Final Cut Pro X: Edit your project on a different computer

Edit your project on a different computer

If you find yourself in a situation where you need to work on your project and media files on a different computer, you have a variety of options:

  • Move the project: You can delete the project from its current location and put it in a new location. When you move a project, you can move all of the events used in the project, all of the clips used in the project, or just the project.

  • Copy the project: You can duplicate the project and put the copy in a new location. When you copy a project, you can copy all of the events used in the project, all of the clips used in the project, or just the project.

  • Store projects and events on a SAN location: You can store files on a storage area network (SAN) location and then access them from the other computer over the network.

Note:   If you have customized any Final Cut Pro effects, transitions, titles, generators or themes, you must manually back up and move the Motion Templates folder located in ~/Movies/Motion Templates.

Move a project and its referenced events to another computer

  1. Connect your external storage device to the computer where your Final Cut Pro project file is located, and verify that the device appears in the Finder.

  2. Verify that Final Cut Pro is installed on the computer to which you’re moving the files.

  3. On the computer where your Final Cut Pro project file is located, select your project in the Project Library.

  4. Choose File > Move Project.

  5. In the window that appears, do the following:

    1. Choose your external storage device from the Location pop-up menu.

    2. Select “Move Project and Referenced Events.”

      Selecting this option moves the project file and any events (and all the clips in the event) referenced by the project file to the disk you chose in the Location pop-up menu.

      For more information about the options in this window, see Organize projects in the Project Library.

    3. Click OK.

      The project icon and events disappear from their current location in the Project Library and Event Library and appear under the storage device icon (indicating that they have been moved).

      Move Project window

  6. Quit Final Cut Pro, and disconnect the storage device from your computer.

    WARNING:   Do not disconnect a device when Final Cut Pro is using it.

  7. Connect the storage device to the computer to which you want to move your project, and verify that the device appears in the Finder.

  8. Open Final Cut Pro, and then open the Project Library.

    The project you moved appears in the Project Library, listed under the connected storage device.

    Note:   If the storage device does not appear in the Project Library, see Common media management issues.

  9. To move the project off the storage device to the new computer, select the project and choose File > Move Project.

  10. In the window that appears, do the following:

    1. Choose the new computer from the Location pop-up menu.

    2. Select “Move Project and Referenced Events.”

    3. Click OK.

      Move Project window

    The project icon and events disappear from the external storage device and appear under the startup disk (home icon) in the Project Library, and the event that contains the project’s media appears under the startup disk (home icon) in the Event Library.

Copy a project and its clips to another computer

  1. Connect your external storage device to the computer where your Final Cut Pro project file is located, and verify that the device appears in the Finder.

  2. Verify that Final Cut Pro is installed on the computer to which you’re copying the files.

  3. On the computer where your Final Cut Pro project file is located, select your project in the Project Library.

  4. Control-click your project, and choose Duplicate Project from the shortcut menu.

  5. In the window that appears, do the following:

    1. Choose your external storage device from the Location pop-up menu.

    2. Select Duplicate Project + Used Clips Only.

      Selecting this option copies the project file and the media files used by the project file.

      For more information about the options in this window, see Organize projects in the Project Library.

    3. Type a descriptive name in the New Event Name field.

      If you don’t create a new name for the new event, it will be given the same name as your project.

    4. Click OK.

      Duplicate Project window

    The project icon and events appear under the storage device icon (indicating that they have been copied and moved to the new location).

  6. Quit Final Cut Pro, and then disconnect the storage device from your computer.

    Note:   You cannot disconnect a device when Final Cut Pro is using it.

  7. Connect the storage device to the computer to which you want to move your project, and verify that the device appears in the Finder.

  8. Open Final Cut Pro, and open the Project Library.

    The project you copied appears in the Project Library, listed under the connected storage device.

    Note:   If the storage device does not appear in the Project Library, see Common media management issues.

  9. To copy the project and media files from the storage device to the new computer, drag the project to the home folder icon in the Project Library.

  10. In the window that appears, do the following:

    1. Choose the new computer from the Location pop-up menu.

    2. Select “Duplicate Project and Referenced Events.”

    3. Click OK.

      Duplicate Project window

    The project appears under the the startup disk (home icon) in the Project Library, and the event that contains the project’s media appears under the startup disk (home icon) in the Event Library.

You can now locate your project in the Project Library and begin editing. Any changes will be saved to the copy on the startup disk of the new computer.

If you see a Missing Media, Missing Project, or other warning icon, or if you can’t find your project in the Final Cut Pro Project Library, go through the steps in the task to verify that you performed the task correctly. For more information, see Common media management issues.

Use a SAN location to edit your project on a different computer

You can start editing a project over a network using a SAN location and then continue working on the project from a different computer using the same SAN location. To make the SAN location available to other computers on the network, you use the Remove command to disconnect the SAN location from the original computer.

  1. Follow the steps for adding a SAN location in Use SAN locations for events and projects.

  2. Create a project on the SAN location, or copy or move your project to the SAN location.

  3. To remove the SAN location and make it available to other computers on the network, select the SAN location in the Event Library or the Project Library, and choose File > Remove SAN Location.

    The SAN location disappears from Event Library and the Project Library.

  4. To access the SAN location on the other computer, follow the steps for adding a SAN location in Use SAN locations for events and projects.

    Make sure to navigate to the same folder you used in step 1.

    The SAN location appears as a storage location in the Event Library and the Project Library on the second computer. You can now use this computer to edit any events and projects stored on this SAN location.

Last Modified: May 11, 2015
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