Renaming Red Files Good/Bad?

[AndreasOberg]

Do you guys ever rename the red files or folders?
I remember reading that renaming the files or folders was asking for problems, but I dont really understand why.

When I'm jumping back and forward between different programs will often have to look at the file names and I found it HARD to remember XXXXSKSKSKKS30003.r3d.
Some smaller issues I have with the 3rd files are
- the folder name
- that the files are in a folder
- the file name
- that the files are split into multiple r3d files because of fat32 limitations

Of course when viewing the files in Redcine and FCPX you don't see the file structure

Any ideas or should I just stop this line of thought instantly before I get burned!
/Andreas

 

[Nick Shaw]

If you are working entirely within your own tried and tested workflow which you know is not broken by file name changes you can of course do what you like.

But, if you want to be able to conform elsewhere, then having meta-data reel names match file/folder names, for example, can be a great help. You can change the file names, but you can't change the meta-data.

In general I would not recommend it.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

Hope im still on the subject. Is there a program where you can brows and sort your offloaded ssd easy? With easy i mean that you se the thumbnails instead off the full folder structure. Sometimes you have two "product shots" on one ssd, but would like to split them to different sourcefolders. Other times you have a few useless takes you want to delete right away. Thanks

 

[David Battistella]

I would say.

NEVER DO THIS.

File structure integrity is a very important aspect of digital capture with RED. Name the folder you save it to, but do not change the folder/file structure of a backed up r3d mag.

thats just my opinion but I don't think anyone at red would endorse changing file names and folder structure.

There might be ways and instances to do this, but as a general practice, no.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

Would be cool to be able to brows and delete clips and split a sdd offload to smaller chunks but have the program to reconstruct the folderstructer.

 

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

I would say.

NEVER DO THIS.

File structure integrity is a very important aspect of digital capture with RED. Name the folder you save it to, but do not change the folder/file structure of a backed up r3d mag.

thats just my opinion but I don't think anyone at red would endorse changing file names and folder structure.

There might be ways and instances to do this, but as a general practice, no.

+1. It just saves potential head-aches later.

And, from what I've been told, you can for instance use in FCPX, the Batch Renaming Tool, but the XML will still refer to the original folders with the original names, so DaVinci etc. can still find back the original files. Don't know how it is in other NLE's.

I agree it sometimes can be a bit difficult to work with that long names etc.

 

[AndreasOberg]

Thanks guys for the info. Is there anyone that can explain why we shouldn't rename them. A few things I can come up with
- naming collision. Doesn't sound like such a big problem however
- some link issues for example from the xml to r3d files for example

Something else?
Just curious. When it comes to photography or filming with dslrs its been good practice to name files, but here things are a bit more complicated.

/Andreas

 

[MichaelP]

From an Avid Media Composer perspective using AMA direct link to edit with will use whatever the user gave it. But if it gets conformed in a system that only uses embedded, there will be a mismatch and no conform. If multiple copies are made for an archive and some get renamed and other don't, then there could be problems. Consistency and persistence of metadata is what ensure smooth post production workflows. As mentioned if in your sandbox and link once and finish is the process - then it doesn't really matter.

Michael

 

[ericyoung]

IF you are only working with yourself you can do what you like, although it's still wise to stick to standards wherever possible!

However, if there's ever any chance you'll be working with other people, and/or conforming back to original R3D files, or revisiting your files months or years down the line, messing with your actual R3D clip structure will be a painful mistake you'll curse yourself for making. Everyone knows what Red's clip structure looks like. Red and third party programmes all expect a certain R3D clip structure. If you customise it to your own standards, you are making it non-standard by definition, and almost certainly making someone's job difficult or impossible.