Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 252)

• Using the Good checkbox to identify the takes you want to use while editing. Your first
impression is important, and you might forget what it was later on. When you’re ready
to start capturing your clips, you can use the Find command (or sort by the Good
column in the Browser), to select only the clips you’ve marked as good, and then capture
them, if you like.
Logging Suggestions for Documentary-Style Projects
These types of projects include not only documentaries, but any kind of project where
the majority of your material is unscripted interviews, found footage, or previously recorded
or stock material.
• Use the Prompt checkbox to enter clip names as you think of them. It’s a good idea to
identify clips by their content, as well as by where you might use them in your project.
• You can use the Notes field in the Prompt window (where you enter the name of a
logged clip) to enter the scene number where you think that clip might be placed.
Later, you can sort your clips in the Browser by the Notes column and all of your clips
will be grouped by scene number.
• Use markers, especially if you’re logging long takes. Markers can remind you, later on
when you’re editing, of sections of video that you liked.
• Feel free to log more clips than you intend to capture. Especially when editing an
unscripted piece, you never know when you’re going to need an alternate take or a
B-roll shot that you didn’t initially think you’d use. If you log all of the shots on a given
reel for reference, you can use the Good checkbox to mark the shots that you know
you want to capture right away. You can then store the other offline shots in a separate
bin for reference. If you need these shots later, it’s easy to select and batch capture
them.
Additional Sources for Logging Information
Not all logging information has to be created by the editor during post-production. Some
kinds of projects, such as feature films and episodic shows, use shooting scripts, which
break down the original screenplay into detailed scene numbers, camera angles, and so
on. This information is then translated into camera reports created by a camera assistant
during shooting. Timecode (video) or feet and frames (film) are written side by side with
notes about the shot: actor and camera positions, lighting setups, audio information,
notes about bad takes, and so on.
This information can be merged with post-production logging notes to help the editor
easily identify the reel and timecode numbers corresponding to each shot in the movie.
With the shooting script’s detailed information about scene and shot numbers and the
camera report information added to the log notes of your clips, it is much easier to
navigate your raw footage.
252 Chapter 15 Overview of Capturing Tape-Based Media