See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 for comparisons and details of different cloud storage functionalities.
In this post I am evaluating how cloud providers deal with symbolic links. If you don't want to read, I'll save you the rest: THEY DON'T DEAL WITH THEM WELL. Read on for the best approach to this problem.
What are symlinks?
Final Cut Pro use symbolic links (symlinks) to manage media within Libraries. They are Aliases files that point to a file stored externally. In FCP case, Media files. If I backup my FCP Libraries to the cloud, I don't want symlinks to be screwed with.
In this example I created a simple FCP Project with a Folder "Test FCP Project" containing 5 folders: "Original Media", "FCP Libraries", "FCP Cache", FCP Backups", and "FCP Media".
The last 3 are necessary for each FCP Library to work properly. I added the first 2 as it is the way I like to organize my projects, and they are self explanatory.
Mega. Unfortunately cloud storages are not good with symbolic links. This is what happens when I upload the Project file to Mega, on the web app it seems normal:
Looking into the Library "Test FCP.fcpbundle" reveals that the symbolic link is gone. Mega has ignored it:
If I now download the Test FCP Project file from Mega to my computer this is what I get:
Empty folders "FCP Backups" and "FCP Media" have not been downloaded, they do not exist anymore.
When opening the fcpbundle Library, the symlink inside 6-22-26 has been deleted, with its containing folder "Original Media", that is now empty. "_Temp", and "Motion Template" folders, automatically created by FCP and empty at the start have also been deleted.
This proves that you cannot store Final Cut Pro Libraries without first creating an archive, i.e. compressing / zipping the folder or files. If you don't, you will loose symlinks and empty folders, messing up the structure of your project, and of the Library itself.
With Mega, and most cloud providers as we will see in this post, you must first Compress the folder/file and create a ZIP archive prior to uploading or backing up. That's the only way to keep the project integrity.
Locally, with Mega desktop app, or if drag and dropping the Library to the Mega sync drive, symlinks will trip Mega, and the sync will immediately stop. At least Mega pops an alert on the desktop app when it encounters symlinks, the web app doesn't even alert you.
Again in order to hide the symbolic links from Mega, and keep the project and library exactly structured as the original, you must Zip the project folder, or Zip the Library before dropping it inside Mega sync Drive / folder or on the web app.
GoogleDrive web ignores symlinks, they do not get uploaded. No alerts. GoogleDrive does not delete empty folders.
So as with Mega, compressing / Zipping is the way with Google Drive, even though the presence of symlinks do not trip the sync.
kDrive on the web ignores symlinks. No alerts. kDrive does not delete or ignores empty folders. kDrive Desktop app feign to be fine with symlinks: when you drop a fcpbundle into the local synced kDrive it shows the symlink present, only for the sync to FAIL. And it does not clearly say it's failing because of the symlink, and it's put on pause indefinitely.
Internxt sneakinly and silently plain ignores and does not upload the complete "Test FCP.fcpbundle", not on the web, not on the desktop app/local drive. No alert on the web nor on the desktop app. It's not backed-up.
Jottacloud uploads without warning, ignoring symlink, and its enclosing Original Media folder, on both the web and the desktop app. Dragging the Library to the local synced folder shows both the symlink and folder, but they stay local and are not synced to the cloud.
Symlink gone from Jotta in the cloud.FolderFort behaves the same as Jottacloud.
pCloud web ignores and does not upload the symlink. If you try to copy the Library to the locally mounted pDrive, it flashes an error code 100078 and doesn't upload anything. Empty folders are respected.
iCloud. Dropping the folder into the iCloud local drive shows the symlink present. On the web, iCloud recognize the fcpbundle as a Final Cut Pro Library. Downloading the bundle still has the symlink present, yeah! The roundtrip works.
Unfortunately, Apple iCloud, for all its automation (or maybe because of it) is a really aggravating cloud service for the advanced user:
#3 iCloud on the web sends an error message: "Can't upload folders". Seriously Apple? What is this? That's a serious and aggravating limitation. If you drop just the fcpbundle Library to iCloud web, it works fine, the symlink and entire structure is respected, including empty folders. So iCloud is perfectly capable of dealing with folders. Incredibly cringe.
OneDrive on the web behaves the same as kDrive. Empty folders present, symlink gone. No alerts.
OneDrive desktop app on the other end leaves everything intact including the symlink! Copying the fcpbundle back from OneDrive local sync drive to another location on the local Mac drive keeps the symlink, and Final Cut Pro opens the Library just fine!
That's a big Surprise. OneDrive has found a way to deal with symlinks. On the desktop solely though. That said, it appears that you cannot "Free up space" with a fcpbundle. It stays on the sync local OneDrive no matter what you do:
Drime ignores symlinks and does not upload them. Empty folders are preserved. No alert on the web app.
The desktop app flashes an error: Something went wrong! And is unable to sync. No further explanation. As long as the symlink is present on the local Drime drive, the sync will fail.
Icedrive ignores both symlinks and empty folders, no alerts whatsoever.
Sync uploads empty folders just fine, and flashes an error: cannot upload empty file. Does not mention symlink per se, but better than most. Of course no symlink is present in the cloud.
Recap.
Except for iCloud and OneDrive, no love for symlinks from any of the cloud providers in this list. Solution: Compress / ZIP your fcpbundle Library, or your entire project before syncing/uploading it to the cloud.
| Cloud Provider | Upload symlink on web app | Upload symlink on desktop app / sync folder | Alert Message | Sync stops | Upload and respects empty folders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iCloud | Yes | Yes | No | No | No, iCloud cannot upload folders of any kind via web. What a disgrace. | |
| OneDrive |
|
Yes | Yes | No, but cannnot free up local space with fcpbundle | Yes | |
| Mega | No | No | Yes, but only on desktop | Yes | No | |
| GoogleDrive | No | Yes, but after downloading from the web it is in fact damaged | No | No | Yes | |
| Internxt | No, entire fcpbundle gets ignored | No | No | No | No | |
| kDrive | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| DropBox | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Drime | No | No | Yes, only on desktop | Yes | Yes | |
| JottaCloud | No | No | No | No, but symlinks do not get synced | No | |
| PCloud | No | No | Yes, only on desktop | Yes | Yes | |
| FolderFort | No | N/A | No | No | No | |
| Icedrive | No | Not tested | No | No | No | |
| Sync | No | Not tested | No | No | No |
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