Get Organized in Apple Final Cut Pro

Step 1: Create a folder to hold all your projects

There are two sets of folders you need to create to get organized within Final Cut Pro: projects and media. Start by creating a folder to store all your projects. At the top level of your boot disk, the one holding the Applications folder, create a folder called "FCP Projects."

Step 2: Create a folder for every client and project

Inside the FCP Projects folder, create a folder for every client or project category. Inside the client folder, create a folder for every project. Then, store every script, memo, budget, Final Cut, LiveType or Soundtrack project file, image, audio clip— Every file related to that project in this folder. You can add subfolders to further organize your files. Store every file—that is, except media (see step 4).

Step 3: Create a consistent naming convention

If it’s way past midnight, but you can’t finish your project because you can’t remember what you named the opening animation, you can appreciate the need for a coordinated approach to naming your files. Here’s the system I use:

• JM01: Project code
• JM01_02: Video tape number
• JM01-Open.mov: Movie file name
• JM01-px-Brown, Mary.tiff: Image file name

JM: The first two letters are an abbreviation of the client’s name. Here, "JM" is for "Just-a-Moment Productions."

01: The job number. "01" is the first job from Just-a-Moment Productions. "02" would be the second job, and so on.

02: The number of the videotape recorded for this job; "_02" is the second tape recorded for this project. FCP prefers all tapes to have unique reel IDs. By combining the project code with the video tape number, you create a unique ID for each tape, with the added benefit that tapes can be stored alphabetically by client, job and shoot.

I start all file names with the project number, then add a descriptive phrase ("open.mov" for the opening animation, or "px- Brown, Mary " for a picture of Mary Brown.) This way, if a file wanders away, I don’t need to know the specific name of the file, I just do a global search for "JM01" to display all related files.

Step 4: Put your media on a second drive

Media should always be stored to a second drive. Never store it on your boot disk—it has too much else to do to play media reliably. Call this folder "Final Cut Pro Documents." The spelling and capitalization are important. Create a "Final Cut Pro Documents" folder on every drive that you plan to use to capture media.

Step 5 Set scratch disks on every media drive

Launch Final Cut Pro. Choose Final Cut Pro > System Settings. Click the top Set button at the middle of the screen. Navigate to your media drive and select the Final Cut Pro Documents folder. Click Choose in the lower right of the screen. Repeat this process for each media drive. (Final Cut records media into the media drive that has the most free space. This fills drives evenly, resulting in smoother playback.)

Never change your scratch disks. Once you have them set, leave them alone! Step 6 explains why.

There is no real advantage to separating capture files from media files, so make sure all four checkboxes are checked. Never capture audio and video to separate drives, either.

Set "Minimum Allowable Free Space" to "10000." Many hard disks slow down as they get full. Setting the minimum free space to 10 GB (10,000 MB) prevents this.

Step 6: Immediately save all new projects—and find them more easily later

After you create a new project, save it immediately. Final Cut stores all media and renders files in separate folders named after each project. By never changing your scratch disks, Final Cut automatically organizes your media into one folder per project, making everything easy to find later.

Archiving your project when you’re done is a snap. Since all your project files are in one project folder, drag the project folder on the boot disk to a CD. For media, archive your camera master tapes and trash all hard disk files by dragging the folder [2nd drive] > Final Cut Pro Documents > Capture Scratch > [your project name] to the trash.

YOUR GUIDE

Larry Jordan

Producer/director/editor

Larry Jordan is an Apple Certified Trainer in digital media, specializing in Final Cut Pro, Motion and DVD Studio Pro. He’s a member of both the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild of America, and an award-winning producer, director and editor with more than 30 years of production and post-production experience.

Larry Says Keep In Mind...

Video editing requires you to keep track of hundreds of files, which means it’s better to get organized at the beginning than to clean up a mess in the middle. You’d be surprised how often I get questions about this seemingly simple process during my training sessions. By following this system—which works the same within FCP 4, FCP HD or FCP 5—you never have to worry about what files are named, where files are stored, which files to archive or which files to trash at the end of a project.

Larry Jordan
www.larryjordan.biz
P.O. Box 578
Agoura, CA 91376
ph. 818.879.5105
email: larry@larryjordan.biz