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organizing multicam clips within FC
I am developing a workflow importing and organizing a 3 camera shoot over multiple days and using P2 cams which each production day requires 2 cards per camera.
I have only one day’s practice shoot so far so I am not stuck yet with bad practices.
Some workflow questions.
I import clips from a custom named folder in the finder (a direct copy of each camera card)
and that data appears as the ‘camera name’ in list view.I want to assign a custom name to each clip because the original names are useless.
So I create a keyword collection for each cam from a day’s shoot.
I highlight clips I want to batch rename in browser>list view>start column.
In the inspector I am choosing edit>custom name with counter> and creating my custom name.
Now I don’t think it makes sense to save every custom name with counter because I have a lot of cards to organize and the custom window would get really full.
Does that makes sense or is there an easier way to go about this?
Also I forgot to save a copy of the defaults in this edit window and no longer have the default layouts.
Is there a way to reset to default?
Here is one keyword collection
TATI WA2 T1 12 based on talent name/wide angle card 1 or card 2 (since they are imported separately though with continuous timecode)/ T1 is take 1 (the first day of shooting the scene (these are improvised and there is only one take per session though we do pause production and clips will be heavily trimmed)/ 12 being the 12th clip in time order.
I’m finding the batch renaming tedious and was wondering if anyone has a workflow suggestion that might help before I get too deep into organizing this project.
Also when I go to use the multicam editor, since the cameras were paused at various times, what is the best way to sync them up? I’ve only done this with a continuous recording.
Do I sync it separately by section (at each pause) or can I make a compound clip out of each cam’s clips and sync them all at once? Will FC adjust the sync at difference points in the recording?
Since I am trimming this heavily and cutting a lot to b-roll it is not vital that I even cut using multicam. I could just find sections I want in the final edit and then choose the best angle to use though it needs to be synced with the camera that’s recording the feed from the mixer, rather than the internal mikes of the other two cams.
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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4 Replies
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I do the same as you with cameras and keyword collections.
My first workflow was to have a keyword collection for each take with both camera angles in it and sync one take at a time and then join them all up in one timeline.
But I have had surprising (no astonishing) success simply selecting all the takes from Cams 1 and 2 from a whole morning’s shoot and simply hitting hitting ‘Create Multicam Clip’ – just so long as I have made a point of making sure every take has a camera angle assigned (‘Wide’ and ‘Mid’ or ‘Cam1’ ‘Cam 2’) in the browser. Give it a go. You may be surprised (obviously with ‘use audio for synchronisation’ selected).
It just seems to work that simply for me. Massive time saver compared to my first workflow and where both cameras were not on at the same time you simply see gaps on the other camera angle when you open it in the angle editor.
If that fails I have found adding approximate markers to each take helps but that is a lot more laborious as it involves going through them all.
I have not found a need for making compound clips and not sure if there would be any advantage to doing it that way.
Cheers
James
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I personally have never bothered with actual clip names, since there is so much more data to go by that the names have gotten completely irrelevant for me. But you might look into creating/using Smart Collections based on any given metadata that is relevant for grouping the footage as needed.
[Craig Alan] “Also when I go to use the multicam editor, since the cameras were paused at various times, what is the best way to sync them up?”
If you, as you should, have named your cameras and angles in advance, then FCP will in fact figure that all out for you and place the clips all in the same angle with the needed gaps. But again, that requires your having entered the appropriate camera and angle names first, so that FCP knows what belongs together.
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Thanks James, gives me hope. That was my experience too when I did the last multi cam but I didn’t have any pauses where cams were turns off and on at different times. But they synced up great so I guess this should be more of the same. I’ve just never worked with this much footage before and don’t want to have a poorly designed workflow come back and bite me. The first day’s shoot with a backup of the cards came to 750GB.
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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[Robin S. Kurz] “But again, that requires your having entered the appropriate camera and angle names first, so that FCP knows what belongs together.”
I gave each camera (card) a name based on angle. I called one HA for high angle, one was WA for wide shot and one I called audio since it was the cam that received the feed from the mixer.
Thanks Robin.
Will this naming be ok or does it need to be a naming convention that FC recognizes. I thought you just select the different angles you want to include in the multi cam viewer?
[Robin S. Kurz] “I personally have never bothered with actual clip names, since there is so much more data to go by that the names have gotten completely irrelevant for me. But you might look into creating/using Smart Collections based on any given metadata that is relevant for grouping the footage as needed.”
I just find naming in numeric order to time helpful for me too keep track. It is actually a duplication of metadata that exist in the columns of the browser already. The picture I posted was a keyword collection. Do you feel smart collections are better for this type of organization? Could you give me an example of a smart collection and naming scheme for the different angles from a days shoot?
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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