Finding a clips original bin
 

I was wondering if there is a way to tell where a clip in the timeline came from. Sometimes a project will have clips from other projects and bins. I would like to find out what bin a specific clip is in from the timeline. Thanks alot!

Have you tried match frame?

-Noah

Unfortunately this is one of the many areas of media management that falls painfully short in FCP. You can use the "Reveal in Finder" command to find out where the original file is sourced from but there's no tool or built-in search feature in FCP that tells you exactly where that file has been used or in how many projects/bins. That is left up to your own management strategies.

Match frame will source the original file and bring it forward but it won't tell you in how many places in your project it lives.

Unlike Avid this is unfortunately one of the many areas of media management that falls painfully short in FCP. You can use the "Reveal in Finder" command to find out where the original file is sourced from but there's no tool or built-in search feature in FCP that tells you exactly where that file has been used or in how many projects/bins. That is left up to your own management strategies.

That`s bad, even Premiere has this for years. We all should feedback Apple on this.

I agree. This is a big failing by Apple and FCP. Maybe we'll see some big changes at NAB?

On a related subject, I enjoy marking clips as I use them, so that when I look in my browser, I can instantly see which clips I've used and which I haven't. (command+option+6 is my friend)

I also like creating Sub Clips by using (command + U) to take one long clip and reduce it into many smaller, organized clips that can each have a different name.

(can you tell I just got finished with a BIG Final Cut Pro project)

It's not a cross timeline solution, but it's elemental to find all the instances of a clip in a single timeline. Just go to the browser and apply a color label to the source clip and all the timeline instances will tint to match.

As to the cross program issue, I'd NEVER use a clip in any timeline without importing a copy of it into the browser - that's just asking for trouble when you migrate or backup projects.- and besides, extra copies are just additional pointers to the capture scratch source so there's no space overhead.

If you religiously import all clips to browser bins, then a right click "reveal in finder" should be all you need to track down a clip source location no matter what project it was originally used in.

Or is there something more complex escaping my late night brain?

I got a good solution on the apple boards. If a clip in the timeline is selected you can go to View<Reveal Master Clip. Now this works most of the time.... I found it does not work on clips that have been copied and pasted into a new timeline. For the most part I try to bring all clips I plan on using into the correct browser for the project. Unfortunately alot of the stuff I have been doing is repetitive and copy and paste is my best friend!! I am editing spots and broll footage for weekly live events, so backing up projects is not that important. Once the spot airs the event happens, then on to the next.... Thanks everyone!!!