Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Red's Clip Naming Fiasco ...

Another vote for sticking the time of day in the clip name. And maybe even stick a random six character string at the end of each clip name, just to make it really hard to ever end up with duplicate clip names.
 
Stuart English said:
No, what it does it re-assert the logic that the ONLY time that the reel number should reset is a) on a Project Frame Rate change or b) on a manual Force Reel
Click to expand...

I think I'd get rid of the Project Frame Rate change reset.

A person should be forced to tell the camera to stop incrementing reel numbers. I think a timestamp makes sense too. Then even if the reel numbers do get messed up the odds of dup names are gone.

YYMMDD_HHMMSS

I think that keeps sorting clips in the OS working properly.

Too much pressure on set to ever have to think about this. The camera has to manage it pretty much automatically.
 
what about a name convention with camera nb, reel nb, scene nb, shot nb, take nb, and then date and time. Something like:
A013_123_039_018_080323_180440

I know sound recorder that use name convention with scene, shot and take, and I do think it is not a bad idea.

What's your position on that?

cheers,
antoine.
 
alpha/beta builds are meant to be taken to aggressive shoots and tested in the "reel" world. i agree with mark and we have done many many jobs on beta builds even alpha builds. if something does not work out, just go back a build it only takes a couple of minutes. besides, what do you expect deanan and stuart, we have sub 50 cameras, we did not get them waiting around, by definition sub 50 are alpha testers till the end...

good luck.
 
laboprod said:
what about a name convention with camera nb, reel nb, scene nb, shot nb, take nb, and then date and time. Something like:
A013_123_039_018_080323_180440
Click to expand...

I think this is an awesome idea. It would make it so much simpler and completely eliminate any issue with having duplicate clips.

Is this an option for the next build of 15? or 16?
 
laselvasurf said:
I think this is an awesome idea. It would make it so much simpler and completely eliminate any issue with having duplicate clips.

Is this an option for the next build of 15? or 16?
Click to expand...

The problem is that it would require that you enter new data into the camera for every new shot/scene. Plus that doesn't necessarily fit with the shot naming conventions of everyone.

For those of us working with files in scripts and programs, it's also quite important (or helpful at least) that the filenames follow a predictable and standard pattern.

The Reel/Clip number, along with a basic continuity sheet should provides a good option for tracking shots easily enough, while still remaining flexible. But the name change would prevent problems in the case of a reel duplication.
 
Good point... I am curious if it is possible to have user selectable formats for recording name conventions. That seems like something that would solve a lot of problems for everyone.

We just shoot stock and nature videos, so the exact time tells us where we were and what we were shooting. W just different needs than a crew making a movie...
 
Can it please just work like film camera? IE everytime I format a reel, it asks ME what I want to call it? (of course it would prompt me with what it thinks is the right number)

My loader writes a mag number on every mag of film that gets threaded into the camera, why can't I just do the same on the red. It seems like all this fuss is because the camera is trying to do something that should be a manual operation.
 
Mike Prevette said:
Can it please just work like film camera? IE everytime I format a reel, it asks ME what I want to call it? (of course it would prompt me with what it thinks is the right number)

My loader writes a mag number on every mag of film that gets threaded into the camera, why can't I just do the same on the red. It seems like all this fuss is because the camera is trying to do something that should be a manual operation.
Click to expand...

good point.

what should we do? design a pen that can write in zero G or just use a pencil?
 
Sycophant said:
The problem is that it would require that you enter new data into the camera for every new shot/scene.
Click to expand...

If the filename included 5 to 10 characters with an encoded version of the date and time you wouldn't have to set anything and the chance of duplicate clip names would be virtually nil.

Unix/Linux timestamps represent the number of seconds since midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT. The timestamp 1206582840, for example, corresponds to 2008/03/26 06:54:00 pm PDT. Unless multiple cameras start rolling at the exact same second, there would never be a duplicate filename!

If filename space is at a premium, it could easily use letters and numbers to be more efficient.
 
Yeah, then it's a matter of readability vs filename length. P2 files are an extreme example at the other end of the spectrum - where the filenames mean nothing.

Split the difference - human readable filename with date, and a 2-letter unique id that's derived from time perhaps.
 
Y'know, with that handy USB port on the side of the camera, you'd think you could just plug in ANY old USB keyboard and loabel the reels any way you want.


Gee, you could also map common menus/submenus to the function keys too.


That would be like, really cool.
 
Mike Prevette said:
It seems like all this fuss is because the camera is trying to do something that should be a manual operation.
Click to expand...

I can see RED prompting you to verify/change part the reel number IF you chose that as an option but I don't think RED should even allow duplicate REEL names.

Notice I'm distinguishing between reel number (a001) and reel name a001_etc_etc_etc

It just shouldn't be possible to duplicate the entire name. Something based on UNIX timestamps isn't a bad idea but on a 10 camera shoot reel names could be duplicated if 2 cams were call D cam for instance. Yes that's a production crew screwup, but RED could still help them out.

I heard a story about a company evaluating the purchase of about a million dollars worth of cameras recently. These cameras would all be in the field sending data back via satellite. Someone asked how each camera's footage would be uniquely identified. Manufacturer had the order put on hold right there and had to figure out a unique ID system so no duplicate footage could possibly be sent in.

Add a unique cam ID to the filename.

The bonus question is do EDL's have a filename size limit?
 
I installed two remote cameras in a situation like that - They ID themselves something like:

CAM_DATE_TIME

So I get stills that say:

CamA_20080310_141023.jpg

Unless the time on the cameras gets reset (shouldn't happen, they time sync from the net) - there should never be a dupe.

Similarly, I'd like to see reel and clip names include either a readable timestamp, or a unique id derived from the time... So options could be:

CF Card Name:
A001_080327_142301; or
A001_080327_F8

With file and directory names including the same unique ID. Two alphanum characters would give 1296 combinations - just a matter of generating that code in a suitably unique way.

The bonus question is do EDL's have a filename size limit?
Click to expand...

Well, no - EDLs don't support a filename at all, they only support a 'reel id' and timecodes. And most will only support up to 8 characters (if you are adhering to the specifications).
 
How about this - have the camera sequentially number every shot it ever takes in its entire lifetime. The camera obviously has some flash memory in it, or it could use an SD card to remember what the last shot number was, and increment it by 1 each time record is pressed. Add to that a unique camera ID that no two cameras would ever share and you have a simple, foolproof system. This could be implemented with 10 to 12 character filenames, and would have the added benefit that files would sort in chronological order by filename.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Y'know, with that handy USB port on the side of the camera, you'd think you could just plug in ANY old USB keyboard and loabel the reels any way you want.


Gee, you could also map common menus/submenus to the function keys too.


That would be like, really cool.
Click to expand...


Great Idea, another thing this USB port could be used for is an Audio break out box with POTS that would send usb commands to the camera to control levels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top