Notes on organising footage, files and archives
The journal collects practical writing from our instructors on keeping video assets in order. New articles appear about once a day, each focused on one habit, one problem or one small fix you can try.
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· Version TrackingHow to Set Up Version Tracking So Everyone Knows the Current Cut
A practical guide to simple naming and status rules that keep cuts, revisions and final exports distinct, so no editor ever has to ask which file is the right one.
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· Asset ReviewBefore You Commit to an Asset Review: A Pre-Decision Checklist
Before agreeing to an asset review, work through these questions about your drive, your team and your goals so you know what the review should cover and what it should leave alone.
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· Access PermissionsAccess Permissions: Common Mistakes on Shared Drives and How to Avoid Them
Most permission problems on shared video drives come from a few repeated habits. Marcus Delgado walks through the common ones and shows how a simple permissions matrix prevents them.
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· Metadata CostsWhat Metadata and Tagging Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain look at what drives the cost of metadata and tagging work on a video library: clip volume, field design, existing mess and review time, so you can budget sensibly.
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· Case StoryHow Rosa's Documentary Team Stopped Losing Clips in Their Own Folders
A short story about Rosa, a documentary producer whose shared drive grew faster than anyone could follow, and the folder and naming rules her team settled on over a few weeks.
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· Archive HandoverGetting Finished Projects Ready for the Archive Before Winter
Mid autumn is a good moment to close out the year's projects. Here is how to prepare finished work for long-term archive and walk a colleague through the handover.
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· Version TrackingWhat 'Current Version' Really Means on a Video Project
A plain-words explanation of the term current version, why editors disagree about it, and the simple rule that stops a team exporting the wrong cut.
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· Asset ReviewFull Inventory or Targeted Spot Check: Which Asset Review Fits Your Drive
Two ways to review a production drive, a complete inventory and a sampled spot check, compared on effort, findings and risk, with a clear recommendation for most small teams.
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· Access PermissionsHow a Permissions Matrix Gets Built, Step by Step
A look behind the scenes at how we map who can read, edit and approve files on shared drives and cloud storage, and turn that into a matrix a team can actually use.
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· MetadataWhich Metadata Fields Does a Video Team Really Need to Fill In?
The question we hear most is how much metadata is enough. This article answers it with a short, workable set of fields and the reasoning behind each one.
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· Course newsWhat the Folder Structures and Naming Module Now Covers
A look at how the Folder Structures and Naming module is laid out this autumn: the worked example, the exercises that follow it and what students leave with.
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· Archive HandoverThe Tools Behind a Clean Archive Handover Checklist
A look at the checklist, manifest and verification methods we rely on when preparing a finished video project for long-term archive and handing it to a colleague.
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· Version TrackingA Checklist for Deciding How to Track Versions of Your Cuts
Before you commit to a version tracking system, run through these questions about cuts, revisions and final exports so everyone on the team knows which file is current.
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· Asset AuditAsset Audit Mistakes That Hide Problems and How to Avoid Them
Marcus Delgado walks through the errors teams make when they inventory footage, project files and exports, and the habits that keep an asset review honest and useful.
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· PermissionsWhat Access Permissions Work Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain look at what a permissions plan for shared drives and cloud storage costs in time and money, and which choices make the figure rise or fall.
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· Customer CaseHow Rosa's Documentary Team Found Every Interview Clip Again
A short case from the Metadata and Tagging module: Rosa's documentary team stopped losing interview clips once they agreed on a small set of tags and a habit of applying them on ingest.
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· Folder StructuresSetting Up Folder Names Before the Winter Shooting Season
Part three on folder structures and naming: how to prepare your hierarchy and file names in these autumn weeks, before holiday work and year-end deliveries start to pile up.
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· Archive HandoverWhat "Handover-Ready" Actually Means for a Finished Video Project
A plain-words explanation of the handover-ready rule: what a finished project must contain, who it is written for, and why a colleague should be able to open it cold.
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· Version TrackingVersion Tracking: Suffix Numbering or a Dated Release Log?
Two simple ways to know which cut is current: numbered suffixes in the file name, or a dated log kept beside the project. A comparison, and the option I suggest for most teams.
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· Asset ReviewInside an Asset Review: How We Inventory a Drive Step by Step
A first-person look at how an asset review actually runs on a sample project drive: what gets counted, what gets flagged and what ends up in the written findings.
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· Access PermissionsWho Should Be Allowed to Edit, Review and Approve Your Shared Footage?
Daniel Whitfield answers the question production managers ask most often about shared drives: who gets read, edit and approve rights, and how to write that down so it holds up.
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· Course NewsMetadata and Tagging Module: What Students Practise in the New Term
A look at how the Metadata and Tagging module runs this autumn: the fields students fill in, the sample clips they tag, and what a searchable library looks like by the final session.
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· MethodsThe Folder Templates and Naming Rules We Teach From
A look at the working tools behind our folder structures and naming module: the template tree, the naming pattern and the checks we use to keep both usable on real shoots.
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· Archive HandoverBuilding a Project Handover Checklist Your Archive Can Rely On
A practical walk-through for preparing a finished video project for long-term archive: what to gather, what to record, and how to talk a colleague through it.
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· Version TrackingVersion Tracking Mistakes That Put the Wrong Cut on Screen
Most version problems start with small habits, not big failures. Here are the common mistakes teams make when tracking cuts, revisions and exports, and the simple rules that prevent them.
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· Asset ReviewWhat an Asset Review and Audit Costs and What Moves the Price
A practical look at how an asset review is priced, which parts of a drive make the work longer or shorter, and what you can do beforehand to keep the scope sensible.
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· Case StoryHow Nora's Small Edit Team Stopped Overwriting Each Other's Files
A short case from the programme: Nora's four-person team kept losing cuts to accidental overwrites until they mapped who could read, edit and approve each folder on their shared drive.
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· MetadataAutumn Metadata Habits That Keep Your Footage Findable Next Year
Early autumn is a good moment to tidy how clips and exports are described. Daniel Whitfield sets out a short seasonal routine for adding metadata that still helps months from now.
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