Footage Log Instructions

This spreadsheet template was used for a project that had 300 hours of originally shot footage and a team of interns and Assistants were to log them. So this was used to organize their work and create priorities and keep organized outside of our editing software. We were using Avid. I’m not sure this is always useful, as usually you can see in Avid, but when you can’t keep up with what’s shot and priorities change, it can be useful to have something like this to sort through in a big documentary project.

Footage Log Template

In order to use the Footage Log Template for yourself go to File -> Make a Copy and edit the copy on your own drive. To say thank you, please listen to our podcast Feature & a short! You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

  1. There are 5 Tabs

    1. Avid Bin Progress

      1. This tab is to make sure shoot footage is processed and synched.

    2. Shoot Day Log

      1. This contains a description of what was shot for each shoot day.

    3. Scene List

      1. This is a list of possible scenes that could be cut from the footage

    4. Log Process

      1. This is a list of sequences that have been logged

      2. It also shows how much footage has been shot in the project.

    5. Transcriptions

      1. This is a list to show the process of Transcriptions and Translations.

For any questions about this or any blog, please write us at info@fourwindfilms.com

Backing Up Footage Instructions

This is a professional workflow for backing up footage. In general you want to have three backups of everything. Usually two by the time you leave set and an additional one once you get back to the office.

Hard drives are labeled (PROJECT TITLE)_RAW_#(Letter), i.e. PROLOGUE_RAW_2A

  1. The “#” represents the number of the set of hard drives the footage is stored on. This number will increase as the number of hard drives increases. When there is approximately 500GB or less available on the drive, we should switch to backing up to the next set of numbered drives.

  2. The (Letter) represents the set of the hard drive.  We store 3 sets of backups, so the first set will be labeled “A,” the second “B,” and the third set “C.”

  1. Double check card labels and please rename if it does not match the structure identified below.

  2. SHOOT DAY CARDS

    1. All set audio & video cards should be in a folder called 1_RAW FOOTAGE

    2. Any BTS photos or productions stills can be placed in the folder PHOTOS -> ON SET folder

    3. All footage should be backed up 3 times to each set of drives (A, B and C).

  3. CARD NAMES

    1. YYYYMMDD -> (Recording Equipment) -> (Camera Card folder name)_(###)_(CameraOperatorInitials)

      1. YYYYMMDD

        1. The shoot day is always expressed with 4 digits for the year, and 2 digits for month and day.  So March, 3rd, 2016 is expressed as 20160303.

      2. (Recording Equipment)

        1. The name of the camera or audio recording device.

          1. SONY FX9, Alexa 35, etc.

      3. (CameraOperatorInitials)

        1. The initials of the camera operator.  Justin Joseph Hall is represented as JJH.

      1. ###

        1. Add 3 digits of #’s for your card if not already included in the card name

          1. i.e. 003, 017, 9

      2. Card sets are backed up three times on the hard drives: (PROJECT)_RAW_#A & (PROJECT)_RAW_#B & (PROJECT)_RAW_#C

When you’re done store the hard drive in three different physical locations. Preferably not in the same building, but even more so, preferably not in the same region where a natural distaster could occur and wipe out all your footage.

Setting Up a New Hard Drive

Setting up New Hard Drive

  1. Eject all other hard drives except the new hard drive

  2. Open Disk Utility on a Mac (Apple) computer

  3. Select the new hard drive

    1. Click “Erase” in the middle on the top

    2. Name the hard drive

      1. “(NAME OF PROJECT)” if it’s the main hard drive

      2. “(NAME OF PROJECT)_backup” if it is a backup hard drive

  4. Set up folder structure for new project.

Camera Renaming Raw Footage Instructions

This is how we deal with footage received in Post-Production that are not opened as a full card (5D mark ii, GoPro, cellphones, etc.). Automator is a program used on Apple Operating systems that are installed with OSX. You could do something similar with another renaming software. We would not rename is a high end camera like a Red, Arri, or higher end Sony Cameras.

These are instructions written for an Assistant Editor that we’ve used for television shows, narratives, and documentaries.

  1. Open Automator

  2. Choose new Workflow

  3. Go to Files & Folders

    1. Select ‘Get Specified Finder Items’

    2. Drag it to the right side of the window

      1. Click ‘Add’ and select your desired footage to be renamed.

    3. Select Rename Finder Items

    4. Drag it to the right side of the window, below ‘Get Specified Movies’

      1. In the first dropdown menu, change it to ‘Add Text’

      2. Add text based off of Card details (Ex. _055_A_1of2)

  4. Click run.

  5. Repeat for additional cards, if any

If you have any questions, please email info@fourwindfilms.com