Pre-Production Tip - Organize Your Master Drives

A POST PRODUCTION TIP FOR PRE-PRODUCTION:

Organize Your Master Drives

By: Roberto Cardenas 

You will not make the most of your time and post budget if you have disorganized data spread across multiple drives. Having one well-organized, user friendly drive location allows your post team to quickly locate footage and other resources for your project, instead of taking too much time hunting clips down or possibly missing some magical piece of footage that takes your scene to the next level.

So, as your production staff gathers resources for your editing team, here is an effective organizational structure to keep in mind.

Media Files – Keep all of your project’s raw footage together in one folder, separated by clearly labeled subfolders for various types of reels (B-Roll, Scene 1, Shoot Day X, Interviews, Drone Shots, Stock Footage, etc.).

Sequences – Your producing team will likely lay out sequences of footage and audio to begin the storytelling process of your project and give direction to your editors. Keep all of the Producer Cuts here, so your editing team knows where to find them to begin their work. Your editors can place their in-progress works in an Edits subfolder and their finished work in an Outputs folder.

Resources – This folder is key for ensuring your entire team has access to references that will help create the right template/look/feel of your project. The below sub-headers and content should be placed within this main folder:

Style Guide – It should include subfolders for your Script, your Storyboards, Treatment Templates, and Scene Selections to emulate for pacing, coloring, graphic elements, edit points, etc.)

Design Elements – Resources that are still image elements for creating the design of the project go in this folder. Items, such as, borders and frames, texture overlay images, stock photos, vector graphics, etc.

Fonts – Place all fonts used, or to be used, in the project in this one spot to ensure that everyone working on it has access to the same fonts. This is especially important when you have downloaded or purchased specialty fonts.

Graphic FX – Resources that are video based design elements, such as animated backgrounds, lower thirds, transitions, film effects, etc.

Audio – Include subfolders for Music (stock or purchased) as well as Sound Effects and other Audio Clips that are used in or available for your project.

Plug-ins and Software – If you have purchased any special software for your project, it is a good idea to keep track of installers and documentation in one place. Should you need to use a new system, everything you will need to set things up again will be right here.

Scratch Files – Set up your editing and audio programs to dump temporary files, caches, etc. You can delete whatever is insignificant when files pile up and take up too much space, and make sure to keep anything that you might need later.

With a team of people touching the project, from producers and editors through to sound-mixers and color techs, it is important to remain consistent with regard to your organization. In fact, my final piece of advice on the subject is to assign a team member the responsibility of regularly checking on your main drive organization and cleaning it up as necessary.