PART 2
NUTS & BOLTS
Project Management
The key to being efficient is great organization. Being organized is crucial to keeping things under control. Use a system to keep track of your project and progress, preferably one that’s easy to share with others (Google Sheet, CueDB, Cue Chronicle, etc. You’ll find a few resources listed at the end of this post for your convenience). The reason I prefer systems that are easily shareable is because at some point in your career you’ll start working with a team, not to mention that sometimes the filmmakers like to have access and see what’s going on.
Next, make sure your file management is well organized. Disorganized file management will lead to all sorts of problems, which waste time. The more organized you are, the more efficient you will be. If your’e working on more than one project, have a separate project folder for each one, with appropriate sub-folders. If you’re working on a TV show, have season sub-folders in the project folder, and episode folders for each episode within the season folder.
Depending on your workflow you may require different sub-folders inside your project (or episode) folders, but it’s good practice to have a video folder for your quicktimes (I like to include my audio guide tracks in here. And when expecting multiple picture versions I create sub-folders for each version. You’ll want a DAW folder in which you store all your composing sessions, each cue in its own cue sub folder. And you’ll want folders for every other function that is relevant to your show (for example Notation, Pre-Records, Paperwork, Final Mixes, etc.) When naming your folders make sure you use consistent naming conventions so things are properly sorted and easy to find.
When collaborating with others, use a file hosting service like dropbox.com or box.com (I’ve listed a few at the bottom of this post for your convenience). You can sync up your file hosting service with your local folder(s). Whether you sync or not, make sure the file-structure is well organized on the hosting service.
Some clients don’t like, or don’t have accounts with file hosting services. You can use file transfer services such as wetransfer.com or hightail.com with these clients. When using this method, make sure you have an effective file structure so you can keep track of exactly what you sent to whom and when.
Finally, make sure your file naming conventions are effective and consistent. Whenever printing mixes or stems that need to go to anyone else (team members, dub stage, etc.) make sure the following information is included:
- Project name (usually an abbreviation)
- Episode number (if applicable)
- Cue number
- Cue version
- Picture version this cue was written to
- Start timecode of the file
- Stem name
- Cue name (optional. I like to include this in stereo mixes, but not in stems)
The order isn’t as important as long as you start with the Project name and Cue number and end with the timecode. For example for my film The Message, a final mix might look like this:
TM 1m03 Text Apology FINAL MIX p031219 1.08.19.18
A percussion stem for that same cue might look like this:
TM 103 PERC p031219 1.08.1918
Some people don’t like to use dots in their timecode (I find it easier to read with the dots) and like to add TM in front of the number. Other like to add a letter in front of the stem so that whenever they are imported into ProTools they always come in at the same order so it might look like this:
TM 103 F PERC P031219 TC 1081918
Others like using underscores instead of spaces. It really doesn’t matter how you do it as long as the information is clearly included in the filename and you are consistent. I don’t really care about letters in front of stem names because I can simply sort my track alphabetically and I get the same end result, but some people are more particular about their track order.