are the solution.
Create a Disk Image on any volume which shows up on your desktop with about the size which is expected for the project (give some more for security). Mount it and FCPX immediately will show this volume in the Event Library.
Now you can start editing on this volume. BUT keep in mind that the speed of this 'virtual' disk depends on the speed of connection (i.e. local: USB, FireWire, internal (e)Sata, Thunderbolt etc, network: network speed & USB, FireWire, internal (e)Sata, Thunderbolt etc, SAN/Fibre: normally very high speed.
Or imagine you have client sitting beside you and you won't let him see the stuff from an other client -- Disk Images are the solution as they behave like a disk/volume.
For final storage of a project it's perfect as well, create a disk image (with a size which will match) then use the Duplicate Project in FCPX to copy all media and the project to the Disk Image for later use.

Again the important thing of Disk Images is that they can be stored anywhere!
You even can store them somewhere on the web or send them via email (depending on size).

Hope that helps a bit

-Andreas

Yeah this is cool but I rather see something where you can "disconnected" a Event or Project within Final Cut Pro X.

My biggest favorite part about Final Cut Pro X is the media management but give me control over it.

Scrubelicious wrote: Yeah this is cool but I rather see something where you can "disconnected" a Event or Project within Final Cut Pro X.

My biggest favorite part about Final Cut Pro X is the media management but give me control over it.

FCPX can't "disconnect" -- that's why 3rd party tools are important.
To "disconnect" you have to quit FCPX, unmount the volume and re-launch FCP.

The important thing is to plan and organize your work in advance in a way FCPX likes it and bring that together with the way you like it.

Media management can be cool with FCPX or can be a nightmare -- depending on the media.
Have you ever tried working with Alexa ProRes which has all the metadata you need, but never show up? Worked with P2 files and metadata?

It's not that I don't like the approach of FCPX - many good things there - but there is still a long way to go. Let's wait for the next release.

-Andreas

That is why I wrote

Scrubelicious wrote: ...I rather see something where you can "disconnected" a Event or Project within Final Cut Pro X.)

that is the issue... I want to manage everything from the App not with some 3rd party or crazy Finder voodoo.

I want to manage everything from the App not with some 3rd party or crazy Finder voodoo.

I'm on the same wavelength, being patient and trying to find work arounds for the time being, but I'm trying to find workarounds that won't require major workflow alterations if, or more likely when, things start to change.

But I can't fault 3rd party apps that are giving people options while running an early development app.

Just my 2 cents on the subjects brought up here.

I work with P2 DVCPRO-HD daily, never had any issues with it in FCP X. But even in 7 we had third party utilities to do management jobs, too. All NLE's have third party management tools. I've never known an NLE that was 100% and never needed a third party utility of some sort or another.

As for SAN volumes, you never realistically "un-mount" a SAN volume. In FCP X you have an option to connect to a SAN Directory, and then disconnect from it. I may be over technical here, sorry, but I'm also up to my eyeballs in XSAN and FCSvr right now and for the next two weeks.

What if you do TV spots for 2 competing companies? Give each their own DMG. Only mount the one you're working on when that client is scheduled to come into your studio. Also makes it easier to copy whole batches of stuff from location to location. Also makes networking easier. DMG's are invaluable.

Now, disconnecting Projects and Events gets tricky. I have some complex projects. I use media from several Events, not all exclusive to a specific Project. I could easily take an Event offline and have an ef'ed up Project remaining. But if Apple would (and it's coming) allow us to unmount drives from within the app, with a warning about stuff on other drives that link to it, that would be awesome. And it's coming.

Fill out the feedback forms for everything you want so see fixed, changes, or added!

Thanks for the explanation Andreas.

All I've been doing is creating a folder on the same drive called 'Archived Events' and moving events that I don't want to see in there. Do the same for my projects. Is this going to cause problems? Been working fine so far.

Nothing wrong with that. Two ways of doing similar things. If that's your method, look into this:

assistedediting.intelligentassistance.com/EventManagerX/

Thanks Ben.

BenB wrote: But if Apple would (and it's coming) allow us to unmount drives from within the app, with a warning about stuff on other drives that link to it, that would be awesome. And it's coming.

That will be one of the most welcomed features in FCPX for me. Can't tell you how many times I have wished that could be done.

The little app I created is not thought to be a kind of replacement for Event Manager X - though it could be in some cases. Both together will give a good combo.
It was thought to help organize your work and add some options to the FCPX workflow which sometimes are overseen by users.
If you look at the screen shot of Event Manager X you see that the events are also located on a disk image.

So the main thing with disk images is that you can work with non local drives and/or easily move around events/projects. As Ben noted it still will get tricky if your projects use files from several events located on several volumes. In this case you can duplicate the project to the disk image where events in this case are collected either as reference or copy. Latter is save but also increase storage use. But it's a good way to backup finished projects for a later use.

I for myself have a good old G5 still working fine but it's not the machine you can work on with actual applications, but there is enough save storage to put backups there and let it work as a kind of (ftp)server. As my FCPX projects are still/mostly pretty small I can copy/mount the disk images on my laptop anywhere in the world (as long as I have an internet connection) - I still prefer to work with FCP cause my work requires some features which not available in X. Then with the image on my laptop I can make changes, send back the image to the office server and delete it on the laptop. I've done that for years with AE projects and it's very handy, so now because of the new options with FCPX I can do the same with FCPX. Todays option of a "Cloud" could make it even easier.

Understanding the way disk images work and why to use them is essential from my personal point of view. Once understood and with some creativity you can make your life easier.

Another 2 cents

Andreas