Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1393)

42 Part I Media and Project Management
When several clips are independent, they may all refer to the same media file, but they
refer to it independently. For example, if you recaptured a new media file for an
independent clip, other clips in your project would still refer to the original media file.
To reconnect all the clips to the new media file, you would have to reconnect each one
individually. Recapturing media for several independent clips can lead to multiple
versions of the same media file on your scratch disk, one for each independent clip.
Master and affiliate clips avoid the problem of independent clip media management
because all clips in a project that reference a particular media file are handled by one
master clip.
How Master Clips Connect to Media Files
The vital connection between a master clip and its media file is the clip property called
Source. A clip refers to a media file via this property, which contains a directory path. A
directory path describes where a file is located within the file and folder hierarchy of
the file system. For example, the hard disk is the top level of the hierarchy, as all files
and folders are contained within the hard disk. For example, the location of one of your
media files might be described like this:
/Scratch Disk/Capture Scratch/My Project/My Media File
You can find a clip’s media file in the Finder by selecting the clip and choosing
View > Reveal in Finder.
Identifying Master Clips
Master clips can exist only in the Browser; a sequence cannot contain a master clip. The
only way to identify a master clip is to view its Master Clip property, either in the
Browser or in the Item Properties window.
To view a clip’s Master Clip property:
1 Select the item.
2 Choose Edit > Item Properties > Logging Info.
If the Master Clip property is checked, the clip is a master clip.