Import cards from sound recorder

The purpose is to assure that we have the cards with sound files copied to disks and the media is able to be import to a NLE or DAW for further use.  This approach works for professional sound recorders as Sound Devices, Zoom F4 and F8 but not Zoom H4 or H6.

The preconditions are that we have two cards and the first card have been recorded as polywav-files, there is timecode for the audiofiles and a sound report from the recorder is stored on the card. Each sound file have a unique name based on scene, shot and take, (e.g. 88A-T001.WAV) or slate and take, (e.g. 244-T001.WAV)

Copy card to disk

The setup we use is based on Hedge application, running on a MacBook Pro,  to copy files from external card reader to two
LaCie Rugged 2TB disks with USB-C interface. We also have a Lexar Professional Hub with card readers for SD, micro-SD, Compact Flash, XQD and CFast cards. 

When copying, the Hodge application create unique folders when copying, e.g. HD-00297 (card) and the verify the files during transfer.

Repeat this activity for each primary (first) card. The secondary (second) card is only used if the are any issues when verifying sound.

The orginal two harddisks are, after media is verified, taken to post production at different times, by different persons and copied to post-production servers, unless post-processing is on set, as described as below.

CREATE FOLDER STRUCTURE FOR POST PRODUCTION

Remove one of the external disks and connect a large fast external editing disk.

Create a folder for the project if not done previously in the root Media folder. Use naming convetion <project no>, <project name> (<producer>). E.g. 10067, Seven Deadly Sins of IT (Architecture Corner).

Add a folder structure for each type of media, to make it easier to share different parts in post production. Use type of audio as folder name for your media, e.g. Voice over, Music, SFX etc.

There is a fine line of making to many folders and to deep folder structure, so this structure is used to create a balance based on easy of use for different roles in post production and sharing of media. 

Don’t change name of these folder at a later stage.

Create a folder to store media in the Audio folder, and use same identifier as folder for imported card, e.g. HD-00297 for media from the card stored in folder HD-00297 (card). This makes it easier to trace if something goes wrong.

Copy the sound files to the new folder.    

Repeat for each imported card.

RENAME files

We rename the copied files on disks using Bridge and a preset where we give each file a new name based on the folder name and a original file name , e.g. HD-00297-88A-T001, where HD-00267 is the sequence for each card given by Hedge.

The benefit with unique names for each clip is that we can trace back a random clip in post-processing back to the original card and that two clips never have the same name.

Repeat for each folder.

audio CHECK of clips

Make an audio check of at least the first clip, last clip and a random clip within the folder to verify the content and compare with sound report.

First when this step is approved is OK to erase original memory cards.

Repeat for each folder.