Naming and Tracking One’s Projects

[George Tyndall]

Naming and Tracking One’s Projects

I would like to share with the members a useful method for naming and then keeping track of one’s work, beginning with the shoot and proceeding through the production of the project.

Tagging in the Organizer

At the level of the placing of the tags on the stills/video in the Organizer, I name the files according to the date of the shoot as follows: 2009 091501, 2009 091502, 2009 091503, etc. The last digit corresponds to each of the shoots that I have done on particular day. Most of the time there has been only one, in which case I use 2009 091501.

Naming the Album

Let’s say I choose to create 3 different albums from a given shoot and that I did only one shoot on that particular day. (I may, for example,s wish to present the client with 3 different versions of her slide show.) In that case, I would name the albums as follows: 2009 09150101, 2009 09150102 and 2009 09150103.

If there was a second shoot on that day and I choose to create 3 albums from that shoots, the numbering would be as follows: 2009 09150201, 2009 09150202 and 2009 09150203.

Naming the Slide Show in the PSE Editor

Once I’ve completed an album that I will use to create a slide show, I click Edit, highlight the name of the album and then copy that name to the Windows clipboard (Ctrl-C). I then open the PSE slide show editor and experiment with different durations for the slides and transitions until I’ve found what appears to be the proper rhythm/pace for that particular set of slides. At that point I choose the music for the show. Then I do a Save As and type Ctrl-V followed by a dash and the name of the music into the space. Before closing the Editor, I highlight this new name and do another Ctrl-C.

Naming the Slide Show in PRE7

After opening my PRE7 slide show template, I do a Save As followed by a Ctrl-V, then I browse to the HDD where I wish to save the slide show, then I click the New Folder icon. I do a Ctrl-V and the folder now has the same name as the Album that I used to create it, plus the title of the song.

I’ve found the above-described method of naming to be INVALUABLE when, at a later date, I need to know which of my many albums or shoots was used to create a particular project.*

*If you use the PSE or PRE Organizer to keep track of all your work, as I do, then here is the method that I use to make sure that the Organizer also contains the correct file name:
- Right-click the appropriate folder on your HDD and select Rename
- Ctrl-C
- Open your Organizer and scroll to the place where you will keep the name of the file
- Ctrl-V
- Tag the file

[Steve Grisetti]

That's a lot of housekeeping, George, but it's very good housekeeping! I'm sure, once you've done all the legwork, your files are very easy to find and work with.

[George Tyndall]

That's a lot of housekeeping, George, but it's very good housekeeping! I'm sure, once you've done all the legwork, your files are very easy to find and work with.

Steve, it's actually a simple system, but it takes lots of words to describe. The principle behind it is to take maximum advantage of the ability of the Organizer to keep track of one's work.

In addition to the above, for each project I create in the Organizer two folders, one entitled SD DVD and the other m2t. Once I "get" the files into the Organizer, it is a very simple matter to "find" all the projects for which I've already created either a SD DVD or an m2t file or both, and that information in turn is very helpful when I get a client's reorder or I wish to create, say, a SD or Blu-ray compilation of selections of my work.