Creating a Library (in the right place)

Everything you do in FCP is stored somewhere in a Library. Events live in a Library, and everything else lives in an Event: video and audio clips, your edited Projects, photos, and music you’ve used — the lot. If you follow the most basic workflow, this can be a simple process, but there are reasons why you might want to go down a more complex path.

Creating and naming a Library

1. Choose File > New > Library.
2. Give your Library a sensible name, corresponding to the entire job it represents.

A good name might be derived from a simple rule, such as Year-Month ClientName JobName, producing 2020-01 SuperCo Internal Messaging. The reason why I prefer to use a numeric year-month format (YYYY-MM, part of ISO 8601) at the start of Library names is that it alphabetizes correctly as you add more and more Libraries to the same folder. Bad names will make Libraries hard to find, so avoid giving no name or a generic...