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Workflow Tip: Use Bundles in FCPX To Archive Your Projects

By Noam Kroll

Published: July 31, 2015

Archiving master files of your projects is never a fun task, but using bundles in FCPX makes it a whole lot easier.

For years, I had a terrible system for archiving my final cuts of commercial and personal projects. I’d typically only create one master file, which of course meant that if I ever needed that file in a different resolution or codec, I’d need to re-encode it. Not the end of the world in many cases, but in circumstances where I needed that file right away it was a bit of a pain to dig through old archival drives to find, convert, and upload it to a video hosting site.

Workflow Tip: Use Bundles in FCPX To Archive Your Projects: exporting in FCP

My current method of archiving has become far easier and more streamlined as a result of the bundles feature in FCPX, which effectively allows you to output multiple deliverables with a single click.

Currently, most of my projects are shot in 4K, so this is how my bundle is set up to archive final 4K projects:

4K Data Master (ProRes HQ)
1080p Data Master (ProRes HQ)
1080p Web Master (H.264)

Both the 4K and 1080p Data Masters will output to my internal drive, while the 1080p web master will not only output to my hard drive, but will also automatically upload to Vimeo with a password. This means that even if a client calls me while I’m on vacation asking for a cut of an old project, I can simply pull up my Vimeo app and send them a link straight from my phone.

Bundles are a very powerful way to create masters of your projects in a single click, and you obviously can and should customize your bundle to your specific work needs. Regardless of how you set it up, simply taking the time to arrange a bundle structure in Final Cut Pro X in the first place can save you hours of time down the line, searching for and converting older projects.