Three Media Organization Tips
It’s not sexy and it’s certainly not what most filmmakers are worried about when principal photography wraps, but media organization is what holds a lot of productions back.
I promise you that paying attention to how the media is being organized or paying a competent technician to do it for you will save money and prevent headaches in post.
Here are 3 tips that will help streamline your project.
Tip 1: Shoot Folder Organization
Every day of production is going to have multiple card dumps and a folder for any recorded audio.
If you’re working with an editor through production, have them set up the folder structure before the shoot starts so the media all lands in the right place.
If you are bringing in an editor later, have whoever is copying the media place the footage in a folder that looks like this:
Shoot Folder:
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Date_Shoot Title
That way when you sort by name, the folders should line up chronologically.
All of these folders should be kept in a master “shoot” folder that only holds footage and audio from the shoot days.
Tip 2: Non-Shoot Media
As you move through the edit, you will start to accumulate a ton of files related to the cut. You will have ripped video and audio from YouTube, SFX brought in from different places, archival footage, images, VFX renders and much more.
Setting up folders for these kinds of media on the master drive will eliminate confusion and relinking issues. Every time an asset is downloaded, it should first be copied to the master drive and then imported from there.
Trying to reverse engineer this organization and find all of the correct file locations after the cut has been finished and then copy to the master drive is a complete nightmare and should be avoided at all costs.
Tip 3: Exports
As we work through editorial, there will be times when the team will want to output a work in progress (WIP). There are string-outs that will be made for viewing purposes. There might be selects string-outs.
These files should all have corresponding sequences in the project with identical names for traceability.
On the folder structure side, it helps to set up folders with the different kinds of files you anticipate needing to export. This keeps WIP exports separate from B-roll string-outs and the like.
My standard “Export” folder looks like this:
Exports
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01_Day Sync B-Roll String-Outs
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02_Interviews
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03_Stills
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04_Selects Strings
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05_WIP Exports
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zOLD
As we get deeper into the edit I will probably add a "full exports" or "reels" folder if the project is a feature film.
Bonus Tip: zOLD
As the project goes on and the drive starts getting filled up with media and exports, you’ll want to keep folders organized. Sometimes you want to clean up a folder without actually deleting files.
I often create a ‘zOLD’ folder to move old files that I want to keep but don’t want to see. This is helpful with shared folders so everybody knows what the most recent version is while being able to reference the old versions.
The "z" is used to make sure the folder stays at the bottom when you sort the folder by name.
I hope these tips give you some organizational inspiration. Remember, being organized means you’re prepared to get straight to editing when the footage rolls in!
If you want more info about post pipelines and workflows, check out these other articles:
Why Your Movie Needs A Post Pipeline