Auxiliary timecode changing on clips with same source/tape name?

[Brent Marginet]

How did you create you Proxy Media, in Avid, Resolve or with another App.
Please let me know and maybe I can help you setup the Tape/Reel Names properly.

The Tape/Reel Name must not be the same for each clip in a Bin, if it is then Avid and even Resolve won’t be able to relink to the original Media properly. Also if your are going to do a Resolve Round Trip then Relinking will not happen and this will cause you a ton of issues now and down the road. The Tape Name is derived from either Embedded Metadata in the original Media or if there is none then it should be the same as the filename of each clip.

The reason the Tape/Reel Name is so important is because when you create grouped clips you rename the clips name column to say Scene/Take or whatever and now there is no reference back to the original clip. Even the grouping process changes key Metadata thats required for Re-Linking but the Tape/Reel Name always carries through and is therefore used for the Re-Link. All NLE’s rely very heavily on the Tape/Reel Name (Avid uses “Tape” and Resolve uses “Reel”) for linking back to the original media. So if you have say 10 Go-Pro Clips that all have the same Tape/Reel Name and Time Code then any NLE will Re-Link to the first one it finds with the same T/C and that will likely be the wrong clip.

You will need to fix this before you go on or you may never be able to relink to the original media without a hell of mess.
I would say that you will need to Re-Transcode and Re-Group all the Clips before you go any further.

\”MY MEDIA/PROJECT MOTO: If you think three copies of your media or project are enough.
Take a moment to place a value on them and then maybe add two more.
Hard Drives are now stupidly cheap. A RE-SHOOT AND YOUR TIME AREN\’T.\”

[Ryan Dundas]

I created the proxy media in Avid.

I linked all of my footage into separate bins for each card that was recorded. A01, A02, B01, B02… ect.

I was told I need to add Tape source info to all the clips to make relinking easy after edit. So I selected all the clips in each bin and right clicked and chose Modify>Modify Clip… and selected Set Source from the dropdown.

I figured each card from each camera was like a Tape, so I set the Tape name for all the clips to match the bin name, with the camera (letter) and card (number)

Then I changed the project format to 720p/29.97 and transcoded all my footage to DNxHD 50 MXF. I am then using that transcoded footage to create one big multigroup of the whole shoot day.

Are you saying that each individual clip needs its own tape name?

Also why can’t I just have Avid look at the source file name when relinking? Are you saying that info is going to be lost after the footage is used in the multigroup?

[Brent Marginet]

[Ryan Dundas] “Are you saying that each individual clip needs its own tape name?”

Yes in the Digital world each clip must have a different Tape Name.
The Tape Name should be identical to the original filename if the media does not have an embedded Tape Name in it’s Metadata.

[Ryan Dundas] “Also why can’t I just have Avid look at the source file name when relinking? Are you saying that info is going to be lost after the footage is used in the multigroup?”

The instant you auto sync, create a grouped clip or a multi group clip the source filename becomes irrelevant because you now have multiple source filenames. One for each camera and one for the double system audio if you are using a separate field recorder. How can Avid possibly populate one column with multiple filenames. Pull up some of the columns and note how they become empty when these groups are made. It has always maintained the Tape Names somehow by referencing back to the master clips though.

The name column is also changed in these cases to “name.Sync.01”, “name.Grp.01” or “Mutligroup.01” and then usually changed by the user to Scene/Take or whatever naming convention your using. So in the end Avid and all NLE’s rely very heavily on the Tape/Reel Name Column and TC of course for linking back to the original media. If someone has a work around or another suggestion I’m more than willing to test it out but I’ve always used the Tape/Reel Columns for relinking and never ran into issues if they are properly setup from the get go.

I would say that the easiest way to create the OP-Atom Proxy Media and get the proper Tape/Reel Names would be to Transcode it in Resolve. Just set the Conform options in the Master Project Settings as per the attached screen shot first.

\”MY MEDIA/PROJECT MOTO: If you think three copies of your media or project are enough.
Take a moment to place a value on them and then maybe add two more.
Hard Drives are now stupidly cheap. A RE-SHOOT AND YOUR TIME AREN\’T.\”

[Ryan Dundas]

Ok good to know thanks

I figured after my edit is complete I could right click the sequence and select Commit Multicam Edits, and that would turn all the multigroup clips back to regular clips that I could easily relink to the Original master clips. Is this correct?

After doing some searching I noticed people running into bugs with the Commit Multicam Edits feature. Is there anything I need to know to avoid getting this bug?

[Brent Marginet]

Committing to Multicam Edits may give you no issues within Avid but don’t expect any round trips to work. You will likely still have issues relinking to the original media because the all important Tape Name Column is not setup properly. When Avid gets confused it may link to any clips with the same TC and Tape Name and totally ignore any other metadata. Since you have the same Tape Name in dozens or even hundreds of clips it may pick the first one it finds with the same TC. Again the Tape Name and TC are the first two pieces of metadata that NLE’s use for rlinking. I can’t say for sure because someone showed the importance of Tape Names when I first started and I’ve always made sure they are correct before proceeding on any project.

I’ve never had an issue with the Commit to Multicam Edits feature ever and the main reason for that is that I’ve always worked with media that has the Tape Names properly setup from the get go.

\”MY MEDIA/PROJECT MOTO: If you think three copies of your media or project are enough.
Take a moment to place a value on them and then maybe add two more.
Hard Drives are now stupidly cheap. A RE-SHOOT AND YOUR TIME AREN\’T.\”