Apple Final Cut Express HD - Manual (Page 902)

902 Part XI Project Management and Settings
Step 3: Transferring your project to another Final Cut Express HD system
Clips represent media files even when the media files aren’t there. This means that the
structure of an entire edited sequence can be saved separately from its media files. At
any time, you can tell Final Cut Express HD to recapture all of a sequence’s media files,
and the movie is automatically re-created. This applies equally to a single clip whose
media file you accidentally deleted and to an entire sequence of clips that has been
copied to a different Final Cut Express HD editing system. Even though the clips are
offline (the clips’ media files are missing) on the new system, the clips contain the vital
information to recapture all the media from tape to hard disk, making it simple to re-
create the sequence.
Strategies for Media Management
It’s a good idea to pick a strategy for media management before you begin your
project. Some important things to consider as part of your strategy are:
Reel Name Conventions
This affects recapturing in Final Cut Express HD or any other editing system. Reel
numbers must be correct so that Final Cut Express HD asks for the proper tape when
you recapture media.
Clip Name Conventions
If you log clips individually, a clip name is derived from a combination of the
description, shot/take, scene, and angle properties of a clip. Choose a fairly concise but
descriptive name.
If you are working on a narrative, scene name and take number may be sufficient because
the shooting script provides the information you need to order your shots. However,
unplanned footage for news or documentaries requires more descriptive names.
Remember that clips in Final Cut Express HD have many properties besides the Name
field to add descriptive information. Notes, comments, the Mark Good property, and
markers within clips can be used to describe your clips more accurately.
Media Filename Conventions
Avoid special characters for filenames. If you are entering names while capturing, the
name of your clip determines the name of the file, so this means you should avoid
special characters in clip names too. Don’t change media filenames directly in the
Finder, or your clips will go offline.