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My Media Manager Backstory

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This short post is about my Media Manager Backstory or History. The main job of the Media Manager is to ensure the integrity of the data pipeline/workflow. It’s not very sexy, but it’s got to be done – like housecleaning. Cloning the video data from the camera cards to at least 3 different places is essential.

Data must be in 3 different places to ensure safety.

Chris Rogers

Education

West Los Angeles College Certificate in MultiMedia

I have a degree in MultiMedia from West Los Angeles College (next to Sony Studios).

Lynda-Video-Data-Management-on-Set-and-in-the-Field-certificate

I took Rich Harrington’s excellent class on Video Data Management thru Lynday.com. I worked with Lynda and her husband Bruce several years ago at the After Effects West Conference. I supported many motion graphics designers. My favorites were Pablo Ferro and Mark Coleran (who has since become a personal friend).

Video Data Cloning Software

You should CLONE the data from video cards to your hard drive, to ensure maximum safety. If you just “Select All and Copy” it to a hard drive, you risk losing small amounts of metadata. Here are the most popular, industry standard cloning software.

  1. Offload by Red Giant – I own this.
  2. Shotput Pro by Imagine Products – I have used it, but don’t own a copy. Industry Standard software, but you have to pay a monthly fee and a yearly fee.
  3. Carbon Copy Cloner by Bombich Software. I own this.
  4. Prelude by Adobe. I have used it, but don’t own a copy.
  5. Clone Tool by Resolve. I own this.

Best Practices for Media Management

I also create a workflow for each project with clear communication and naming structures, so we (Director, Director of Photography, Producer, Editor, etc) are all on the same page. Time permitting, this includes RAID/hard drive setup, sample video from camera used in shoot, forms, Required/Must Have shot lists, proper names, Quality Control, etc.

At the end of the shoot, I also consolidate all footage.

Associate Producer

I can also act as a communicator between the Executive Producers and the Editors. This takes a lot of heat off the Suits answering questions from the Editors, so you can make the most efficient use of your time.

Essential

The SINGLE most important thing to do is to bring us in as a Media Manager a few days BEFORE your shoot so we can lay out all these safeguards. Too often, Media Management is an “After Thought” and you lay it all on the Editor to figure out in Post.

Examples of Media Manager

For more examples of my work as a Media Manager, click here. This is the end of my Media Manager Backstory or History.