FCP X: Move Events or Projects

FCP X: Move Events or Projects

A question that I get frequently is how to move Events and Projects used by Final Cut Pro X.

There are three options:

1. Move them from inside FCP X.
2. Move them using the Finder.
3. Move them using a utility.

USING FINAL CUT PRO X

Press and hold the Command key. Then, in the Event Browser, drag the name of the Event you want to move and drop it on top of the name of the hard disk in the Event Library where you want to move it. (To display the Event Browser, type Shift+Cmd+1)

In the dialog that appears, confirm the destination hard disk from the pop-up menu. (The current hard disk will not be listed in this pop-up menu.) Final Cut will move and relink all Event media from the old location to the new. Plus, you can continue editing while this move is taking place. FCP will shift from the old location to the new when the move is complete.

The process is similar when moving projects.

Open the Project Library (Cmd+0). Press and hold the Command key while dragging the project from its current location to the name of the hard disk where you want the project moved.

In this dialog, you can select the destination hard disk and whether you want to move just the project files, or both the project and media files.

USING THE FINDER

While Command-dragging makes the process of moving both Events and Project simple inside FCP X, I never use it. Instead, I use the Finder because I find it faster and easier.

Here’s the KEY rule: You MUST quit FCP X before moving anything! Otherwise, everything gets confused.

Once Final Cut is quit, open the hard drive that contains your Event or Project files.

Events are stored in a folder called: Final Cut Events. Projects are stored in a folder called: Final Cut Projects. (Both these folders are highlighted in green in this screen shot.)

Twirl open the Final Cut Events folder and you’ll see a folder for each Event.

To move an Event, simply drag the ENTIRE event folder (for example: “JPutch”) from its current Final Cut Events folder into another Final Cut Events folder on a different drive.

It is critical that you drag the entire Event folder – i.e. JPutch – and not just some of the contents of the folder.

NOTE: In order for FCP X to “see” an Event, it must be stored in a Final Cut Events folder on a hard disk that is currently displayed on your desktop. Events must be moved from one Final Cut Events folder to another Final Cut Events folder. You can only have one Final Cut Events folder per hard disk.

Moving Projects is similar. Open the Final Cut Projects folder. Inside, you’ll see a folder for each FCP X project.

If you are using folders inside FCP X to organize multiple projects, you’ll see those folders inside the Final Cut Projects folder. Projects will be folders stored inside that organizing folder. For instance, in this screen shot, I created a folder in Final Cut called: “FCP X Project Folder,” then, inside it, I stored three separate projects: Audio Levels, Blend Modes, and Cropping.

Find the project you want to move and drag it from one Final Cut Project folder to another. Again, you can only have one Final Cut Project folder per hard disk. However, there is no limit to the number of projects that can be stored inside the Final Cut Projects folder.

USING A UTILITY

While not specifically designed to move media from one drive to another, I am a huge fan of a media management utility made by Intelligent Assistance called “Event Manager X.” This simple utility makes it easy to load, or hide, events and projects for Final Cut Pro X.

While this utility does not move Events or Projects between hard disks, it does allow you to determine what media and projects are loaded into Final Cut Pro X.

I use this utility almost daily. You can learn more about it on their website.

SUMMARY

Whether you use FCP X, or do it yourself in the Finder, moving Events and Projects is easy. Just remember, if you are going to move things yourself, you MUST quit Final Cut first.

Visit our website to see Final Cut Pro Training & more!

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