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HMC150 naming clips in FCP
I don’t like the fact that clips are automatically named “Clip #1, Clip #2, etc.” The problem with that is it’s easy to have more than one file called “Clip #1”. I like the way P2 media is completely random. Or, better yet, I prefer the old log and capture from tape where you just name the first clip, “ProjectWhatever 01” and then Final Cut automatically sequentially names the remainder of the files “ProjectWhatever 02, etc.”
Is there a way to do this in FCP 6 or 7?
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
11 Replies
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Don’t mess with those names- use one of the secondary log fields in your bin. And don’t forget you should be making a new bin for each SD card. That will help a lot in seperating out all those Clip#1, etc from different cards. Remember there’s a ton of identifying fields you can use in the FCP Browser beyond just clip name.
Noah
Check out my book: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera!
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I don’t care about the names in the BINS in FCP. What I care about are the original files. For example, let’s say I Log and Transfer a card and I have a file called “Clip #1” in the capture scratch folder for that project. Then, I have a different project or, I’ve changed by capture scratch folder for some reason. Then, I do a Log and Transfer for a different card, but in the same project. I now have two different files called “Clip #1.”
Not only is it called “Clip #1” in the FCP bin, but also on the hard drive. What happens when I media manage this project and later want to recapture the footage, or I was using ProRes Offline files and need to online the project? I’ll tell you what happens. A MESS!
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
I’d have to agree with you on that trevor.
I suppose after logging and transfering, we could go and change all those .mov files to something else–but what a pain! It would be nice if there was some way to change the names in the log&transfer process.Dan S.
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Sorry that you don’t care what happens in the bins but you really should- managing that properly will make sure that everything goes fine when you media manage. Holding onto the belief that the clip name is the only thing FCP looks at when media managing is not helping you…
Noah
Check out my book: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera!
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, Panasonic HVX200, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon 7D.
Watch Formosa- My indie movie shot with the SDX900 and finished with Final Cut Studio. -
It’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I can handle renaming, sorting, organizing my media within FCP. Your last comment was a little condescending. Or at least it came off that way. I’ve been using FCP for about 5 years now and I’m good at what I do. But I think Panasonic missed the mark here or FC missed the mark. Either way, I should be able to give my clips unique file names so the OS and any program using the files won’t get confused.
And yes, I know that I can rename each clip upon ingest, but that’s just not practical on more than a handful of clips.
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
Again, I’ll have to agree…thought the last comment came off a little condescending.
Dan S.
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This is timely. It’s been something I’m not happy about either. But, I just came back from a weekend shoot with over 300 clips. I have taken Noah’s advice, and started the project by bringing in all the clips into the L&T window, and looked through them before doing anything. I figured out that they basically were in a few groups that could be ‘bin’ related, so I created these bins, let’s call them “Performers” “Crowd scenes” “Vendors” and “Staff”. Now I simply bring the clips into the appropriate bins on transfer. I think that Noah is simply calling out an appropriate alternative to the agravating workflow that FCP seems to think is “normal”. I’ll certainly work this way on this project and see if it helps at all.
I agree that this is not optimal.
Alf
Panasonic HMC-150 & FCP on MacPro Dual Quads, 12 GB 7.0.1 on 10.6.2 -
So just to update this, I did try creating bins to store each batch of shots, and it was very useful, but still had to go through each clip and log it, including renaming. In some ways I feel this is a better workflow, I know that it’s the ‘way that we did it in the old days”, but it costs time (and therefore money). I think that I agree that Panasonic should figure out a better way to save us from doing this manual effort. Something more meaningful than Clip 1, Clip 2, etc. Why not have an ability to name clips,
“ProjectName [variablename], clip #” that would give us the ability to insert any name we want into the clip. That seems like something from DOS 1.0 days.In that world, my SD card would come out of the camera saying, “ProjectFoo Day1, clip 1” Is that so much to ask?
Alf
Panasonic HMC-150 & FCP on MacPro Dual Quads, 12 GB 7.0.1 on 10.6.2 -
That’s exactly what I would like. Either by uploading the text string through and SD card, inputing it in through the menu, or even after the fact while logging (just like you can do with Log and Capture. I think at the least, FCP should have incorporated this into their software. Log and Transfer is a few years old now (going back to P2 starting out in 07 or so).
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
Just to update. I’ve got the latest version of FCP and there is a slight improvement in the L&T functionality. Final Cut gives you the option of “transferring” the file with a name other than the file name on the card (Clip #1, etc.). You can use “Custom Name and Counter” and then give it a name like “John Interview 001.” FC will then incrementally increase the number.
Although this is a great improvement on the part of Apple, I still would prefer to actually change the file name on the card. I know final cut will keep track of the relationship between the file name on the OS and the file name on the card, it’s not totally clean, because “Clip #4” doesn’t necessarily refer to “John Interview 004.” It could be that “Clip #4” refers to “John Interview #1.”
And for that reason, it’d be nice to have the functionality in the camera to change the default clip name to “John Interview” and then let it incrementally change the number.
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl
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