By the time you finish reading this you will probably think I am completely nuts. This will seem like WAY too much trouble. But I assure you, if you DON’T manage your materials as if you will suddenly and unexpectedly squirt out of the universe, your name will be cursed in absentia. In other words, [...]

My Golden Rule for building a project structure is to Keep It Simple. Make bin names obvious, keep “garbage” out of the way of working material, name sequences according to some logic of progression. Every editor has their own way of setting up a project and they will strangle you if you go in and [...]

Sometimes you will receive a data file, such as an ALE, XML, Excel, EDL or FCP logging project along with your tapes. If you are lucky, the person who did the logging work for you followed some best practice steps so that your logging, digitizing and organizing tasks will be error-free. But don’t count on [...]

Unless you have been given the chosen selects ahead of time, you will need to go through the material, make selects, markers and comments to use later when you begin to edit. My general rule for this process is simple: If the footage has an immediate impact on you, mark it. Allow yourself to respond [...]