FCP - Capture and Bin Storage Question

[VanMac]

Hello.

I'm about to make my first video using FCP, and have likely the first of many questions.

A while ago I got my parents old super8 movies and got them converted to DV. I likely have 8 full tapes of old video that I plan to make into multiple movies (ie: Christmas, anniversaries, kids, etc).

I was thinking that instead of just capturing "Christmas" footage for the Christmas movie, and then later "Wedding" footage for the Anniversary video, I would capture all movies under an "Old Reel" project, and then use those clips and subclips in whatever movies I wish. Kinda like creating a repository of clips that can be used in multiple movies.

So, just wondering if this is a good idea, and what some good strategies are for acquiring and storing data, and being able to reuse it, etc. I've been going through the documentation and tutorials a bit, but just thought I would as here as well

Thanks in advance,

 

[Mister Three]

It's up to you really.

Hi VanMac,

I think on this question it's down to your way of working. Some like to capture only what they need for organisation or disk space reasons, I like to capture everything (EVERYTHING) as I never know what I'll need and have often found a moment that should have been deleted or not captured simply perfect for a certain place. But conversely I also have a lot of footage captured and stored that I'll never use. Now and then (after a project has been finished) I go into the captured files and delete (risky - apart from having the tape back-up) completely unused ones just for space - or just back up the lot and forget about it.
The best advice is to remain thoroughly organised though, capture and label your files well and put them in a good place together on an external or very fast internal drive.
And good luck.

T

 

[VanMac]

Hey T.

Thanks for the input.

I think for now I will just be capturing what I need, as I dont want to get too overwhelmed with content.

I have the tapes labelled pretty good, so I know what is on them. I'm now going through the tape, logging clips that I want, and then doing a batch capture. Works pretty good, and I can go back to a tape and capture more when needed.