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Analog Metadata
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I have read editors discussing that in FCP X they will do most of their rough cut in the browser. Deciding which clips to use. The I-O for each clip. Organizing them into a sequential order. This has always been part of the NLE process, but FCP X makes it easier and it’s a matter of degree.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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Herb,
I’ve taken to doing what I jokingly refer to as my personal “crapcapture” digital archive after every project, where I pull out my iPhone turn over every sheet before I file or trash it – and if there’s ANYTHING on it, I snap a cel phone photo.
With my iPhone 5s I’ve found that I can zoom in and recover even the smallest scribbled information
The photos are dated by default and are easy to export into a dated folder.
Takes almost no time and I have’t had to go digging for a small reference note in months.
Just a thought.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Bill Davis] ” I pull out my iPhone turn over every sheet before I file or trash it – and if there’s ANYTHING on it, I snap a cel phone photo. “
Great idea, thanks for that.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
Who is editing in the browser?
ME. All the time.
I have been since day one since I consider key wording to be a form of editing. At the core, editing is removing what’s not important and distilling the story flow to what is, right. Cutting out crap is editing.
Keywording is where you can do reductive editing amazingly rapidly by making qualitative decisions and applying them to the ranges of your footage and letting X hide them from view.
Keywords collections, then are collections of possibles. And, since keyword application is FRAME ACCURATE – it allows me to take a precise shot that is starting to look more important to me as I uncover the nature of the edit that’s emerging and put it in a collection with other shots that are also “percolating up” in my judgemtnt. Applied to the storyline, I often find that if I am careful in my selections in the event browser, the clip arrives distilled to just the part of the clip that’s suitable for the story. Essentially, it’s been “pre-edited.”
When you’re working with shot list style scripts with multiple takes of each, it’s a HUGE timesaver to have pre-edited just the very best options of the takes you need and are able to recall them at will.
If I’m working on something that doesn’t have alternate “takes” of the same material, then I use my keywords differently. More documentary style – to locate themes and participants and locations and a hundred other things.
That’s a good chunk of the FUN part of being an X editor. New tools – new ways to explore employing them – new ways to see what I’ve been seeing the same way for such a long time.
FWIW>
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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Post-It notes are my favoured analogue metadata – lots and lots of them. Gotta get decent ones, mind, as the glue lasts longer and they stay sticky. I use a different colour for each story strand (I’m often cutting docs with multiple strands) or character, and name each scene on notes as a kind of nonlinear shorthand script. It’s really easy to be able to change stuff around, and see the spread of stories across the arc of a film or series – you can see if one story dominates or is too long before returning to the fore. Most directors I’ve worked with think it’s nuts for about 5 minutes and then become instant converts.
I can’t see any software or e-device replacing them.
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Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
Then when you do criticise him, you’ll be a mile away. And have his shoes. -
To expand on that, I was going to suggest using Evernote help keep everything organized. I started using it a couple of years ago and it helps a lot especially with going back to older projects. I still primarily take notes by hand, but I’ll transcribe them into Evernote. You can also import images, PDFs, etc., (I keep a collection of deck user manuals and white papers in it).
Since it’s cross platform (Mac, PC, iOS, Android and web browser) it’s always easy to pull up.
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[Andrew Kimery] “I was going to suggest using Evernote help keep everything organized.”
[Jason Porthouse] “Post-It notes are my favoured analogue metadata … I can’t see any software or e-device replacing them.”
Andrew, Jason,
Scrivener is ideally suited to electronic organization of this sort – it has a “corkboard” mode (with index cards) but you can also view the same information as a “script” (ie linearly) and freely pass from one to the other.
I’ve tried it – I just don’t seem to be able to leave the physical world behind.
Franz.
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “As someone who still uses a notebook and index cards, I’m wondering how many still use “analog metadata” and how many have migrated from note taking to data (and what tools you use either in the NLE or otherwise).”
Great thread, Franz.
The project I’m currently working on uses notepads, velcro, cheap stopwatches, Post It notes, foam core, cell phone cameras and the FCPX to Premiere workflow I wrote about here.
It’s an awesome hybrid analogue/digital metadata workflow that gives us the best of both worlds. I’ll see about getting permission from my colleagues to post some photos and screen shots and write it up.
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David Lawrence
art~media~design~research
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[David Lawrence] ” I’ll see about getting permission from my colleagues to post some photos and screen shots and write it up.”
David,
… encouragement to post what is possible.
Franz.
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “Scrivener is ideally suited to electronic organization of this sort – it has a “corkboard” mode (with index cards) but you can also view the same information as a “script” (ie linearly) and freely pass from one to the other.
I’ve tried it – I just don’t seem to be able to leave the physical world behind.”
Thanks Franz, I’ll check that out.
Amazon Studio has a web based cork board app but it’s just not the same as the real thing. Like Jason was saying, the great thing about index cards (I use index cards) on a board is that you can see everything at once and it’s all easily identifiable. On a computer monitor I usually have to zoom so far out to see everything that the detailed info isn’t visible but if I zoom into see the detailed info then I can see everything at once.
Maybe things would be different if I had 65″ iPad hanging on a wall.
Like I said before, I prefer taking notes by hand and it’s only been somewhat recently that I’ve gotten used to marking up transcripts electronically. I feel like having that physical interaction stimulates a different part of my brain. Heck, maybe it’s just having a few moments where I’m not focused on a computer screen that that I find refreshing.
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