Backing Up Projects

After you have fine-tuned and output your sequence, it is time to back up your project. It is important to have a backup strategy, not only for when you are finished with a project, but all along the way. If the Autosave Vault is active, Final Cut Pro will automatically save a backup of your project at set time intervals as you work. In addition to this automatic backup system, here are a few other strategies to keep in mind:

• Store your project files on a separate drive from your Autosave Vault. That way, if either drive goes down, you will always have your project on the other drive.

• Save a few different versions of your project throughout the life of the project. This reduces the chance of file corruption by ensuring that you don't work on the same physical file for an extended period of time.

• Back up your project every few days to removable media, such as CDs, Zip disks, an iPod, or other FireWire devices. You can even back up your project to a server. The idea is to protect the project and yourself in case your computer or drive goes down.