Well, you can’t just seal it up and mail it. Some jobs require a particular procedure for managing the elements and you must follow it for several reasons to be explained later. But first, you must first gather everything that belongs to the project and pack it all up.

• Call the recording studio and have them send any archival elements to you, such as voiceover recordings, project data backup, referenc material, etc. If there were multiple sesson dates, be sure to provide the dates of the sessions so that elements from all of the sessions can be included.
• If it was a film project, call the telecine facility and have them ship the negative to you. You might need to call the production company or ad agency producer to have them call the telecine facility to request a release of the negative. The negative does not belong to the editing company, it is the responsibility of the production company. Some facilities accept the editor’s instructions, some don’t.
• Sort out any junk in your production elements, such as old rough cut layoffs.
• Include any firewire drives, if they are part of the agreed terms of the job.

Here are some tips on packing boxes:

• The “first box” should contain as many final elements as possible, such as the protection master, camera original video tapes, OCN Transfer Master tape, final audio elements, CDs and DVD-Rs of original elements and final renders, and production sound recordings. This simplifies access to the elements most frequently retrieved.
• Keep associated elements together as best you can, such as all dailies tapes, layoff tapes, etc.
• Keep negative or camera videotapes together, in order. Do not pack too many rolls of negative together in one box as it will cause the box to collapse under its own weight.
• Include original script and shooting notes, and a set of final scripts if they are handy. I sometimes include a copy of the script with recording session notes that indicate “buy” takes.

You will need to provide evidence that you actually packed what you say you packed in case someone claims that you are still holding onto something. Also, there are tax implications for which elements are delivered to the distribution outlet and which elements are put into storage, so follow the instructions from the client carefully. Wow, I can’t even begin to tell you about the bureaucratic nightmares I have seen in the disposition of production elements due to poor archiving and inventory management!

Some clients require a formal inventory to be done to account for the disposition of every piece in the project. Here is what required of you in this situation:

• Be sure to include the protection master in one of the boxes. There could be legal and tax liabilities for failing to do so.
• Photocopy or scan the label of every tape and disc. Make three copies of the entire set. Keep one set, place one inside the “first” box of elements, send another copy to the producer.
• If your company does barcoding, barcode each element.
• Type up a formal and descriptive inventory of everything that is contained in each box – one inventory per box.
• Label each box with the client or agency name, the project name, the title of the spots or programs, and a numeric indicator such as “Box 1 of 8,” “Box 2 of 8,” etc.
• Print out five sets of the entire inventory set. Keep one set for yourself, send one set directly to the agency producer, seal one set into an envelope for the storage facility or receiving agent, tape each individual page to the outside of its respective box using clear packing tape, and place each individual page inside its respective box.
• Type up a signature receipt that describes the entire client/project/program, and indicates the origination and destination of all of the boxes comprised in your shipment, fold it into a self-addressed stamped envelope, include it with the shipment. I usually tape it to one of the boxes itself with a conspicuous note instructing the receiver to sign and return the receipt. the receiving agent is familiar with the routine, though you might have to provide explicit instructions to someone who is not a storage facility agent.
• You are responsible for the cost of shipping. Ship the boxes using a bonded, secure shipping company. Get a signed receipt.

At some point, you will receive back your signed signature receipt from the storage facility or receiving agent. Save this document in the job folder. Better still, scan it and archive it along with the other digital elements of the project. This document will SAVE YOUR ASS in case anyone cannot find something and they claim you still have it (you’d better not still have it!).

Finally, there are tax implications associated with shipping certain elements. The tax code may have changed since I last shipped a master tape and sent elements to storage under such strict guidelines, but as of 2008, here is my understanding of how it works. The editing company is permitted to charge tax to the client on the cost of the master tape only. Everything else is considered tax exempt because they are considered material elements used in the creation of the master.

The documentation of all of this in the form of inventories and signature receipts is critical since, if either the production company, ad agency or client is audited, they will ask you to provide them with copies of everything that clearly indicates that ONLY the master was shipped in-state and taxed, and that everything else was shipped out of state to storage. Obviously the tax laws are different state to state, so check on the policy in your area.

There’s no hard and fast rule on it, especially since your gut instinct will probably tell you whether or not the master will somehow become un-final and will have to be revised. My policy on this is to keep everything exactly as it is for about a month, after which I make a call or email to the producer to request permission to archive the project and delete the digitized media. It is actually important that you do this because if the producer gives you permission to unmount the project and its associated media, then he or she calls you back a day later and tells you they need to make a revision, you have a formal record that indicates that the project was released. This justifies you charging for the time to reload the project and its media to do the revision.

Archiving is the process of distilling everything down to only the relevant materials needed to rebuild the project to its original state. As I suggested in the Organizing chapter, I recommend having a dedicated project folder that contains all of the working elements (except the digitized media and FCP render files). The archiving process I describe here pertains to managing the contents of this folder since this is what will ultimately be saved on DVD-R or archival hard drive. Here is a checklist of how I archive a project:

What NOT to archive:

• Anything that could be redigitized from tapes that will be packed with all the other elements.
• Old rough cuts or works in progress that are no longer relevant.
• FCP render files. They can automatically be regenerated.
• Unused AfterEffects renders

Sometimes you will be given a tape to digitize but you must return it to the owner once you are done with it. I suggest saving the digitized media clip if possible since it is likely you won’t be given access to that exact tape again in the future. If the clip you used is too long to archive, make a layoff copy of the tape and include a note that references itself to the project – especially if the timecode of the layoff is different from the original (try not to do this).

When you delete old rough cuts, be sure to delete uncompressed, compressed and DVD files. If you feel it is worthwhile to save some kind of reference of the rough cuts, save the small compressed versions, like 320 x 240 Quicktime or Flash movies.

What you SHOULD archive:

• Make a copy of your final FCP project, name the copied project “[name]_FINAL”. Save the original unchanged.
• Open the Final project and simplify it so that there is nothing left but that which was needed to finish the approved rough cut and master. In the future, if you need access to any clips from the original project that weren’t part of the master, you can always open the original project and retrieve the bins.
• Sometimes I will combine the final elements from the Conform project into the same project with the approved rough cut, if there as an offline/online workflow.
• Do the same with any AfterEffects graphics projects if you were involved in it at all.
• Save any relevant AfterEffects render files, Illustrator, Photoshop, JPEG or sound files that cannot be re-digitized from a tape source.
• From the Final Cut Pro Docuents folder, copy over the Autosave Vault sub-folder pertaining to your project to your project folder.
• Burn a series of DVD-R discs and printout screen shots of the directory to put inside the jewel cases. If you REALLY want to be sure, mount your DVD-R disks and attempt to copy the data off onto a drive or computer just to be sure there isn’t a problem with the disk.

When it is feasible, I like to archive an uncompressed digital file of the master program, without bars/tone/slate. This will give you quick access to the master for any re-purpose of the program without having to digitize the master off tape, or rebuild in the FCP project.

I use an inexpensive archiving utility called CD Finder. Drag and drop any volume directory into the window and it will copy the directory information and volume name so that you can make a search inquiry later on. You can then enter a search inquiry and the results will tell you where the file is located. This eliminates the need to insert or mount volumes trying to hunt down a file.

Some tips on data storage: keep CDs and DVD-Rs safely stored in a zipper case away from heat, sunlight and moisture. More tips here. Remember that the data is stored on the shiny substrate, not the plastic surface. Some cheap disc stock leaves the “foil” part of the disc exposed on the top of the disc making it vulnerable to peeling, scratches or staining from using a marker. Don’t use cheap crap disc stock! I don’t like the dual layer or double sided discs because they are too susceptible to error while burning, and I am also weary of putting so much data on one disc. They’re also pretty expensive, and not all disc drives can read them. Do not put tape on a CD or DVD-R disc. It causes an imbalance on the disc that can cause read problems due to wobbling. Some optical drives are so compact that a label can get stuck inside against the interior of the drive and cause damage to the disc, or require the optical drive to be dismantled to retrieve te disc.

I have recently moved on to archiving onto raw hard disk drives and then mounting them as needed using a removable sled/chassis device. Macgurus makes a variety of products like this. You can bulk purchase inexpensive SATA or IDE/PATA drives, format them, then use them like a regular firewire drive. You can even edit off them if you use FW400 or FW800. When storing hard disk drives, however, you must contain them in a static-free wrapper, safely pad them, and store them in a slotted storage case or box. Through careless handling, I have had the misfortune of accidentally chipping off a tiny electronic component off of the logic board making the drive useless. Sometimes you can find or borrow a logic board from an identical hard disk drive and swap it on, but it doesn’t always work, so be careful!

As I stated earlier, keep HDDs away from magnetic fields, sunlight, heat and moisture.

Chances are, you will be called some time in the future to do a revision of your project. You will have to dig up the original project from an archive and rebuild it to the way it was when you finished it. Or, you may be asked to forward the project to someone else if you are not available.

You are also responsible for safely packing, labeling and making an inventory of the entire body of elements, then shipping them to the client or their designated storage facility. This is a bigger deal than you might think! The editing company is liable for the disposition of all production elements in their posession, including having insurance to replace anything you have lost, destroyed or had stolen, so had better have a procedure in place that accounts for your disposition of the client’s stuff.

But before I go over some points about archiving, you should know about the legal terms of ownership in case there is a dispute about who owns the project.

Whether you are a “for hire” freelancer or a staff editor at a facility, you or your facility own the project files, but nothing else. The client – the one who is paying for everything – owns everything else, i.e. all film, tapes, discs, etc. (provided they actually do pay!). In other words, you (or the facility you work for) own the creative means by which the product was made, but not the product itself. So if someone tells you that you have to submit your FCP or AE project to them so that they can pull the job and go somewhere else with it, you are not technically obligated to do so, although there may be ethical or business reasons why you probably should. This is a judgement only you can make.

There has been only one occasion in my working experience where I refused to submit an archived project, and it was because of the number of years I spent developing it and the terms under which I was removed from the account. It was an Avid project database comprised of hundreds of hours of logged library footage and graphics that I had cataloged for an advertising agency client in New York City. I had worked on their client’s TV commercials for seven years doing over 2300 spots, but in 2003 the NYC agency (my client) was fired. The new ad agency in Chicago promised to work with me transitionally, but then disrespectfully reneged on their offer, dismissing me offhandedly by a freelance producer. Not surprisingly, within 48 hours of the dismissal, I was called by an executive at the Chicago advertising agency asking me for the database. I refused, partly because I was pissed off that I had been lied to and then disrespected, but mostly because they were in Chicago and I knew I would never work for them in the future. Nor did I owe their client anything more in our business relationship. Had I felt there was possibility of working with them in the future, I would’ve been more thick-skinned about the situation. (It was certainly not the first time I had been insulted!).