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Subclip names
Still running CatDV 8.1.5 on an MBP using 10.6.4.
I have imported clips into CatDV with names like:
20100726 01-03-23-06 C1 #0025.mov
(Date, timecode, camera, clip serial # in shoot.)I cannot seem to get CatDV to give me subclips with rational names that sort in FCP’s browser adjacent to the master clips whence they come.
When I use Verbatim Logger to insert subclips, if I have set the Preferences > Import > Subclip Naming to:
ClipName-1: I get subclips markers inserted of the form :Name:20100726 01-03-23-06-1
Longclip Name: The name is of the form: :Name: null1)
(ShortClipName #1): The name is of the form :Name: (20100726 01-03-23-06 #1)Is there a way of getting the long clip name as in the original clip? The problem is that if subclips fail to match the original master clip name when they are imported into FCP, they sort out of order in FCP’s browser.
Anyone know how to preserve the original clip name, please? No parentheses. No truncation, but just the original clip name plus a suffix of the subclip number would be A Good Thing.
(I suspect the Longclip Name option giving a name of “null1)” is a bug. Looks like an uninitialized pointer or a null string in the code.)
Thanks in advance
AndyForensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon -
6 Replies
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You’re right that the null1) name is a bug in the verbatim logger and will be fixed in 8.1.6. For now, using the ClipName-1 option will probably give you the closest to what you want.
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The problem with the approach you suggest is that I’ll then end up with a bunch of misnamed subclips and no apparent easy way of automatically renaming them when 8.1.6 comes along. (The back story is I’m just starting to catalog a project with 1,000 clips, each of which will have several subclips…)
An alternative approach is to click and drag through the clip Name: in the Summary window (not including the .mov part), do a Cmd-C to put it on the clip board, then, whenever I insert at Clip Marker, click and drag through the automatically inserted fragment of the clip name (but not the sequence number) and do a Cmd-V to paste in the correct clip name.
Then, when you hit Apply, the subclips get the correct names.
It’s a bit tedious, but it works.
There is one major caveat with using this technique: if you do the following:
1. Open up the Verbatim Logger.
2. Log a clip, inserting verbatim transcript, clip markers, and event markers.
3. Change the names as above.
4. Hit Apply.
5. Realize you’ve screwed up some clip names and want to correct the Verbatim Logger information….
6. And so you hit Cmd-Z (undo)…Then you (a) see the subclips all go away (which is what you want), but (b) all of the text, subclip markers, and event markers also disappear (“this may be not quite what you want!”).
Workaround: Be sure to hit Save Text before you hit Apply!
Another problem with clip markers is that CatDV inserts a sequence number without any leading zeroes. So, in FCP when subclips are sorted by name you get this effect:
subclip 1
subclip 10
subclip 11
subclip 12
subclip 13
subclip 14
subclip 2
subclip 3Is there are a way of getting one or two leading zeroes on the subclip sequence number automatically assigned by CatDV, please?
If there were, the sort sequence problem in FCP would go away.
Again, the workaround is to manually change the subclip name in the Verbatim Logger text entry to include a leading zero before you hit Apply — basically manually setting the subclip name to exactly what you want before it gets created by the Apply.
Regards
AndyForensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon -
Variable Expansion – in subclip names. hmm…
From this forum to Rolf’s ears. 😉
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
hidefcowboy.com
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[bryson jones] “Variable Expansion – in subclip names. hmm…
“Well, actually it is more changing the format modifier currently in use.
The odds are (given that CatDV is written in Java), that there is a “%d” format modifier for the integer sequence number that is already being suffixed to the clip name.
To fix the problem I’m talking about requires that to be changed to “%02d” to make the sequence number appear as 01, 02, 03, etc. to allow for 99 subclips created from one master clip, or “%03d” to get 001, 002, etc. if 99 seems too small.
So, if we whine persuasively, we can maybe get Rolf or Kevin to insert the two characters “0” and “2” in the source code while they’re fixing the “null” string problem.
Regards
AndyForensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon -
CatDV already has naming schemes that will include leading zeros, the problem is they surround the name with parentheses (to indicate it’s an auto-generated name you might want to change to something more meaningful). What we really need is to introduce additional naming scheme options.
By the way, I would claim the problem lies with the FCP browser window not sorting things properly. CatDV knows that 9 comes before 10 🙂
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[Rolf Howarth] “CatDV already has naming schemes that will include leading zeros, the problem is they surround the name with parentheses (to indicate it’s an auto-generated name you might want to change to something more meaningful). What we really need is to introduce additional naming scheme options.”
You’re absolutely correct, Rolf. And, as you say, the problem then is that the left paren breaks FCP’s sort order and separates subclips from the master clips in the browser.
[Rolf Howarth] “By the way, I would claim the problem lies with the FCP browser window not sorting things properly. CatDV knows that 9 comes before 10 🙂
“A valid claim So, I’ve sent an email to Steve Jobs. I’m sure he will arrange to fix FCP in a timely fashion.
So much so that I’m going to hold my breath until its fixed….(thud)
🙂Forensic Software/Internet/Image Analyst
Portland, Oregon
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