CGTalk - Advice Please: managing rendered clips for NLE

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narph

01-09-2010, 12:02 AM

I am working on a film of mine and wanting to learn what methods others use for keeping track of the clips they render, then trafficking into their NLE...

I have my story pretty solid in my head, and will render out a scene, different cam angles, then put it loosely into my editor (Final Cut Pro). then I'll do the same for following scenes.

Sometimes, I'll spend 1-2 months rendering other scenes and by the time I'm ready to head back into FCP to see how it all flows together, I'm overwhelmed by the sheer number of individual rendered sequences that I need to get into FCP...which are and which aren't...

do people use spreadsheets? a handy paper notebook? Do you get those clips into your editor the moment they're finished, so that you don't lose track, or do you render out a batch, then pull all of them in together?

thanks for sharing how you handle this aspect of your workflow.

n

Davewriter

01-09-2010, 03:14 PM

Well I'm not a professional - nor do I play one on TV... most of the things I've played at are smaller in scale. That said, I go fairly low tech and I begin with the script. And because I started out as a writer - so all them words are important - I tend to key things off of the dialogue. So it would be scene (or item) # - followed by a charactor reference (usually just he first letter of the charator name) and the first word or two of dialogue. Then add in other items as needed.
As an example I then mark off on the script:

Open 01 D(ave) Hi there
Open 02 J(ulia) Why are you
Open 03 knock @ door
Open 04 shocked look
Table 01 Sitting @ Table
Table 02 D Wonderful surprise

If I miss something I can always add in a OPen 02b as needed
Then as I build my scenes in Layout I'll name them the same way.
I also tend to assemble things as I get them rendered. Sure, I have a pretty good idea of what I wanted - but I do find that there are things that can be added or little nicities that could make things stronger - like adding a Open 05 opening door

I doubt that this is the best way to do things... but it has helped me get through projects.

narph

01-09-2010, 05:40 PM

sounds like you rely on your naming convention to keep order...which clips go first within a particular segment..so that if you don't get back to your NLE fora while, you can quickly orient yourself to what's what.

J

DSW

01-09-2010, 08:53 PM

Here is a link to one of the guys (Kat - Kelly Meyers) who worked on Battlestar Galactica:

http://www.battlestarvfx.com/index.php?id=7

They had to stay VERY organized for all of their shots. Further down on the page there is a section called File naming Conventions - Staying Organized; this is how I will be organizing my 22 minute short. Hopefully it will help.

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