-
What would you do in this situation…
This is the situation. I am going to be editing a short doc in June. Media has been “dumped” to a hard drives as entire tapes. No logging, no breakdown of clips; just one QT for each tape. I have had nothing but major problems when things have been done this way in the past. There is no time nor budget to have tapes logged properly. I am trying to think of the best way to proceed so as to minimize potential problems (ie, media management problems) down the road. What do you think?
Scott Davis
-
19 Replies
-
Get an intern off of Craigslist to go through and subclip everything with the correct logging info, usually there is someone on there willing to work for 12 hours for a sandwich. You just might have to actually hire them in the future if you have a pesky conscience.
-
Let me offer a contrarian view on subclipping.
I know some editors love subclipping. Personally, I don’t use it. Here’s why. On a documentary, you must constantly be looking for material to build a scene, support an interview, or make a transition.
Often times you “don’t know what you’re looking for” until you see it.
Therefore, the very act of subclipping will limit your “scope” and force you to “read” clips rather than view them. I find it much more helpful to simply scan from head to tail an entire tape while searching for a particular shot. An old school equivelent would be the time spent fast forwarding and rewinding a film reel while searching for a shot.To answer the original question, I would use the comments column to give a very general description of what’s on the tape and then scan the files looking for your shots. Technically, if your system is up to specs large files should NOT be a problem.
There’s as many ways to work as there are editors. This is just my opinion.
Mark
-
I completely agree! With storage so cheap, capture everything!
Another method may be to log your shots and then make a media manager copy of what you want if your are concerned about media managmenet down the road for uprez etc. Media manager works quite good for copying logged material with handles.
I believe this will become standard workflow as so many formats etc emerge, not to metion ProRes! Its cheaper to set an in and out point and capture a whole tape than it is to log and batch capture.
My two cents….
Michael Sandness
Colorist-Finishing
Splice Here, Minneapolis MN
http://www.splicehere.tv -
Mark, I could not agree more with you. In fact I have taken what you wrote and put it aside to send to people. One of my mentors put it this way. He said that you need to “let the footage wash over you”. To not judge it. To not think “Oh this will go here, that will go there” Just watch and remember. And then when you need it, it will come to the surface and be there for you. I see it as respecting the footage. Listening to what it is trying to tell you. I rebel against anything that forces footage to meet my ideas. Aside from that subclipping is always a huge pain in the a** somewhere down the road. I do not like doing it this way but it is where I am at. Thankfully it is a small project with not much footage.
-
Michael, I respectfully disagree. It is not cheaper to capture as one huge clip. It always adds to the time somewhere down the road. Plus, logging is the first step in editing. I see it as my introduction to the footage. Captureing whole tapes is to me like grading and saying that all clips need x amount of desaturation.
Scott Davis
-
I understand your point, although, at our facility, it is absolutely cheaper to dig everything. Having and editor tie up a deck for logging keeps the deck from being used for other digitizing sessions. Also, when a client come in with 20 tapes, best to dig all of it by an assisitant for 10-20 hrs and then log it post dig. The assistant then starts digging for another session…it what works best here as there are more editors cutting than decks.
But I do think desaturating all clips the same is a good idea…:-)
Good Luck.
Michael Sandness
Colorist-Finishing
Splice Here, Minneapolis MN
http://www.splicehere.tv -
Just another thought…maybe cheaper is the wrong word…more efficent? Who knows…just what works best for us.
Michael Sandness
Colorist-Finishing
Splice Here, Minneapolis MN
http://www.splicehere.tv -
I would prefer logging as well over capturing whole tapes. But I cut a lot of broadcast docs and it is definitely more efficient to capture the tapes. So I suggest using markers to label scene breaks or important moments.
The best part of markers are that:
1) You are navigate thru them easily
2) Make them into subclips easily
3) Open a clip in the Browser to give you a list view of the markers
4) Can still scan over a reel as Mark mentioned.I prefer it over subclips.
-CHL
Chi-Ho Lee
Film & Video Editor
Apple Certified Final Cut Pro Trainer
http://www.chiholee.com -
[Mark Raudonis] “An old school equivelent would be the time spent fast forwarding and rewinding a film reel while searching for a shot.”
Ah, turning back the hands of time. Turning a modern non-linear device into linear device. Shame, shame…
Not really, I’m joking. I do subclip so I can use the database functions and the bin structure that my computer does so well, and I scrub at high speed when looking for something to fulfill a specific mission or when trying to find an image that is stored in the database between my ears, and I use markers to make measelly little notes about the connections bewteen things I happen to see along the way.
And, all the time, I’m doing my very best to organize things the way Hollywood has trained me, so that if I die, another person can jump right in and make the deadline without skipping a beat.
Unfortunately, none of the editors whose jobs I inherit do that last one… (Monica are you listening???)David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles -
Just jump in there and start with the full clips. Use markers to highlight different sections and you’ll be able to find the bits you need easily enough. The time it takes searching through the big clip will be a lot less than logging and capturing again and the marking process will help you to get to know where everything is.
Maybe not the crafty way – but time is money.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up