Awesome! So glad it helped, friend. 👊🤙

Well, I’m certainly glad that this video has been helpful for so many. Glad to be of service. Happy editing! ✌️

What size is your MacBooks ssd?

Mine is 512GB, but you may be asking Lizzie.

@@KevinRossRN you are the man for doing this, I thought about it and humbled my ass to get good advice and this is 👌🏾

Many thanks friend. Really glad that you made it over here. Glad to help.

And a big thank you as well. Happy to help and provide value where I can. Appreciate you.

Thanks! Just trying to save a little time and some money. 😉

Well I’m definitely glad you found this video my friend. It’s my pleasure to be of service. Appreciate your time that you spent here.

@@KevinRossRN You earned a sub.

And I’m thankful to have you here with us. Looking forward to seeing you around the channel.

That’s fantastic! Thanks so much for the feedback. Welcome to the filmmaking world. Glad this was helpful.

That’s a great habit to start. Best of luck moving forward. 🤘✌️

It gets a little messy in there, right? Happy to help.

It’s entirely my pleasure.

It’s a very helpful workflow. And yes, command strips are awesome 👏

Heck yeah. I have the M1 Mac with 1TB of storage and still use external SSDs. I’m actually doing testing on some other setups right now and using these externals. They’re awesome.

Well friend, I’m just glad you found me. Happy to be of service.

Happy to help. Thank you 🙏

Yep. Lifting heavy data 😉

Much appreciate you jumping down here in the comments to let me know. Thank you friend... And happy to help provide some value along the creative journey. 👍📸🔥

You bet! My pleasure. I’ve definitely appreciated FCPX to create here.

I hope that this workflow brings your internal drive some peace 😉 Sending you my best.

Glad that you found us over here. Happy to to help.

Happy to help. Glad you found me.

Ha! Thanks. Command strips: the lowest high tech item in my kit. Happy to help and glad to have you hanging out here. Much appreciated 🙏🤙

@@KevinRossRN Welcome, very inovative

Say what?! That's awesome! Really glad this helped and I'm stoked for you on getting your start...or continuation. What camera did you end up landing on?

Kevin Ross ended up going with the Sony A7iii upon lots of research! I’ve been filming videos for a long time using my Canon 70D but I just felt it’s time to invest and upgrade! This is going to be my first time editing 4K footage on my iMac so was browsing the best and easiest ways to edit 4K😊

Sweet! I believe that A7iii should serve you well. Here's to you chewing through that 4K timeline... Although I suppose that'll also depend on your GPU 😁 But, I do love having the work happen on the T5 to keep the local drive free.

Kevin Ross that’s very true, we’ll see🙏🏼😬

Well I am super duper grateful for you letting me know. My pleasure to help. 👊💥

Sending my best right back at you 🤙

You did! Alright then. Room to grow 😁 And thank you friend.

How much ssd does your computer have??

It’s my pleasure to be able to help. Sending my best on your future workflow.

I appreciate you taking the time. So as far as the “import” I suppose we also use that term regarding pulling the footage from the SD card (from the camera) to the SSD (external drive). And then when opening up a new project and creating the “bundle” as it’s referred to as, your summation is correct in that the cottage remains on the external SSD and creates this communication between FCPX on your computer and the files on the external. And as long as the other person has the same FCPX iteration and any specialized LUTs or effects that you also have, then it should also load that same project onto their timeline.

Glad to help, and yes, a back up archiving solution is definitely a must with video footage.

Yes! Glad you liked it. 👊💥

Just trying to help as many as I can. Thanks 👍

Hey, glad to help. Appreciate you jumping down here to let me know. Many thanks!

My pleasure. Glad to be of assistance.

Glad that you found it helpful. 🤙

Thank you friend.

Thanks! Appreciate your time.

Well I’m glad that this really helped. Best of luck!

Happy to help. Thank you 🙏

You bet! Thank you 🙏

You got it! 🤘

Happy to help. And yeah, that 128GB machine should almost be “illegal” to sell. 🤣 You definitely run out of space quick on the internal. But these external SSDs are a life saver.

Sure. Glad it helped. I do have some SSD options linked in the description below. I’d advise on at least 1TB to give you the ability to have more working projects and to keep your media on.

I use PS and LR and will say that those backups that occur on the internal storage really start to add up. I started keeping a specific external SSD just for my Adobe workflow so I could keep those backups elsewhere and not on the internal. It helped quite a bit.

Ha! Well I do hope that helps friend. I’ve done other videos where I talk about keeping all the media on an external and the App itself on the internal. That way you’re not duplicating media…and space 😉

Glad it helped. Best of luck 🤞

Thanks so much. Look forward to having you around here.

And thank you 🙏

Much appreciated friend.

Ah! The back up conundrum. I know it well. I'm working on a video sharing my exact workflow for everything when it comes to backups. These SSDs are just a life saver though and I love that over the years they've been getting cheaper along with more storage....hopefully that trend will continue. Appreciate you jumping down here to let me know about your workflow, and your appreciation for the Sandisk SSD. A boring piece of tech that is so necessary and I use it every day.

@@KevinRossRN Cheers Kevin. Boring? No way. Essential and I agree with you "life saving" and time saving and peace of mind. I wouldn't be without them. The Sandisk is great for the price and still is superior at the price. Have a good one and I must check out your back up process video👍

Ha! Glad we agree. And, I hope to have that video out soon(ish). Forward momentum my friend, and thanks again 👊

When you want to access in back again after deleting the render folder, do you still have all your edits and colour correction on it? Or do you have to do it all over again?

All that is still intact. It just renders those tasks again.

@@KevinRossRN got it thanks ❤️❤️❤️

You bet 🤙

@@KevinRossRN the best advice ever so far 👍 U just got new sub

Many thanks to you.

Hey, thanks! I have these things all over my studio. They’re great.

Hey glad to help. So the bundle in Final Cut is just the file name for the library and all the media inside of it. So if you look at the file name it’ll be something like (videoproject.fcpbundle) and you’ll see an image of four stars inside four squares. Within that bundle is all the media you’re using, the render files, analysis files…basically everything you’re working with.

Thanks! And I haven’t had any issues with the heat and the monitor. 👍

I did do a video on storage, but are you looking for a HDD desk setup, or something where you need a RAID with multiple drives?

Happy to help. You keep being awesome as well 👊

Thank you.

That’s awesome! Yes, I do love those Command Strips. I use them for so many things. But definitely on the MacBook lid it’s been a real workflow enhancer.

Yes, always have a backup solution. I use a Synology NAS at the moment, which I’ll be upgrading at some point. However a HDD backup solution is definitely recommended for archiving.

Thank you.

Feel free to check out my video on file management. The short answer is, I wouldn’t recommend it, but I talk about it in that video.

Great to have you here 👊🤙

You should be able to move that over, but in the project timeline (within the interface/preferences) you just need to point the program to your external drive.

Wow, 1TB of footage is quite a bit. That must have been quite a project. Unless you have a 3-5TB internal drive this is where I would recommend the SSD. Obviously a 2TB option would be what you'd need in this scenario. There could be a couple of workflow options here if you didn't have the 2TB drive. You could have the footage stored on a NAS/Server, which I've definitely done. What I'd do then is have the footage on that NAS, but I'd keep the project file on the external SSD and basically have the stored footage on the NAS be utilized as proxy files, so it's pulling info from the NAS, but the internal drive is still freed up and capable of handling the memory swap during the cutting and rendering of the video that is occurring on the SSD. However, at this point if it was a budgetary issue SSD vs. price of a hard drive (like something from LaCie) I'd prefer to keep my footage on the same drive as well as my project bundle, so then I'd sacrifice some speed to edit directly onto the LaCie, which probably be something in the neighborhood of a 4TB drive... Although you could also run a LaCie as your backup and hold your footage while the external SSD has the project file. Not sure if I confused the situation here. You could also think about compressing the footage as well.

@@KevinRossRN Yup, it was a large project for a Wellness company. 30 minute recording sessions, using a 1DX Mark II (mjpeg codec produces ridiculously large files). So what I ended up doing was dumping all the footage to my 10TB G-Tech drive and using my 1TB SSD to edit pieces of the project. HOpe that makes sense. For obvious reasons, I used SSD to edit off of vs. G-Tech drive. Sounds like I need to upgrade to a 2TB. haha. I appreciate your response. I was just curious as to what your workflow would be in this case senario. Thanks again.

Yeah, definitely nothing wrong with editing off of the G-Tech..I've been there. And really if the G-Tech is where your raw footage is and SSD is where the project bundle is, that works. You're basically just creating proxies with those raw files...but I know it's probably a pain to make sure both of these are plugged into the computer at all times vs. just the one SSD. Best of luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll appreciate having a larger SSD to just keep everything on...and they are continuing to come down in price 👍

@@KevinRossRN 10 months later I find myself referencing this video. haha. I ultimately ended up finding a 4 TB external SSD and love it! I can edit a few client projects at once.

Oh yeah, a 4TB drive is definitely great to have for all kinds of projects.

No worries on the detailed question... I sometimes go long on the answer 😁 As far as installing the software on an external drive, sure you could do it, however I'm not certain that would help how you'd need it. I assume you have SSD internally, so that memory swap should be fast. You'll get a bottleneck with the USB connection, which even on a thunderbolt 3 (up to 40GB/s) there still can be some slow down... Not as noticeable if reading/writing files you're editing, but could be more noticeable with actual program load read/write... If that makes sense. A couple of other questions I would really pose would be what's the original hard drive size, is it upgradeable, and what about the graphics card? With any of these programs, and Resolve is awesome, but does need that GPU, I'm wondering if you could be getting some lag with those additional GPU intensive tasks, but no bandwidth to actually perform the tasks if the GPU is maxed out.

Well, I typically prefer the larger drives...this way you're not having to dump projects as often. My opinion anyway.

Thanks! So, FCPX is a bit different that way it manages these files and the bundle. This resource may help you consolidate a bit: helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/copy-consolidate-transcode-archive-project.html

@@KevinRossRN thank you!

Best of luck 🤞

First off, you can start a channel with just about any camera you have. Some of the biggest KZfaq creators started with a Potato😄 Glad the video helped, and to add to what you're asking, I'd say that editing on an SSD is still something I do today, and often. However what I would recommend is backing up to an actual Hard drive vs. another SSD. I'd say the SSD would be fine to back up temporarily, but a hard drive like this one: amzn.to/34iQ1y8 is going to be much cheaper for the amount GBs you'll get. Now I wouldn't recommend editing on it as it'll be slow, but the drives in these external setups are built for back up and archiving. Something like this will give you storage for quite a while...but obviously that's based on how often you're filming and how much you want to save.

Yep! That’s what I’ve done. I move everything over to a server and, I could technically edit from the server, but I often times move files back over to the SSD.

Thanks! Much appreciate you 👊🙏

Yeah these SSD's are fantastic. Still using them. Actually, I don't use CC for editing videos, but I do use Lightroom quite a bit for photos. I'm fairly pleased with the photo editing aspects, and the monthly photographer's fee of $~10.00 USD/month isn't unreasonable, but I am looking into some alternatives. How about you?

Affinity Photo and Capture One are perfect alternatives for Photoshop and Lightroom - and one time payment; not monthly as Adobe.

Well, not sure if you saw my other video talking about this... You might have. But, I’d say more RAM first, but I always recommend buying what you can afford. You’ve probably seen some of the videos on Logic and all the tracks it handles. I got a sample that has 188 tracks and it plays back without issue. Also, you may have done research on the this, but if you’re using third party plugins, then make sure to right click on the Logic app and have it open with Rosetta.

Congrats on the upcoming investment. 512GBs will be fine to work with these apps and of course keeping the libraries (media) in the external drive. I’d opt for 16GBs at a minimum if you’re working with those programs. Which Mac are you thinking about?

@@KevinRossRN For sure getting the upgraded ram. I was thinking the newest 24 inch with M1 chip. Was tempted to get the gold color but kinda want to stick with the classic and neutral silver. Thank you so much for answering my question!!! :)

Happy to help, and I do like the classic silver. Have fun!

So Final Cut remains on the internal drive. The only thing you’re putting on the external is the library (bundle) and all the other media you’re working with.

Thank you!

So I have done a video on this already about running apps off the external. So the app itself should remain on the internal while all of the media and libraries can live on the external. I’d link up that video, but I’m on my mobile device and for whatever reason YT doesn’t allow me to grab those videos as links to share 🤷‍♂️

No worries, I'll look for it on your channel! Thanks for the fast response 👍

You bet. Many thanks.

Oh snap! Distant relatives? 🤔😄 Glad to be of assistance.

So, my Lightroom catalog is on an SSD...all backups happen there actually. I’ve been told by my creative colleagues that I’m a little over the top with my labeling of files and folders, but if I’m looking for something, then I find it pretty quickly 😉 So I’ll typically keep a SSD or two for photos throughout the year that I may need quick reference on projects. However for archiving, I have a Synology NAS for all of those files that need to be stored long term. It’s all setup on my network and via a gigabit connection, so if I need them I can grab those pretty quickly to move back over to the SSD. I would say that although I have several working projects on my SSDs, I don’t use them as backups necessarily as I’m really just trying to keep those as working drives. For video I can actually edit from my NAS if I need to, but I will say that I have a collection of these SSDs with various projects. It’s becoming part of the norm I think, to have these piling up 😁 I even have 1TB of internal on my M1 mini and I’m still just working with everything on an external. I usually keep an eye out for sales, which happen almost all the time. I mean, this 1TB T5 in the video, I might have paid somewhere like 250(ish) USD when it first came out. Now you can find them for about 129 USD.

@@KevinRossRN thanks for quick response. Hmmmm so maybe I need to look into getting a NAS to move finished work to?

It would be advisable if you’re doing this professionally...but heck, I have all my personal/family photos backed up on the NAS as well. It’s an investment, but a good one in my opinion.

So here's what I told someone else. If the price difference is small between the two, then I'd say go for the higher read/write speed. However let me also say that the difference in speed would likely be negligible as far as real world performance because there will be some bottle necking that can occur with the connection itself, the processor (depending on the CPU), etc. So, would you notice that much of a difference in actual editing? Probably not. However if the difference is say a 30 second - 1 minute improvement in rendering times per video and let's say you edit several videos (or audio tracks) a week, then over a year's time that could add up, but does it add up enough for the extra cost? I've seen pricing differences in the states by sometimes only $20USD or less if there's a deal running, so if that's the case then why not? But if the price difference limits you from being able to invest in a 500GB drive (faster read/write) vs. a 2TB drive that is still fast, then I'd go for more storage honestly.

Yeah the Airdrop workaround can be a bit of a headache in this particular scenario. Sounds like you’ve at least found something that works for you. I appreciate you taking the time to share your particular experience.

I personally use APFS. exFAT would be recommended if you’re going between Windows and MacOS.

So the external SSD is used for my active projects, but all of my archives live on a Synology NAS. SSDs are great for speed and workflow, but the spinning drives are better for archiving. Although slow, they typically are designed for this type of workflow...usually that is. I can work with files on my Synology if I need to as FCPX easily creates a proxy of those files, but anything for immediate need is on the SSD. So that SSD (mine) gets dumped onto the NAS after several projects have filled it up. I do have several of these SSDs though, so I don't have to do it often.

@@KevinRossRN Which Synology NAS do you use? I'd love to see a video on setting that up! I still don't really understand NAS. But that's probably what I need.

So the model I have isn't currently offered. I've had it for years, so if that tells you something...this thing is on 24/7. For video editing, this is the one my business has: amzn.to/34kyHs3 But as you'l see these things can add up because it's just the shell and you have to fill them with drives. I'm probably sitting at about 30TBs of video right now. It adds up. It would definitely be more if I was out doing more commercial work, but doing more KZfaq these days since we're all mostly inside. I honestly can't recommend Synology enough. I know it is investment, and something you'll likely want to save up for if it's not in the budget right now. I should add that to the list of videos. Been meaning to discuss my workflow. Guess I need to get on it. 😀

@@KevinRossRN yes I'd definitely watch it. I also am considering paid cloud storage because honestly I find NAS complicated to understand and I want simplicity. Do you or would you ever consider paying monthly or yearly cloud storage fees to archive video projects or save b-roll?

I use cloud storage for certain things, and have an Amazon S3 account. Video files do start to add up though.

Glad to help friend. Now go crush that workflow 🤙👊

So I do use a NAS (Synology), but I also did a video on backing up to an external HDD. You can pick up a 14TB drive for around $200USD give or take.

@@KevinRossRN I really appreciate your quick response Kevin. In the 3 hours or so since I left my comment, I’ve been convinced to switch to a NAS. 😂 thanks again!

Ha! A NAS is fantastic. Some of them you can even edit video off of. Just saying 🤷‍♂️😉

Thanks 🙏 Terrible dad jokes 😁

The back to that occurs on your computer’s drive contains small files of the progress of the timeline, but shouldn’t be the original media, so the internal drive should only have a small impact on the space it takes up.

@@KevinRossRN Thanks for the quick and helpful response!

You bet. Sending my best.

Sandisk (and really many manufacturers) sometimes makes special editions for certain stores. This one was made for Costco. Not sure if you're in the states, but it's a membership warehouse... It doesn't have any different features or anything. I believe it was a little cheaper though.

Yes, I use the SanDisk that has a 1050MB/s read/write all the time. I actually have several videos on this, but an updated video features this very SSD I’m using: M1 Max Mac Studio | Do You Need the Fastest External SSD? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j75mbNWTs9ezoKc.html

@@KevinRossRN ah amazing dude thank you. That’s actually the drive I wanted to get.

Awesome. It’s held up quite nicely over the years.

Editing from a HDD is possible. I did a video on it. The SSD will certainly be a faster option, but I’d start with what you have.

Yes. Even with higher internal storage on my machines, I still use external SSDs for editing and having a place for the media.

Glad to be of service. And appreciate you spending a little time here.

APFS is going to be the fastest, technically speaking. ExFAT is great if you ever using Windows as well since it’ll be compatible for both. How’s it going so far with the HDD as far as editing on it?

That is correct. The files (media) remains on the external drive. 🤘

Awesome!! Thanks again, great stuff!!

Do you have your editing software on an ssd, or is that on the machine internal hard drive?

@teddystewart6487 is on the machine’s internal. It only takes up a few GBs.

@@KevinRossRNperfect, thanks again! I appreciate you!

Sure, it’s just that you might want to consider a USB-C version 3.1 gen2 for faster read and write.

I was just having this very conversation with another person here in the comments section. Just yesterday actually. I don't have a video on it, but I did say that it sounds like I need to make one... And you've just upped the need for it 😀

Kevin Ross sweet! Thanks brother. 👊

@@KevinRossRN do you have a video on this yet? Link please. Thanks

I do have a workflow video…I have to find the link.

File Management for Video Editing | My Workflow kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h86ahM1zqK67gWw.html

So in some of my recent videos I did discuss this, especially the latest one. Programs on the main drive, and then having an active project external SSD, however for archiving, depending on how much media you have, I’d recommend a longer term back up like a NAS, but you could have another SSD... it’s just that per GB they’re more expensive than a HDD.

Do you want an SSD drive like I’ve features here? Which in turn would be quicker to work on as far as speed/latency is concerned.

@@KevinRossRN - yes , I never bothered to look into what hard drives offer , if they have any helpful preferences built into them for categorizing music files .Before that i was just dumping all my photos of my art into cheap ext. drives . Thousands of photos of my art work taken to use with online arts web sites . Now I need a fast hard drive and wondering which will be the most helpful and easy to use . Thanks for your reply -

Well, typically if you're not doing this manually, there are certainly built-in features of your operating system, or third-party software that can help. I'd hate for you to purchase something that costs way more than it should and just get a reasonable back up solution and use the software available that can help you organize some of this.

Well, speeding up your workflow is relative in this case. First, I always recommend more space if you can afford it, and most of the time, you'll always wish you'd gotten more. With the 2011 you'll be using the USB 3.0 speeds, not the thunderbolt/USB-C speeds which will be slower in transfer and editing, however if this extra space (externally) allows you to free up space on your internal drive to help with memory swap, you may get some small gains here. I was initially editing on a 2010 MBP and still used an external drive because I was editing much larger files and my internal drive was 256GB that would quickly fill up. In this scenario it was more about keeping RAW files and editing on an external device so that I could keep the internal SSD as free as possible.

@@KevinRossRN I'm not editing off the internal drive. As I said external hard drive, so space isn't what I'm wondering about. Thanks for the reply

Sure thing. The SSD is definitely going to offer a speed bump compared to the spinning drive. Even on my 2010, it was noticeable for sure.

@@KevinRossRN thanks!

Plug in your external drive and create a folder, and you can call it Video Project (as an example) Your media can live on this folder. Open up Resolve Create new database (make sure to choose disk), and I’d typically call it the name of the project. Click “Browse” to pick the source where you’re saving this, which in this case will be the external drive. Create

Great questions, and I'll share more of my workflow here...I should just do a video on my whole back up. Keep in mind though, I recommend using a workflow that suits your needs and provides you with as much of a streamlined process as possible. So when I transfer my SD card data to the T5 to work on, I do keep all of the files on that SD card until the project is complete. This is mostly for my "personal" data, but for client work, it's a bit different...more on that in a sec. I certainly don't recommend the SSD as a "true" back up solution, but having all the data mirrored from the SD card does give me more peace of mind. I film primarily in 4K and can manage a lot of data on the T5...quite a few projects actually. I have about 6 or 7 on there right now. And per the video, once those videos are rendered into a mp4 or .mov file, and/or uploaded, then deleting those render files within the bundle of the FCP project gives me quite a bit of space back on the T5. Now, after the video is rendered/completed/uploaded, I then take that SSD (the contents) and move it over to my server. Once the files are moved over there I'm then able to free up that space on the SSD and also able to format or free up some space on the SD card. I maintain copies of all raw files and label them carefully because I can't count how many times I've needed a clip that I filmed a week ago or even several years ago that I can access on that server, which I can access over my network...AND I can even work from it if needed, but I usually just bring that file into FCP (from the server) to work on, but maintain the file in its original location. For commercial work I transfer everything as above, however before I start working on the project I also place all raw files on my server to create three locations of these files, however I am really creating four because my server is also attached to a server that is located in another location (offsite)...this might be a bit over the top, but we are certainly not interested in having to re-film something for a client if we don't have to. In summary though, I like the ability to keep the working files and the project bundle on the T5 in case I want to take this somewhere else or really to keep the local drive as free as possible, and I do keep a FCP back up on the local drive in case something does get corrupted, but that file size is relatively small. Working from the T5 vs. working on the local SSD of the computer doesn't really seem to slow me down or actually give me any noticeable gains as I know the drive in the computer is faster when comparing read/write, but for real world it just doesn't seem to slow me down. Not sure if I answered your question, did I? 😀

@@KevinRossRN Thanks Kevin for THE ANSWER! :) Just a few things to double check if I really understood the way you work (Cause it seems really productive): -When you say " I then take that SSD (the contents) and move it over to my server" what do you mean by the server? An external HDD ie? a server Online?. -Here the doubt is... what do you exactly copy/transfer to the server? The whole library?. -Let's say you finish a project and you delete the "Raw footage" from the SDD (By that time you'll only have the Raw footage on the server you talked about. Right? Because you said you delete it from the SDD and Camera SD. Or you maintain the Raw footage ALWAYS in the SDD? -What do you do in case you need to work back on the project? You still have the library (in a smaller size than it used to be) in the SDD as you said , but what happens with the Raw Footage? You need to transfer again to the SDD? (in case you deleted previously). Sorry for such a long text... I would like to establish an efficient workflow and focus on creativity. All the best.

Happy to help... The SSD contents get moved over to a Synology Server (basically a NAS if you will). This is connected via my network so if I do need something I can literally just pull it up as if it's attached to the computer. To reiterate, the entirety of the raw files and the FCP bundle (after deleting render files) gets moved over to the Synology once the project is done. Once I confirm that everything is on the Synology I then delete the whole project and its raw files from the T5 and SD card. Now, I sometimes leave active projects on the T5 in case I decide to work away from the location where the server is (even though I could access it remotely, but it would be a pain with such large files), however I am often near the server. These active projects may be something like what I'm working on now. So as an example I am, and have been creating content with, and for the iPhone SE. I've got three videos out on the SE right now and more videos coming out on it, but I've also filmed quite a bit of B-Roll and other footage that I may just want to pull up on the T5 and bring it into the FCP project. Once I've finished the group of iPhone SE related projects then everything (all files) will get moved off of the T5 and onto the Synology. Now, the fact that the Synology is connected to my network, I can (and often have) pulled footage from this device and used it in FCP. Keep in mind that when I select to "keep the file in its original location" (during import) it stays on the Synology and really creates what would be referred to as a proxy. So even if the majority of the project is on the T5 and I use a couple of those files from the Synology, as long as I'm on the network then it shows up within the project in FCP, but is NOT housed on the T5...so no redundant files I have to worry about. So if I need to work on a project again that was transferred to the Synology, yes, for ease of use and speed I would just transfer that project back onto the T5. We're talking spinning hard drives in the Synology vs. a SSD. The SSD is just going to win on speed here of course. It does take a few minutes for the transfer from the Synology back to the T5 depending on the size, however with the FCP bundle cut down significantly in size it really cuts down on that transfer time. I'm really thinking I need to do a more detailed video now. Ha!

Kevin Ross Amazing explanatation! I’ll be waiting for that video’😂

Ha! Alright then. I guess the pressure is on now. 😀

Thanks! Let me clarify something, so you meant to say a 10TB project file? Raw footage of 10TB? Yes, you'd store the library in one of the SSD's, so even though you're pulling footage from the other SSD it'll be fine because the Library/Bundle will just exist on the one and FCPX will just direct it there.

@@KevinRossRN Yes I meant all the project's raw footage and shooting files. What happens when someone has to deal with this kind of material (10 TB and more) ?

Well once you're editing at this level, which really is what a documentary style/pro level kind of workflow would be, you could still keep the library on the SSD, but then you're talking about using a NAS or some other back up Hard drive (RAID) tower to keep that Raw footage and pull from. I personally have a Synology that I use that has about 60TBs of footage on it that I pull clips from, but I can still have FCPX keep those files on that server while also editing on the T5.

@@KevinRossRN That sounds interesting. So your main, lets say 60TB footage is inside this Synology tower of drives, while your main library bundle is inside the external ssd. My question upon this new info is : what kind of hard drives are inside the synology and if they are not presumably ssd drives (due to the massive raw shooting files), does this synology system works as fast as the ssd ? We're talking about USB 3.0 connection with the main mac computer? I suppose that's a topic of another whole video. Thanks a lot anyway.

You can get a Synology that’ll house SSDs, but yeah, that gets expensive. I really need to do a video b/c you’re certainly not the first to ask. I have WD Red drives in the Synology and you can either connect via USB 3.0 or via gigabit Ethernet. Or, you could also just connect wirelessly over your network, but gigabit and 10gigabit is definitely going to get you quite a speed bump. The beauty of working in FCP is how it handles these files on the Synology. As long as I’m connected (hardwired or wirelessly) I can work with any file on that box and have the file live on the Synology while keeping my library on the T5. Haven’t had a single issue.

I typically recommend keeping it as simple as possible, so really one SSD that you’re working on and have your media. 1TB at a minimum if you can, and then once that project is done, then moving that over to a backup system like an external HDD or NAS. If that makes sense.

How long have you used VSDC and what type of footage are you editing?

@@KevinRossRN Hi Kevin. I'm using the current free VSDC (but will soon buy the pro version; it's awesome). I'm doing brief video, HD, nothing special. My question, though, was about setting up the directories on an external drive, which I believe I have accomplished. ~ Thanks :-)