auto naming in fcphd

how do I get to name a clip that i captured with the capture now function so that the clip name is the same in the bin and scratch disk..

-D

Rename the file manually in the hard disk, then rename the item in FCP and do a manual Reconnect Media.

you cannot have it prompt you for a name after capture before saving to disk like it did in FCP 3??? I know you can set it before the capture...

one way to "conform" the file name to the clip name is this:

select the clip, open Media Manager.

- MOVE mode
- DONT delete unused
- Base Media File Names on CLIP NAMES
- NO you dont want a new project
- BROWSE to the same location as your capture scratch location.

hit OK

the file will be moved from one folder on your capture scratch disk to another, and teh name will be changed in the process. FCP will reconect to the newly named file.

if your captue scratch was in drive "LUCKY" for instance,
and you chose the drive "LUCKY" in hte browse,
the file would be moved from
LUCKY/Capture Scratch/"david's project"
to
LUCKY/Media/"david's project"

if you prefer, nominate the "david's project" folder when you browse.
the file will now be in:
LUCKY/Capture Scratch/"david's project"/Media/"david's project".

this is good as you can do a batch of clips.
WARNING: do this as soon as you can, at the end of the capture session.
if the clips are in a sequnce already, they can go offline.

nick

I guess this must be the only workaround.. What I don't understand is what was broken about the way it was handled in fcp3

-D

Call me old-fashioned, but I tend to do this kind of thing by hand. Much, much slower, of course, and takes up more mental energy, but I never trust applications to do this kind of thing for me, because it could mean life or death.

I think it depends on what you value -- speed and convenience (Nick's method), or clarity and certainty (manual conforming).

The best thing to do, of course, is really to make sure the manually captured clips are named properly in the first place. A bunch of clips called "Untitled1-10" referencing different media is a dead giveaway for an amateur.

Im just a big fan of the way 3 dealt with naming clips with the capture now function. it was more pro...

the problem with that was that people wound up not looking where they were saving their files to.

they'd accidentaly send them to another drive (probably the system drive), and wonder why it was taking so long!

what would be realy pro would be to be able to asign a name after capture without this happening, or even better, asign a name WHILE YOU ARE CAPTURING!
AND add markers!

this probably wont happen, as FCP is made to be workable on a large range of systems.
apple have to make it so it will function on even an ibook, or a minimac
and to that end, when FCP is capturing, it really locks out any other activity, so as to maximize performance. reduced display frame-rate, no TC display, no audio meters, no audio, unless you ask very nicely.

(the reality is though, that FCP only locks iteslf up. you can capture and read your e-mail at the same time if you want to risk it.)

maybe it could be a preference in the next version?



nick

> the problem with that was that people wound up not looking where they were
> saving their files to.

I just had a student who did that. And worse still, she had two files called Untitled-1 and relinked to the wrong one. Now she was stuck at 3PM with a film with a midnight deadline, media that was on her home computer, and a clip that relinked to the wrong footage. Bam.

> they'd accidentaly send them to another drive (probably the system drive),
> and wonder why it was taking so long!

Most of the time they don't send them anywhere at all...so the file goes to wherever the default Scratch was, or the location used by the last user on that computer.

> what would be realy pro would be to be able to asign a name after capture
> without this happening

Yep, I always do this with every single manually captured clip, the minute it's done capturing. I also move the file because I hate manual clips being mixed with batchlisted ones. I segregate them by hand so that I can media-manage and dump clips without even going into FCP.

> or even better, asign a name WHILE YOU ARE CAPTURING! AND add
> markers!

To dream...the impossible dream...