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52Final Cut Pro User Guide
Organize files during import into Final Cut Pro
You can choose how to organize your media when you import it into Final Cut Pro.
You can copy the source files into the library or link to them at their current location. If your
source files have Finder tags or the folders containing the files have meaningful names,
you can choose to have the tags and folder names applied to the files as keywords during
import.
If your source footage contains shots of people, you can have Final Cut Pro analyze the
footage during import and apply keywords for the number of people in each shot and the
shot type.
A Keyword Collection is created for each keyword added to your clips during import. Select
a Keyword Collection in the Libraries sidebar to see all the clips with that keyword applied.
1. To import a file into Final Cut Pro, choose File > Import > Media, navigate to the file you
want to import, select the file, then click Import.
2. Use the settings on the right side of the Media Import window to choose how you want
to organize the imported media in your library:
• Add the imported media to an existing event: Select “Add to existing event,” then
choose the event from the pop-up menu.
• Create a new event: Select “Create new event in,” use the pop-up menu to choose
the library in which you want to create the event, then type a name (for example,
“Chris and Kim Wedding”) in the text field.
To learn more about events, see
Intro to libraries in Final Cut Pro. If you want to import
media into a new library, you must create the new library before importing your media.
3. In the Files section, select a file storage option:
• Copy to library: This option duplicates the media files and places the copies in the
current library storage location.
Note: The name of this option changes to “Copy to library storage location: location
name” when the current library is set to an external storage location.
For information about setting the library storage location, see Set storage locations
in Final Cut Pro.
• Leave files in place: This option links to the source media files at their current
location. If you import files with this option selected, Final Cut Pro creates symbolic
links (also known as symlinks), which are special files that point to the media files
without copying them. When you move, copy, or back up events and projects that
use these files, only the symbolic links are moved or copied (not the source media
files). If, after you move or copy your project or event, you want to replace the
symbolic links with the actual source media files, select the events and choose File >
Consolidate Event Files. For more information about files and clips, see Media files
and clips in Final Cut Pro.