How do you "File" your video clips?

CraftersOfLight
Member

I have searched this website and the closest article has a 2007 date on it.

I started out with a small camcorder (Panasonic HDC-CF9) about a year ago. I am having a lot of fun with it and am enjoying working with a few video editors, (highest level editor I own is Corel's VideoStudio Pro X2). Largely very armature stuff but it is a nice hobby. I love doing nature/scenery shots, and living in Oregon there is a lot of scenery available within 90 minutes of home.

My issue; I am starting to have quite a collection of shots and am facing the daunting task of trying to file these in some logical way. I have almost 200Gb of video in .mts format (AVCHD), 2,200 files ranging from 10 seconds to 15 minutes a clip. The most painful issue is not getting a thumbnail of what the video clip is about. So this involves opening the folder. Opening a video edit program pull a folders worth of videos into the working folder of the editor, and renaming the files based on the topic or location. Time consuming at best. Then storing them on DVD RAM.

What methods do you use to file your shots? How do you sort your videos? I know a few of you are in the production business and most likely file by project. I also know that film sites provide a chance for collecting stock footage as well. How do you file those?

Any special tools, file software or such you could suggest? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Life is not a guided tour nor a destination.
It is a journey. Take the time to enjoy your family, friends and surroundings.
Build memories. Share experiences. Travel at sight speed not light speed. (C)

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
roberthartmanncoza
Member

hi their. i use a programm called Picture Motion Browser that was supplied when i purchased my Sony video camera. It is brilliant. it sorts either by folder name or by date shot. Very useful, user friendly and powerful programm. i do not think one can purchase it other than when it is supplied when buying a camera. i reside in South Africa so this may not apply to you.

Picassa, which is supplied free of charge by google, is very similar but not as user friendly and has far less features. Try it.

Try source a copy of PMB, YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED.

Cheers

robertÂ

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
butterflyguy
Member

Â Here are a few ideas -

If you have it, you can use Adobe Bridge - it's like Windows Explorer on steroids.Â It will generate a thumbnail and will play the video from it's interface.

When I capture my shots I always name each shot so it can be referenced later. I even use my own shorthand to keep things shorter - for example "mon nec bb" - stand for a monarch butterfly nectaring on a butterfly bush.

- Also look into a program called "Better File Rename" I use it all the time.
It allows you do do batch rename with lots of options.
It really helps in organizing your files.

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
Aspyrider
Member

Â I use Photo manager from Magix, its free and will thumbnail all video formats.

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
NewBirthProductions
Member

I file by project, then IÂ had a website builtÂ on my local server, it is not connected to the WWW, soÂ only I can access it. Â Each page decribes in detail what the project is and each page has keywords decribing the content,Â each page also has all the clips from that project.Â My main page allows me to do key word searches that will return a short summary of each project and allows me to select pages.Â thenÂ I click on my view button and it puts all the clips from all the pages i selected on one page.Â then I select the clipsÂ I want and click on grab and it copies those clips to the folder I work from.Â It cost me $650 to get this site wrote but it has saved me many hours searching for the clips i need for my current project.Â I plan to upgrade the site to let me define my search by audio, video and type of files, a short site I didn't see before.

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
CraftersOfLight
Member

Thank you all for your responses.

In checking out your suggestions;

robert...

I found a source for your Picture Motion Browser program. Its downloaded in 4 parts in RAR format. It appears to be a series of ISO files so it will be a fun puzzle to figure out how to get them installed. It will be interesting to see if it can help with my issue.

Butterflyguy

In looking around I find that Adobe Bridge is not available in a stand-alone program . It appears to be a part of several of Adobe's other software packages including Creative suite series. I will need to decide if purchasing one of these packages is the path I can take.

Aspyrider

I found Photo Manager and gave it a try. It seems to be unable to see my .mts files. I have all the video format file extensions checked in its list and still no luck. I do like the GUI for it though and hope there is an update available that can fix my problem.

NewBirth...

I wish I had the talent to create that style of database.Â It sounds like a great resource for file management. $600+ is a little steep for me to consider at this time to try to find someone that can do something like it for me.

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
NewBirthProductions
Member

I don't have the talent to design web sites that's why I hired a Web Designer to do it for me.Â I am also not very creative so when a client want's me to create a script I have a professional relationship that I already built with a few creative people i hire to do that part of my production.Â In business you either have the ability to do it yourself "and in a professional manner" or you hire sombody who does.

Posted 9 months ago # Login to Send PM
CraftersOfLight
Member

Update

PMB does not seem to be able to provide an image thumbnail for my .mts files. I do like the calendar format it uses to log the files. this helps somewhat since all that day might be from the same session soit would be easier to sort/file for future use. It's looking to be back to the "longhand" method for me.

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