A question that I get frequently is how to move Events and Projects used by Final Cut Pro X.
There are three options:
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.
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30 Responses to FCP X: Move Events or Projects
Newer Comments →-
Mark Spencer says:
July 15, 2013 at 6:00 am
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Larry says:
July 16, 2013 at 2:53 pm
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Majid says:
July 22, 2013 at 10:16 pm
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Marlene says:
August 19, 2013 at 12:05 pm
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Mark Sax says:
September 25, 2013 at 6:44 pm
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John French says:
November 17, 2013 at 1:16 am
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Larry Jordan says:
November 17, 2013 at 8:40 am
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John French says:
November 18, 2013 at 1:26 am
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Egon_Freeman says:
November 20, 2013 at 2:27 am
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Egon_Freeman says:
November 20, 2013 at 2:32 am
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Larry Jordan says:
November 20, 2013 at 10:00 am
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Egon_Freeman says:
November 25, 2013 at 6:10 am
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MDGiamo says:
November 27, 2013 at 9:15 am
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Larry Jordan says:
November 27, 2013 at 10:06 pm
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MDGiamo says:
November 27, 2013 at 9:49 am
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Izabela says:
April 3, 2014 at 4:14 am
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Larry Jordan says:
April 3, 2014 at 8:37 am
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Rik says:
May 2, 2014 at 1:30 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
May 2, 2014 at 1:37 pm
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delfina says:
May 16, 2014 at 3:20 pm
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Mark Spencer says:
May 16, 2014 at 3:27 pm
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delfina says:
May 16, 2014 at 3:46 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
May 16, 2014 at 5:10 pm
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delfina says:
May 16, 2014 at 5:29 pm
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Larry Jordan says:
May 16, 2014 at 6:06 pm
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delfina says:
May 16, 2014 at 8:29 pm
Newer Comments →Larry,
Good article, but there is an important factor that you don’t mention: if you move an Event that contains reference files (pointer files) to media rather than the media itself, than moving the event only moves these pointers, not the media.
So for example, if you moved an event to an external hard drive to edit using another computer, you’ll find that your media is not available when you go to open the project that uses that event. In cases like this, it is necessary use the “Organize Event Files” on the moved event to replace the reference files with the actual media.
Also, when working within FCP X, in some cases it can be difficult to drag an event or project onto another drive. Rather than dragging, there are menu commands for moving and copying events and projects.
Mark
Mark:
Excellent points.
Larry
Excellent
So, after the Projects are moved, I see the moved ones still show up in the Project window even though some have been deleted from the original hard drive they were stored on. Does FCPX find them automatically on the External backup drive?
Larry,
I used Plural Eyes 3 to synch some audio and video clips and then imported them into final cut. But they went into my project library and not the event library.
I want them into the event library, where I keep all of my raw data–before editing the clips and final project in the project library.
I figured out a way to move the synched clips into the event library (or thought I did) but only one channel of the audio moved with them.
Wondering/hoping if you can help!
Thanks!
Hi Larry,
I have been using Event Manager X as per your advice for a while now and love it. But I am struggling to find a sensible backup method. I have just bought a 6TB raid 0 striped thunderbolt disc to keep all my working video on, and now have two 3TB single discs to backup onto. But here’s the dilemma. If I set the backup app to delete on the backup what is deleted on the source disc, it somewhat negates the idea of a backup. But if I don’t, then because EMX swaps event and project folders around between folders, I am left with dual copies of the same projects and events on the destination disc.
Can you share some backup strategies with us using EMX?
Regards
John:
Event Manager X is a media management tool, not a backup utility. It it is designed to only have a n Event or Project appear in one place – either active within FCP X or inactive.
Two better backup strategies are to look at: File > duplicate project inside FCPX, or to manually copy the Final Cut Events and Final Cut Projects folders from your active hard disk to your backup hard disk.
Larry
Hi Larry,
I didn’t word my post very well. I realise Event Manager X isn’t a backup tool, I should have said backup strategies to use in conjunction with Event Manager X.
Anyway, I think I may have answered my own question, as since my original post I have been looking around and found BackUps for Final Cut Pro (badly named – it is specifically for FCPX) by NP Associates on the Apple store. It is a very well thought out programme in terms of backup strategy and is just what I was looking for as it works perfectly with Event Manager X.
I made an initial backup of several projects and events, in both visible and hidden folders, of about 1TB (without the original media, which I back up separately) in about 3 minutes, and backups after that are incremental. The backup size was 16GB! The developer calls it Time Machine for FCPX, which it pretty much is, but without the fancy dynamic graphics. I think it is quite new and the documentation does not really do it justice but the developer is extremely helpful and I think it is well worth a look. I am in no way connected with the company by the way, but being old school I am always pleased to find worthy independent apps like this, untainted by exaggerated marketing claims, at a sensible price.
John
Larry,
since we’re on the topic of moving events and the like, can You share some tips regarding missing events? I have quite a few short projects (well over a hundred) that I’m required to keep around, but having them all loaded is well beyond a serious pain in the proverbial behind.
The problem comes up when I have to load up a project from, say, 6-12 months ago. I’m not quite sure what events were in use at the time, and the fact that FCPX itself can be rather lax about this (like, say, importing new stuff into the currently selected event instead of the ‘default event’ set for the project, when dragging&dropping) doesn’t help.
I’m having a lot of trouble with event references. In too many cases, these just don’t show up. The project just says “Missing event”, but the “Referenced events” field is empty. When I click on “Modify event references”, I get “The media for the selected item cannot be found”. How should I interpret this? If it’s talking about the events – I already know that, so not helpful. But why are my event references missing altogether?
Sometimes the list is completely empty. Sometimes a few items will show up. I haven’t found a rule for this yet. In the end, I just sort of drag everything that could be POSSIBLY connected to the project in question back into FCPX, and pray that I won’t have to rebuild too much. Of course, this method is extremely inefficient. I suppose I could also keep track of these myself in a file somewhere, but… isn’t this what the “Referenced events” field is for?
What am I doing wrong? (running SL 10.6.8)
A bit of a PS., if I may…
This problem can be extremely annoying if I, at some point or another, have to apply a global effect to the clip, and end up closing the WHOLE thing in a compound clip. Why? Because when that happens, and I lose the event where THAT clip went… I can have all the events in the world, but if I’m missing that particular one, I’ll get nowhere.
I could possibly rebuild the project from what I have in the existing events, probably… Don’t want to have to, if there is a better way.
Egon:
I have two folders: Final Cut Events and Final Cut Events (Hidden). Any Events I don’t want to see in FCP X at that moment are in the Hidden folder.
Also, while it saves disk space to link media to an event, it is EASY for those links to break. Whereever possible, always copy media into an event. That way, links don’t break.
larry
Larry:
unless we’re talking about “media” that is already in a “project”, then I don’t have a problem with media disappearing from my Events. I have a problem with Events not being listed in my Project dependencies. The links You speak of link files to Events, not Events to Projects (unless I’m mistaken, of course…). My problem is in the links between a Project and its associated Events. The best example is such: when I load a project up and look at its Referenced Events, the list is empty (not one Event seems to be referenced), and yet – the project shows the familiar “Event missing” graphic. Without this Referenced Events list, I cannot even begin to guess at which Events I need to load up… And while re-linking will do wonders for media files, there is no way to relink Compound Clips, as they don’t exist as rendered files anywhere outside the Event’s database file.
On a side note, I have a similar setup – Final Cut Events and Final Cut Events Disabled (and same for Projects). And I’ve already learned the hard way to not move the Events between hard disks… Also, copying media to Events is, at present, counter-productive for us, as we use multiple workflows and multiple tools – not just FCPX – that consume our media. But as I’ve stated above, this step doesn’t seem to be the problem. Unless, again, I’m mistaken.
Dear Folks:
I REALLY appreciate YOUR advice, tips and so forth from entries, above. I’ve learned some important things over time from some of you.
***
=> I need some serious advice – I’m sure you all get that idea – and why. I certainly am frustrated – and very concerned.
1. Can anyone please tell my why FCPro X creates – and either dupes or moves (?) – already existing EVENTS folders and PROJECT folders into NEW sub-folders called “HIDDEN?”
– If anyone can tell me HOW to PREVENT that from happening -if it can be prevented – I’ll be very grateful.
2. I am ALSO noticing / experiencing, of late, a worse scenario:
– My media , folders and files – now duped in total to 3 new portable HDs; *which can been seen and run/edited OUTSIDE of FCPro X* – CANNOT be fully re-imported; or re-linked – or anything => AT ALL.
– THOSE COUNTLESS, annoying RED alert frames / messages stating,”media not found” or “cannot re-link files” or “cannot open files” or “cannot open project” – or “open projects from within Final Cut” – which then immediately QUITS – makes me wonder what Apple Inc., is thinking and doing about all of these BIG issues.
– I’d be really happy if they’d return SAVE, SAVE AS and REVERT to SAVED in FCPro x. I’ve written letters about that; I’ve told Apple about these issues during phone calls. I’ve found [reproducible] bugs and reported each. So far … after 2 years … no go on most of it.
3. I know of no way to re-connect events vs projects vs media, etc., copied over to external HDs, that never do re-link, no matter what “the instructions” claim: at least not so far. Not when backing-up to an external HD; then to another; and hooking them up to [any one of several new Macs I just purchased] and getting said files to open and RUN properly – without endless frustrations; messages warning missing media; or of un-linkable media / or files “not found” – to be found and reused without starting a project all over from the start. Because they ARE there, on all of these drives!!
– I pointed out to Apple, Inc. last summer that the DUPLICATION process in FCPro X is now unstable: it either works – sometimes – or fails to; or if /when it works – it is soooo very SLOW. A one-by-one process that is Apple’s “gold standard method” of backing-up FCPro X files. I always end up with at least one or two missing events – even when the whole thing just “doesn’t fail or quit.”
– All of this does not seem possible – though I know, based on what I’ve read above – it’s not just me; Apple Store Certified Final Cut Specialists told me when I showed them what was going on – we not surprised – and one person let it slip that, ‘there are a lot of confused and angry FCPro X” users coming in who don’t know what to do ext. – unless I’m missing something so simple – I must be totally dumb as can be, therefore. I don’t think that is quite it, tho.
I AM STUCK.
What might you recommend??
4. I hope for advice on finding ONE SIMPLE WAY to use each MAC:
– EACH with ONE it’s own external working /slave drive containing THE SAME PROJECTS and MEDIA files /event files – Used only as work drives /emergency back-up drives if a MAc or a drive suddenly fails;
– Yet STILL keeping the events, projects, etc. on them somehow INTACT: permitting any of them to be re-usable on another Mac; and /or RE-EDITABLE /re-LINKABLE / both FAST and EASILY.
Thank you in advance.
MDGiamo
MDGiamo:
Hmm… Lots of questions, I’ll see if I can help.
1. FCP X does not create the HIDDEN folder you mention. Those are created by a separate application called Event Manager X. FCP X ONLY stores media in Final Cut Events and projects in Final Cut Projects.
The rule FCP X follows is that it stores media and projects on the hard disk that you have selected at the time you created the new event or new project.
2. If you are getting media or projects copied between hard disks, it means that when you create the event or project, you had selected that hard disk at the time of creation. To keep all media or projects on a single hard drive, you need to be very careful to select the right drive before creating the event or project.
3. I suspect that the errors you are getting are caused by not giving FCP time to process the files – either for importing or optimizing – before quitting the application. Since importing and transcoding run in the background, it is VERY easy to think FCP is done, when in fact it is still working. To see the status of all background tasks, open the background tasks window – click the small clock icon immediately to the left of the timecode display in the Toolbar.
4. Again, without a clearer description of the problem, I suspect that you are not allowing sufficient time for FCP X to copy media between folders before quitting the application, which causes media to become unlinked because the copy operation was not complete. Again, check the background task window to be sure it is safe to quit the app.
5. No, I don’t think you are dumb. But you may be impatient. The problems you describe, at first blush, sound like background operations that we canceled before they were complete by quitting the application. There could be other causes, but that is the one that comes first to mind.
6. You should be able to take a hard disk containing an event, or multiple events, plus a project and easily move it from one system to another. I do this all the time. As long as all the media and all the project data is stored on the one hard disk, and not scattered among many hard disks, this works fine. In all the versions of FCP X that I’ve run — which is all of them – I’ve not seen this fail.
However, I HAVE had problems when project and event media is spread across multiple hard drives. In those situations, you need to consolidate the event to one drive for your system to work.
Hope this helps,
Larry
An addendum: OSX / FINDER is also a no-longer-reliable method of copying entire – or not entire- FCPX projects, etc. Apple denied it to me on the phone; they are wrong; and I would know – having worked with their stuff for 30+ years – mostly in the media /interactive media and video /streaming video /Web production and design areas.
I ALSO demonstrated to Apple, Inc. the failure of FINDER to do this (something it always did – until FCPX v10.0.9 came out) – then that option disintegrated. Apple’s only advice was: use DUPLICATE PROJECT. Sure; except that is flawed terribly, too!
As for Mavericks – I have NO idea – yet -what we’re in for – as I’ve had no time to try out my FCPX -built films, etc. on my only Mavericks iMac – because Mavericks itself is a mess; and so are some of the updates /total top-down re-issues (think GARAGEBAND X- now known as vX.1, which fixed serious install problems, among other big problems).
A new (new…? Really? All NEW?…LOL) version of FCPX is supposed to be released next month. I don’t know what it will FIX; what it will RUIN; what it MAY NOT “DO” EVER AGAIN; and how it might (read: will) change our [already-changed video /media production lives] ; nor do I know if Apple is going to “give it for free” to owners of the current version(s) out there of FCPX- but which have bugs and flaws, in case you folks don’t know about some of them yet!
I have a problem, I couldnt create my project , so i started deleting some files photos music etc. and i got scared I might have deleted some final cut pro stuff so i opened my trash and I typed : final , and there were some projects and events so i move them to desktop but than I realized I werent moving them from trash , but from : on this mac , and when I opened final cut pro everything was empty, no projects, no events , so on the internet I found out that I have to move it again to final cut projects and final cut events to open it but it didnt work I just have information :The document “20140403-021944-GMT+02/00.fcpevent” could not be opened.Open documents from within Final Cut Pro. you mentioned : You MUST quit FCP X before moving anything! Otherwise, everything gets confused. What If I didint and what If I was drgging it onto the desktop on by one not all of them together. Did I lose my projects forever , Ive been working on my project for a couple of months , I tried to create it but i couldnt cause OTHER in my storage is taking all the place , and I couldnt share it on youtube because my mac would froze and everything would stop working, Please help me
Izabela:
Sigh… Moving files without understanding what and where you are moving them is almost always going to cause problems, because FCP uses a database to track files, not simply whether the files are in a particular folder or not.
I suspect your project is permanently damaged. However, as a last resort, call Apple Support and see if they can help you.
Larry
I might be confused, but the instructions on top (i.e. Cmd+0) don’t seem to work in my Final Cut Pro X. Has it been changed?
Rik:
You are not confused. Apple changed the behavior of both Events and Projects with the 10.1 update to Final Cut Pro X. (The update was released six months after this article was written.)
This article applies to the earlier 10.0.x version of FCP X.
Larry
Hi Larry, thanks for your post.
I have a question about the function “Duplicate Project”.
Do you know why there is a limited amount of times you can use that function? After two or three times pressing the Duplicate Project option it turns gray and I cannot use it again. As you may know, when you are editing a feature film you create several versions of one project after each correction, so this option is crucial.
Copying and pasting the media in a new project is not an option because, for some reason, all the media that it isn’t in the Primary Storyline moves when you paste it. (Thats a big and annoying issue too). Furthermore, there´s the risk of your project changing settings, such as framerate (if the first piece of media you have is in a different one than the project you set), generating serious problems with your exports.
So, if you have answers about this, please enlighten me, cause it´s driving me mad.
Thanks a lot!
Delfina,
First are you at all affiliated with the Delfina restaurant in San Francisco? I ask because I have very close connection myself!
Second, there is no limit, in my experience, to duplicating projects (or creating project snapshots, which I actually prefer). Make sure you first click on the project to duplicate; sometime the option is greyed out until you click on the project. If you are, you may have some corruption, I’d suggest you trash your prefs.
Mark
Larry,
Unfortunately I have no connection with the Delfina restaurant in San Francisco. I´m from Argentina and here Delfina is a common name for girls. 🙂
It seems like I might be having a bug in my FCPX because I can´t use “Duplicate Project” at some point. I don´t use the snapshots because I don´t like what it does to, for example, the sound when you mute a particular portion of a clip. It makes some kind of compound clip or something (?), but when you want to modify that particular thing in the snapshot mode you can´t go back.
How do I trash my prefs?
Thanks,
Delfina
Delfina:
I agree with Mark. There’s no limit to the number of duplicate projects you can create. I also agree that I like Project Snapshot better the Duplicate Project.
As to how to trash preferences, read this:
http://www.larryjordan.biz/improving-fcp-x-performance/
If trashing preferences doesn’t help, its time to call Apple Support.
Larry
Thank you both. I´ve just deleted the preferences and I am about to try if the issue is solved.
But this solution you offered to fix the Duplicate Project problem got me thinking.
I´ve been trying to give to the sound editor the final version of the movie, but for some reason the media has changed its frame rate. I have no idea how this could happen since I´m working with Apple ProRes proxies generated from RED files.
I made one mistake: I used some bars that were in 23.98 fps and my media is in 24 fps. My early projects were set in 24 fps, but when I was forced to copy and paste my edit to a new project due to the Duplicate Project issue, further projects were automatically set in 23.98.
The thing is that now, when I try to go back to 24, my media is all messed up, it adds frames were there were´t before, etc. It´s really frustrating since I was about to finish.
Nothing seems to be working: copying the edit again in a new project; importing an xml; nothing.
Would trashing the FCPX preferences help me with this? Can you think of any solution that doesn’t involve editing a whole movie again?
Thank you very much in advance.
Delfina:
I have a hard time believing your MEDIA has changed frame rate. But can totally understand that the frame rate of the project doesn’t match the frame rate of the media.
The easiest way to fix this is:
* Create a new project with the image size and frame rate you need.
* Edit a generator into the project. This will “lock” the frame rate and keep it from changing.
* Open the old project, select all clips (Cmd+A), and copy them.
* Open the new project and paste all clips in AFTER the generator clip.
* After the clips are pasted, verify the project frame rate is what you want.
* Delete the generator clip – it was only used as a placeholder to keep the frame rate from shifting.
That should resolve the issue.
Larry
I did that and it almost worked out. Except for the fact that when I copy the media into the new project with the placeholder, it adds one frame to each clip at the beginning. This is simply a CRIME, because if you don´t notice it, FCPX never tells you and can screw up all your work. I hope that this helps other people at least.
The pattern I found is that it adds that frame at the beginning but I could´t be completely sure that it doesn’t mess with something else.
I´m really worried about this. In FCP 7 this would never have happened….