Just thought I'd share something I recently worked out.
For some time, I've been logging tapes by setting in/out points in Video Capture and then batch capturing the clips I want to disk. I've used this method because I need to have a bulletproof archive of my work, so I can recapture and recreate a project at a later date if I need to re-edit. But, necessary as it is, I've always hated logging tapes. I've just started editing work on a new 1-hour documentary with 18 hours of raw footage. So, I decided I'd try out a new logging workflow in Vegas 7. Here's what I've worked out:
1. Open up Media Manager and create a new, blank media library just for this project. In addition to the standard tags (Closeup, Static, etc.), I created tags for each interviewee or major topic, "cutaways," "master," "establishing," and "needs trimming."
2. From the Project Media window, I selected "Capture Video" and used Video Capture (I'm still in the SD world) to capture an entire DV tape to a folder (named for the tape number) on my hard drive, with scene detection enabled.
3. I then use Media Manager to log the clips with the standard tags and the tags I'd set up in step 1. Garbage clips get deleted from MM and the hard drive by right-clicking them in MM. Longer clips with no scene breaks (like extended talking-head interviews) get tagged with "Needs trimming." Once I've tagged a bunch of clips, I save all the tags to the file properties.
4. After I've loaded several tapes onto the hard drive, I select the tag for all the "needs trimming" clips. One by one, I dump these into the trimmer, and set named regions for each segment of interest, leaving the bad parts without regions. Make sure you save the media markers to the files (I have Vegas set to do this automatically in preferences).
5. In Vegas' Explorer window, I grab all the regions I created in Step 4, and drag them onto the timeline. Then I hit "Save As," check "Copy Trimmed Media Files," and give myself 2-second head and tail "handles." I then save the files to a subfolder of the original.
6. Go back to Media Manager, reselect all "Needs Trimming"-tagged files, and delete them from the hard disk. If necessary, re-tag all the trimmed clips in the subfolder.
This workflow was theoretically possible in earlier versions of Vegas, but with version 7, the trimmed files created by Save As now retain camera-original timecode information, so they can now be recaptured from the original tapes. Add to that the much better stability of Media Manager, and I am now confident enough to use this as my primary workflow.
I find this speeds up the process immensely, because I avoid time consuming marking or in/out points while shuttling the tape, I can tag multiple similar clips at the same time in Media Manager, and I can quickly delete junk clips or segments of longer clips. This gives me a well-defined, project specific database of only the good stuff from all my footage. Furthermore, I can reliably recreate this project from the original tapes, capturing only the "good" clips (saving time and disk space) through the "recapture offline media" option either from the Vegas timeline or from Media Manager.
This rocks! Logging is now almost fun! Thanks, Sony for making these tools work so well!
Now, about that storyboard....
For some time, I've been logging tapes by setting in/out points in Video Capture and then batch capturing the clips I want to disk. I've used this method because I need to have a bulletproof archive of my work, so I can recapture and recreate a project at a later date if I need to re-edit. But, necessary as it is, I've always hated logging tapes. I've just started editing work on a new 1-hour documentary with 18 hours of raw footage. So, I decided I'd try out a new logging workflow in Vegas 7. Here's what I've worked out:
1. Open up Media Manager and create a new, blank media library just for this project. In addition to the standard tags (Closeup, Static, etc.), I created tags for each interviewee or major topic, "cutaways," "master," "establishing," and "needs trimming."
2. From the Project Media window, I selected "Capture Video" and used Video Capture (I'm still in the SD world) to capture an entire DV tape to a folder (named for the tape number) on my hard drive, with scene detection enabled.
3. I then use Media Manager to log the clips with the standard tags and the tags I'd set up in step 1. Garbage clips get deleted from MM and the hard drive by right-clicking them in MM. Longer clips with no scene breaks (like extended talking-head interviews) get tagged with "Needs trimming." Once I've tagged a bunch of clips, I save all the tags to the file properties.
4. After I've loaded several tapes onto the hard drive, I select the tag for all the "needs trimming" clips. One by one, I dump these into the trimmer, and set named regions for each segment of interest, leaving the bad parts without regions. Make sure you save the media markers to the files (I have Vegas set to do this automatically in preferences).
5. In Vegas' Explorer window, I grab all the regions I created in Step 4, and drag them onto the timeline. Then I hit "Save As," check "Copy Trimmed Media Files," and give myself 2-second head and tail "handles." I then save the files to a subfolder of the original.
6. Go back to Media Manager, reselect all "Needs Trimming"-tagged files, and delete them from the hard disk. If necessary, re-tag all the trimmed clips in the subfolder.
This workflow was theoretically possible in earlier versions of Vegas, but with version 7, the trimmed files created by Save As now retain camera-original timecode information, so they can now be recaptured from the original tapes. Add to that the much better stability of Media Manager, and I am now confident enough to use this as my primary workflow.
I find this speeds up the process immensely, because I avoid time consuming marking or in/out points while shuttling the tape, I can tag multiple similar clips at the same time in Media Manager, and I can quickly delete junk clips or segments of longer clips. This gives me a well-defined, project specific database of only the good stuff from all my footage. Furthermore, I can reliably recreate this project from the original tapes, capturing only the "good" clips (saving time and disk space) through the "recapture offline media" option either from the Vegas timeline or from Media Manager.
This rocks! Logging is now almost fun! Thanks, Sony for making these tools work so well!
Now, about that storyboard....