Appendix 1

Appendix 7: Understanding File Architecture
Imported fi les are simply linked to their current location. If titles and graphics are not organized into
a logical fi ling system before being imported, you will have scores of links to fi les in scores of locations.
The problem can become totally unmanageable if there is no plan on how to organize the fi les
as the project is being built.
Different editors have different ideas on how to arrange their fi les. A good basic system is to use
only a single, large portable drive for the fi lm. Then, make a folder at the top level of the drive for
Final Cut Pro projects. Set all scratch drive settings in the system settings to this drive. Final Cut
Pro will now create its six folders, Audio Render, Capture Scratch, Render Files, Autosave Vault,
Thumbnail Cache, and Waveform Cache. The folders will appear automatically over time as you edit
and as Final Cut Pro writes to them.
All of the media fi les to be imported can be copied into the project’s folder in the Capture Scratch
folder. Or, several fi les can be created to hold titles and graphics, sound effects, and music. Inside
each of these, an individual project folder can hold all of the corresponding media.
Keep all Pro Tools sessions and Cinema Tools databases on this drive in dedicated fi les as well. Keep
daily backups of this drive on a second drive.
Find a system that works for you and stick to it. Many hours can be lost needlessly when looking
for missing media, chasing broken links, or rerendering missing render fi les.
Figure A7.2 is an example of the basic Final Cut Pro fi le architecture. The project fi le for Help Wanted
at the top has been created and based on the system settings and was automatically linked to the
Figure A7.2 Final Cut Pro fi ling structure
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