is having many folders in a media project wise or not?

[Nicholas Natteau]

I'm about to start editing a long-format WWII documentary that includes several thousand media files (newsreels, stills, audio, maps, etc). Because I have so many files, I thought it best to organize them as much as I could into folders prior to importing them into Premiere Pro CC. I guess I figured I would try to be as organized as possible with my media right from the start. But I now wonder whether I may not have created too many folders. In naming the folders, I used the following abbreviations: NG = Nazi Germany / GA = German Army / R = Rommel

Just looking for advice / feedback. Would very much like to hear what media organizing strategy would work best with a long format doc-film that uses a vast number of files.

Also, should I be using any other software other than Premiere itself for cataloguing and identifying the source media?

Thanks very much in advance.

 

[Nicholas Natteau]

View attachment 96371View attachment 96372

 

[Nicholas Natteau]

To see the images full size please click here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55853159@N02/sets/72157648018982013/

 

[deltoidjohn]

Not sure what version they fixed this in - but older versions of Premiere (up to at least CS6) do not import entire folder/subfolder structures - only the individual media files from all the subfolders, which it then bundles together into the root folder. This meant that you could spend hours sorting footage into folders and subfolders in Finder, only to have to re-do it in Premiere or import each sub-folder separately. In the latest version of CC this is fixed, but I can't remember exactly when they did this - either way, making sure you're up to date will prevent this from being an issue.

Apart from that, I fully condone the use of a well-labelled, logical and consistent folder system (even on the simplest of projects).

 

[David Jimerson]

It's a really good idea to keep your stuff well-filed and organized inside -- and out of -- Premiere. "Too many file folders" is the same as a piece of string being too long.

 

[Jim Simon]

Organization before hand is definitely a good idea. PP doesn't care how many folder levels there are. Just look at the unholy (and whololy unnecessary) mess Sony and Panasonic gave us with AVCHD.

 

[Kyle Stebbins]

I think you did the right thing, man! The more structured and organized you are, the better... even if some files are 10 folders deep. Can you imagine if they were only 2 folders deep, but mixed in with everything else? Yeesh.