Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 411)

76 Part II Rough Editing
Backing Up and Restoring Projects
Regularly backing up your project file is an important part of the editing process. If
your media files are lost, they can easily be recaptured, but losing a project file could
mean re-creating hundreds of edit decisions made over weeks or months.
You should back up your projects on a regular schedule, regardless of what phase of
the project you are in. You can back up hourly, daily, or even weekly, depending on the
scope and pace of your project. It’s also a good idea to back up at important project
milestones, such as a completed rough edit or just before sending your project out for
the final sound mix.
What Is Contained in a Project File
Project files contain the following items and information:
 Clips, including notes, comments, labels, log notes, and other descriptive clip properties
 Bins
 Sequences
 Effects and keyframe parameters applied to clips
Note: A project file does not contain media files, including any QuickTime, audio, or
graphics files.
Returning to Saved Projects
Two commands in the File menu can be used to open previously saved files—Revert
Project and Restore Project.
 Revert Project: This command lets you return to a previous version of a project that
you saved, not one that Final Cut Pro autosaved. For more information, see the next
section, “
Using the Revert Project Command .”
 Restore Project: This command lets you choose from all of the available autosaved
versions of the currently selected project, based on the time and date they were
created. For more information about the autosave feature, see Volume IV, Chapter 2,
“Backing Up and Restoring Projects.”
Using the Revert Project Command
Sometimes you may make a series of changes to a project on a trial basis. What if you
don’t like those changes and want to start over with your project the way it was the
last time you saved it? You can use the Revert Project command to immediately return
to the previously saved version of a project.