Can Dropbox and FCPX get along?

Hello FCPX Brain Trust:

I've been working on a short industrial film with about 12 others using Dropbox Pro (Plus) for interchange of all at the assets, posting dailies & roughcuts, rendering elements, storing artwork etc. I've also been using it to edit Projects between my studio and home computers. So far, After Effects, Photoshop etc. seem to be fine. In general Dropbox has been a huge boon to the workflow.

FCPX has been a little flaky, though.

In my FCPX Library, I have the media set to externally managed. I have been keeping all the source materials and FCPX libraries on Dropbox. I always make sure that I've closed out of the Library if I'm changing locations. I'm the only one who edits on the project, so I'm not sharing with another editor. I've also segregated all of the editorial assets into a separate Dropbox folder that is not shared with the team.

A couple of problems have arisen, although not always crushing:

1) When I re-open the Library at work after having closed it at home (or vice-versa), I will get an error that I need to reset my source folder location. I do that and everything is hunky dory. If I'm re-opening the Library at the same location, I don't get this alert.

2) Every so often, FCPX will throw up an alert that some elements could not be found (or something to that effect) and will tell me it's closing. If I re-open in a moment, I'm able to work at length without incident.

3) This morning I had a Library corruption issue where FCPX kept crashing. Not sure whether it was Dropbox or media related (I had a lot of AIFF files from an AFF import, so that might be part of it.). I was able to restore an earlier version from Time Machine and I trashed my prefs. The crashing occurs on certain actions like using "Command-Option-DownArrow" to overwrite the Primary storyline with connected media, or duplicating a Project either as a new project or snapshot. Again, I have no idea if this is Dropbox related.

Here are my questions:
1) Who has the best notion of how Dropbox works with FCPX in terms of file integrity, copying, etc.?

2) What are the best practices for using Dropbox with FCPX?

3) Are there other cloud systems that are preferable and if so, why?

4) Has anyone published a comprehensive write-up on using Dropbox with FCPX and if so, where?

Thanks all... curious to hear your thoughts

I haven't done this as you have, but I do use Dropbox extensively.
I always copy footage to the FCPX library and drag it over to the computer's HDD; whichever computer I'm using.
I only use Dropbox to move from computer to computer.

The way I understand it, Dropbox installs a special folder on your computer that syncs with your cloud storage. This is why you're able to see a Dropbox folder on you computer and also see your Dropbox contents through a browser. I would think that this would be okay as long as you are sure the computer you're using is 100% synced before opening FCPX.

The Dropbox folder on the computer copies contents from the Dropbox "cloud." You can tell this by selecting 'Get Info' on the folder. It should show that it is using the same amount of space on your computer as it is on Dropbox.

As far as FCPX is concerned, it should act the same as a normal folder if it's 100% synced before opening FCPX.

I tried an experiment last night and copied the FCPX Library out of the Dropbox folder and put it in another area of my hard drive, leaving the media where it was in Dropbox. In this instance, I was able to edit for several hours without incident. Once my session was over, I copied the Library back to my Dropbox folder so that it will be available when I get to my studio.

I'm thinking that what happens with Dropbox is that if the FCPX Library is several gigabytes or more, there will be times when Dropbox "controls" the Library and temporarily removes it for FCPX to use. That's why FCPX reports that the Library is "unavailable" and closes my session without crashing. I imagine it's like unplugging a hard drive while editing. Perhaps there's something about the package structure of FCPX libraries (a file that's a folder) that is different than all other types of files that Dropbox encounters in its sync process.

Anyone out there have an actual tech understanding of this process (beyond my surmises)?

This is because Final Cut Pro libraries have a file structure that constantly syncs up and records every single keystroke, I think. And that is confusing for DropBox... tried it. Wish it worked!

Haven't tried Dropbox and wouldn't attempt it either because Dropbox is not made for video Cloud sharing and or FCP Library sharing.
If you want a reliable solution I would have a look at Postlab from Hedge. hedge.video/postlab/benefits
It has it's own cloud storage that is optimised for the task and they give you all the tools to manage your Libraries and Media for remote/collaborative workflows. Of course you pay more but what's the saying 'You get what you pay for'