There were things in those golden days of yesterday, well last week really, that did help us out, sometimes more than the help we get currently, in recovering from a project crash. Mostly it's the fact that we shot on tape and after we captured the footage, we put the tape on the shelf as a backup. It sat there until, or if, we needed it and it did that really well.
Now days, when we’re shooting on flash cards, after we “ingest” our footage and erase the card to get ready to shoot again, we don’t actually have any backup. We’re walking the tightrope wire without a net, heck we're walking with out a wire. It’s dangerous out there. What should we be doing?
You would think this would be easy to explain to people, but hey, you’d be wrong. So footage first. The easy way to get your flash card based footage into Final Cut is to use the built-in Log and Transfer window (say you’re shooting with one of the Canon Vixia’s), set your Easy Setup, set your destination, set your format, select the clips and let Final Cut do all of the transcoding from, what, AVCHD files into, what, say a ProRes LT format. It’s easy, relatively fast and you can tell what’s going on.
Yes it’s true that a lot of the time we might use MPEG-Streamclip to transcode our H.264 files into ProRes, but that is, you have to admit, adding an additional step in the process. But say we did do it inside Final Cut, what afterwards should we back up? Well, if you waited until after you erased the flash card the only thing you can backup is the footage you just imported and now it’s in ProRes, which might mean that it’s larger now than it was when it was on the card. Hmm.
Yep, you should have made copies of the files on the card (first) instead, but remember a lot of formats are susceptible to becoming orphans if you don’t also copy the file structure completely intact (meaning Final Cut can’t actually see them without the menu structure – ouch). Also remember we’re trying to save on space here so making a “disk image” using Disk Utility and also one that's “compressed” of all the files on the card is a really safe way to go. You can then burn that compressed disk image onto a DVD and put it on the shelf, just like we did with tape. With luck you’ll never need to see that disk again, but it’s there if you do need it. When you open it it’s like you were just back at the beginning again and will import the files using Final Cut and transcode them just the same way. Which also means you need to know what those settings are because you might need them again, right. Hey, that’s what screen captures are for – use Grab.
Now some people don’t like to burn DVDs because it costs too much and takes too much time and what the heck I’ve got a really big hard drive, I’ll just pull them over with the rest of the project and save all that effort. What do you think I bought this hard drive for anyway.
Whoops, you just bought a “single point of failure” scenario and the clock is ticking. If all the elements of your project are on the same hard drive, if anything happens to that drive you’ve lost everything. That’s not backing anything up at all, it’s putting all of your eggs in one basket and then kicking it. The goal is to have several places for your project to live, giving you options and the possibility for re-birth (miracle, miracle) if one location “bites the dust”. That’s cowboy lingo for dies, partner.
But wait, this is important too – it's the second part, the organization, the real work – the sequence. You still need a copy of the “project” file which you should have also kept a copy of – in still yet another safe place – say like on a USB “flash drive” (because project files are relatively small). Then if your original hard drive takes a dangerous spill on the downhill luge track you whip out your trusty USB flash stick with the project file and those dusty DVDs of your footage, pop them into a computer station and suck your project back to life. It’s easy, well it’s easier that going out and shooting it all over and making a new edit – isn’t it?
So this needs to become a habit in the way we work. Sure we’re just working on a class assignment and if it all blows up you can just do another one, maybe better, so who cares. You’re right, but we’re also trying to build good work habits and learn what the real workflow is (workflow is the secret password – don't tell). So try it out. Just be careful when you back up you don’t run over anyone.
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