FAQ
Add or import project files as Documents inside a Production. If you’re using Postlab Drive, you might be tempted to upload these directly to Drive. You can... but you’ll miss out on the real magic of Postlab with activity tracking, versioning, and collaboration.
Productions are bundles of files that contain your Documents and related activity (Preferences → General → DEFAULT PRODUCTION LOCATION). Productions are downloaded and locally cached on your computer, with changes synced with the Postlab Cloud service.
Postlab saves each version of a Document. But it doesn't save an entire version each time. It only saves the parts that have changed. When you go back to a previous version in Postlab, the Document is reconstructed based on what parts changed, and when. For that, a lot of reference points are saved. Over time, many of them become moot. Housekeeping will check each of those references, then decide which ones are needed. If it's not needed, it's removed. This makes Productions open faster and feel more responsive.
Housekeeping is done automatically on the server, so downloading a Production for the first time always feels neat and tidy. But like real life, housekeeping can be time-consuming. The more versions there are of a Document, the more references to compare, the longer housekeeping takes. For best results, run Housekeeping after finishing a job, or if a Production starts to feel a bit sluggish.
If your Production still feels sluggish:
In Finder, delete the Production bundle from Postlab’s Default Production Folder (
Preferences → General → DEFAULT PRODUCTION LOCATION).In Postlab, redownload the Production when prompted.
Select a Document.
Click
⚙️(Options), then[Delete].Read -
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE THIS…?If you still want to delete this Document, follow the instructions, then click
[Delete...].
In Postlab, go to
POSTLAB CLOUD → <Your Team>, then click the Production to delete.In the Info & Options panel, go to
ABOUT → [⚙️ Options] → [Delete Production].Read -
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE THIS…?If you still want to delete this Production, follow the instructions, then click
[Delete Production].
If you add more than 8 Documents total to a Production, Postlab warns you:
Postlab won't prevent you from adding more Documents to a Production. Right now, this is only a warning. But if you need more than 8 Documents for your work, we recommend organizing your work into multiple Productions. Here's why.
A Production is like an 8-passenger car, not a touring bus. 4 people? Comfortable. 5? Still comfortable. With eight people, everyone still fits, and it's still comfortable. But add one more person? They might fit, but it starts becoming uncomfortable. One more? Even less.
With Postlab, you can create garages full of cars:
Garage = Folder
Cars = Productions
Driver, Navigator, Passengers = Documents
So if you see this warning in a Production, Postlab's saying, "Please don't use this car as a touring bus." If you know you'll need more than 8 Documents for your work, plan ahead, organize work into multiple Productions, and your Productions will stay smooth and drivable.
FCP 10.5 lets you can create a travel library, with or without media. Using Postlab, you can open the last version of a Library as a local copy, then consolidate all media to a local backup location, you should have everything you need in one place. Then, you can delete the Production in Postlab, and the media on Drive, and you can continue working locally.
Note: when deleting a production in Postlab, you will lose all versioning, Tasks, and Bookmarks.
When you need to move a Library back to Postlab: