File management for editing

Hi,

I'm planning to edit a film that I've shot, and I was wondering what the best method is for managing clips in projects. Initially, I was going to make each scene a separate project file. Could anyone tell me how they go about this? Do editors typically break up a project into sections? Thanks much.

N.

stay in one project.
use bins within the project for scene rushes.

a lot depends on the length and type of the project.

some people would assemble scenes in their own sequnces, but i dont do that.
i;ll just build them in a main sequnce.
or main sequnces.
if the film is long, ill have a few sequences for different sections.
nothiing wrong with throwing scenes around in their own sequnce, but as soon as your pretty happy with it, i'd definitly put it into a main one.

again if the project is small(ish) build your main seq until your happy enough with it as a first cut.
duplicate it, call it CUT2, or whatever, and keep working in that.
if its a feature-size project, i'd dupe the PROJECT, and do CUT2 in that.

if there's a LOT of prep involved (synching rushes, for instance) you might want to do that in a separate project up front, then move on to an edit project.

that's my brief contribution for now,
others?

cheers,
nick

I always use this basis for formulating my system: If I look at the system nine months from now, can I tell on first glance which object is which, and where?

I first learned on Adobe Premiere and the instructor there gave me a file-management system I still use to this day:

A MASTER FOLDER, named after your film (eg. "Titanic", which contains *all* of the files associated with the editing of the "Titanic" film, no exceptions. This allows you to move your entire film from place to place rather than have to look desperately.

Within the master folder you have:

Titanic Archive
- for manually backing up project files. Project backups moved to here are always given a date/time stamp, so you can go back to a cut from January 3.
Titanic Audio
- for imported music, sound FX, voice-overs etc. -- anything sound-related that wasn't captured from a batch list.
Titanic Clips
- for render files, captured clips, and anything captured using a batch list. Whenever you set your scratch disk, FCP creates three folders for you without exception: "Capture Scratch", "Audio Render Files" and "Render Files". The reason for having a "Clips" folder is that a) if you have multiple projects, this will segregate the clips and render files for each project nicely; and b) everything inside this "Clips" folder is expendable. So if you ever lay a project to rest, you can dump the contents of this folder practically without looking.
Titanic Graphics
- for LiveType backgrounds, Photoshop files, and anything graphic-related.
Titanic Project
- for keeping the current copy of the project file.
Titanic Titles
- for text cards not created in FCP.


> some people would assemble scenes in their own sequnces, but i dont do that.

I find this fairly useful sometimes because it allows you to use "Render All" with impudence, and it's also very useful for reducing the amount of memory needed while editing. However, a major minus is that this "separate scenes, separate sequences" method needs each sequence to open and end on a nice straight cut. if you have music/sound overlaps or visual transitions between scenes, you'll have to fudge it or razor your music. Plus, you also sacrifice some flow because it's more of a hassle to view scenes back to back.

A tip: If you have a lot of footage, keep the batch list in one project file and the cuts in another. A lot of people have reported FCP crashing because of overlarge (120-160MB) project files. Keeping the batch list and cuts in separate files reduces this problem dramatically.

I highly recommend against keeping too many "alternate versions" of your edits in the same project file. One, it encourages too much dilly-dallying between different versions, which can make you lazy about solving the problems and makiing the cut better. Second, it bloats up your project file. Third, it makes the Browser very cluttered.

General maxims:

1. SEGREGATE YOUR FILES. Project files should not be in the same location as clips, graphics, and music.
2. CALL EACH FILE A UNIQUE, IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFIABLE NAME. For example, do not import music from a CD and leave the file with a name like "Track 1 Audio AIFF". Think: What if you import 12 different songs and they're all the first track on their respective CDs? Don't call a file "Bob Dylan 1", either -- what if you use two Dylan songs? Instead, call the file "Like a Rolling Stone.aif". It's really not that likely that you'll be using two versions of "Like a Rolling Stone" in the same film, is it? But using two songs by the same singer, very common.
3. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP.
4. DON'T BE QUIRKY OR PLAYFUL. The more "dry" your file-management system, the better it is. People name their files like "My Great DVD" or "Hannah's Movie". Doesn't tell me jack *&^% about what the content is, does it?
5. DON'T EVER LABEL THINGS "FINAL" UNLESS YOU MEAN IT. I've seen so many people with four files called "FINAL" in their drives. It simply adds to the confusion. My favourite method is to use dates. That way you never have to question whether FINAL is truly final -- just look for the file with the latest date.
6. BE METICULOUS. A set of files is well set-up if it goes from you to another professional, and that person can locate things right away. I took on a DVD Studio Pro project started by a friend in New York, and within five minutes of looking at the files, I knew where everything was, and why. Then I had to e-mail the project back to her for some design changes. She e-mailed it right back, and after a few minutes of rearranging, I opened up her version and it linked right back up with the media on my end, no pains at all. That's good management!

excelent points, derek.

a couple of things i;d add...

Derek:

> some people would assemble scenes in their own sequnces, but i dont do that.

I find this fairly useful sometimes because it allows you to use "Render All" with impudence, and it's also very useful for reducing the amount of memory needed while editing. However, a major minus is that this "separate scenes, separate sequences" method needs each sequence to open and end on a nice straight cut. if you have music/sound overlaps or visual transitions between scenes, you'll have to fudge it or razor your music. Plus, you also sacrifice some flow because it's more of a hassle to view scenes back to back.

Nick:
i'd try to work in sequnces no longer than 20minutes, 30 max.
this takes the overhead of the system.
as i said, if you feel you need to toss some ideas around in a fresh sequnce, that's fine,
but get it into one of the main sequnces when you're satisfied
these 20min sequnces can be compiled for screeenings.
the 20 minute thing is a practical consideration for feature films, due to the maximum size of reeels of film.

Derek:

A tip: If you have a lot of footage, keep the batch list in one project file and the cuts in another. A lot of people have reported FCP crashing because of overlarge (120-160MB) project files. Keeping the batch list and cuts in separate files reduces this problem dramatically.

Nick:

there is a problem with this, and that's that with rushes and cuts in separate projects, you loose your master / affiliate clip relationship,
and so you loose the ability to "reveal in browser", (basically trace back to hte browser clip from the timeline)

it'd have to be a monster of a project if it went up to 120MB with rushes and just one version of the cut!

the feature i was cutting last year barely got to 30MB, and i carried all my rushes, plus a music library, and small SFX laibrary.
rushes were all individual clips, though, not subclips from masters, which probably makes things simpler.
video and audio were married in the one file, too, which also made things simpler.
i carried one version of the cut (across 6 sequnces) PLUS i carried another 6 sequnces of deleted / modified scenes.

when we had locked off, i felt OK about stripping out the elements (Rushes, Cuts, etc) into seperate projects.

it can be quite nescesary to do this at the end, and your project can easily bloat during the finishing stages as you might have mutilple copies of your sequnces: one with text, and one without, for instance.

cheers,
nick

Nick's observations are all spot on. Some more thoughts, tips, etc...

> i'd try to work in sequences no longer than 20minutes, 30 max.

Absolutely. At lengths beyond that, the Timeline gets unwieldy as well, aside from slower data access, editing and rendering.

> these 20min sequnces can be compiled for screeenings.

One thing to be VERY CAREFUL ABOUT: If you end up taking the individual clips out of your separate sequences, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHICH ONE IS YOUR LATEST CUT. A very common error is that people do separate sequences, then edit those in another sequence as nested clips, then fudge around some more...so much that they forget which one to cut when they start a new session.

I recommend that if you go from one method to the other (ie. one master sequence to separate sequences), that you delete the old one to avoid confusion. After all, it's not that hard to assemble the clips from various sequences into one master sequence, and even easier to put separate sequences back into one.

> there is a problem with this, and that's that with rushes and cuts in separate > projects, you lose your master/affiliate clip relationship.

That's true. I tend to organize my Browser well enough not to have to worry about this issue -- I tend to know from which bin a clip in the Timeline comes. Also, since I never subclip, I can always call up the full clip by using Match Frame.

> it'd have to be a monster of a project if it went up to 120MB with rushes and
> just one version of the cut!

Heh heh heh...you know directors, Nick. They'd wanna keep eight different full cuts in the same project file, all accessible at one time! I never keep more than one old cut in my current project file because I like to discourage directors from going back to an old version verbatim. I use archived project files (dated, and made manually) for old cuts.

> rushes were all individual clips, though, not subclips from masters, which
> probably makes things simpler.

My favourite way of working, as well. I've never had a project I failed to recapture, and I always have perfect match between file names and FCP item names. Subclipping is a potentially costly habit, in my view.

Every one of us finds a system we're comfortable with. But it definitely helps to just implement a very strict system in the beginning of your career, a "non-negotiable" set of rules you follow to a T. It simplifies your life in the beginning, makes you less afraid of file management and editing in general, and speeds you up in the long run. I can navigate my files and move stuff around even without seeing the computer screen, by directing the assistant or director over the phone.