Shooting to editing workflow and timecode

[Sinnerman]

Hello everyone. I'm new here. Seems like a cool place for us dirt-poor filmmakers.

My friends and I have made a handful of short films, which you can see here if you're so inclined:

www.tirelessfilms.com

One thing I don't think we handle well is keeping track of our shots so they're easy to find in editing. We end up digging around our hundreds of clips looking for the one we want. It's a pain in the ass.

How do you handle this when you're shooting? Do you keep a running list of the tape number and timecode for each shot? Are you using a clapboard as the first frame so it's easier to find?

There's got to be some tutorial about how to handle this, but I haven't found it yet.

Thanks for your input.

[Ergo Pictures]

Well, for one, fill your tapes to the brim. One thing that's worse than not finding a shot in your bin is not knowing what tape it's on.

What I always do is this. As soon as the capture is finished, I go through every clip and label it. "1-1 Dialog Shot" 1 being the shot, -1 being the take. "1-2 OTS Shot" Or you can be more specific "Line 2: Don't go in there!-2"

That always helps me keep track of my shots. Then make new folders and separate them by scene. Start with numbers to help sorting even more.

[Reddkryten]

Clapperboard?

[SyxxGage]

Clapperboard?

http://meltzerville.com/images/clap-board.gif

[Reddkryten]

Oh yeah, I know what a clapperboard is, I was just suggesting it for keeping track of the shots...then I noticed it was mentioned at the end of the first post. Whoops.