Archiving Footage

[Lloyds]

Sorry if this isn't the right spot for this, but this seemed most appropriate.

I am starting to collect hundreds of short clips that I would like to keep organized and use for B-roll, fill-in footage. On a 60-minute tape, I might have 100 clips I'd like to keep for possible future usage.

The question is, how to archive and organize such a thing? I'm using Adobe Bridge right now to add tags such as:

golf course; golf ball; grass; sprinklers; summer.... etc.

That way I can find the clips quickly searching for tags, much like the options on a royalty-free video site. But I'm seeing that this probably isn't the best way, especially since I'm running out of disc space. There's got to be a better option.

The problem is I'm starting to get so many, I'd like to just have thumbnails on my main harddrive or low-res shots, and have the thousands of other HD clips stored on an external drive, just sitting there archived waiting to be used some day in the future.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm on Windows Vista. Any ideas? How do the big boys do it?

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Sorry if this isn't the right spot for this, but this seemed most appropriate.

I am starting to collect hundreds of short clips that I would like to keep organized and use for B-roll, fill-in footage. On a 60-minute tape, I might have 100 clips I'd like to keep for possible future usage.

The question is, how to archive and organize such a thing? I'm using Adobe Bridge right now to add tags such as:

golf course; golf ball; grass; sprinklers; summer.... etc.

That way I can find the clips quickly searching for tags, much like the options on a royalty-free video site. But I'm seeing that this probably isn't the best way, especially since I'm running out of disc space. There's got to be a better option.

The problem is I'm starting to get so many, I'd like to just have thumbnails on my main harddrive or low-res shots, and have the thousands of other HD clips stored on an external drive, just sitting there archived waiting to be used some day in the future.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm on Windows Vista. Any ideas? How do the big boys do it?

This is a personal opinion, but I hate tape. Hence I would 'archive' all clips on hard drives, then store said hard drives offline.

Doing so, will allow you to catalog clips, and access clips far easier than having to deal with loading tape, and recapturing.

I have not kept up on asset management software in several years. I was using a product called iView for still digital photo management (it also had some capability for Quicktime files as well.). But that company apparently has been eaten up by Microsoft...

Another product I bought years ago, but never used because The Wife couldn't easily deal with it... for some reason..., but the company appears to still be in business, that is Canto, and the product was Cumulus.

Relative to these products, I've never really been satisfied with 'Adobe Bridge'... it does work, as in better than just the naked finder or the Windows widgetry, but it is really not an asset management tool...

 

[Lloyds]

Thanks for the great reply. I looked over Cumulus and it seemed just about perfect until I found out it's server based and not intended for desktop use. Bummer....

Any other suggestions? This seemed like a great option!

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Thanks for the great reply. I looked over Cumulus and it seemed just about perfect until I found out it's server based and not intended for desktop use. Bummer....

Any other suggestions? This seemed like a great option!

Well, like I said, it was some years ago that I bought a version. At that time, what I bought was pretty much a 'desktop' version. Apparently they have changed their strategy in the intervening years... so I guess we both are looking for something...

 

[Jokerswild]

I archive on hardrives but it is NOT a good idea to just store them away in a closet for months. I was told by two drive manufacturers that it is not a good idea for a drive to just sit for months as any lubricants will just sit and could cause crashes of the head in time. They suggested I spool up the drives every month or two at the longest and just copy some files to them..Sort of like exercising them.