One of the stranger things that Final Cut Pro X does during an edit is leave all your imported media online, all the time. Unlike most other NLEs out there FCPX keeps media (as in Events) separate from the editing project. That means you might be working on job X but all the while media from job A is still online and available. Though this might be handy from time to time there are many reasons why editors don’t always want to work this way. Apple didn’t provide any type of tool to unmount Events directly in FCPX but they did publish a support document that describes how to do this at the Finder level. That’s a rather pro way to move media offline, and if Apple is aiming FCPX at a broader market, you’d think they would make this easier. Event Manager X to the rescue.

Event Manager X is a small $5 application that picks up where Apple left off. Launch the application and you’ll have the ability to select and show or hide both Events and Projects from within the Event Manager X window.

The bullet points from the Event Manager X website say it all:

• Manage which Events and Projects are visible using simple check boxes
• Keep track of invisible (but mounted) Events and Projects
• Keep track of unmounted Events and Projects
• Check that all drives that hold needed Events are correctly mounted
• Never suffer the embarrassment of an Event or Project showing to the wrong client

There’s a strong change that Apple will negate this tool in the future as FCPX matures but at $5, it’ll easily pay for itself in time saved right now. It’s the first tool to address one of FCPX’s many shortcomings. Not bad for such an inexpensive app.