Yes, likely more than twice as big - depending on the codec used for editing.
The original remains untouched; that footage is 'transcoded' into the intermediate editing format. This workflow is only necessary when mixing different original video formats and when you wish to avoid that dreaded red line - which is simply telling you that the footage referenced is not the same video format as that of the sequence you are editing.
Twice as big ? and the rest - as far as I can tell FCP files are tiny - ie an FCP file could say 'run this 50GB clip for 10hours' in about a 50k file beacuse FCP has only had to remember one instruction - maybe Im all wrong
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I am glad video people dread the red line ! - I was dreading after 36hours of FCP ownership
Is there a software that I can get a whole pile of rushes and just say save as "HDV-Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) " (or whatever) cook dinner and have a nice pile of footage waiting to play with when I have eaten(slept)
or is that function done best at the import and capture phase
my reason of thinking to do it externally of a FCP project is that I see clips having many uses client, showreel, stock, whatever
I see many client projects having shots from my soon to be shot archive (btw a potential client group of mine is holiday complexes who will need footage of local atractions like the 'eden project' or 'surfers on beach' cut into thier 'own' footage)
so having a library of clips ready to edit in a standard format seems attractive
my desire would be to adhere to my photographic workflow of storing all images in 'day folders' with the subject matter of those day folders stored in a database for easy location most is going to be on offline HDs
thanks for helping a 'vid newb' - it is a strange place to be because my stills workflow from RAW storage to client delivery is completely sorted and has been for years
S