From the course: Video Data Management on Set and in the Field

The benefits of on-set asset management

- Many times data management is left up for after the shoot. People just put a really high speed memory card in the camera, preferably large capacity, and they try to shoot for as long as possible. Maybe they'll have to swap midday, but they'll take that card and just throw it in the camera bag. And there's nothing wrong with that workflow, but it does have some potential dangers. What I like though, is to manage data on set or in the field. Ideally, you've put somebody in charge of this. The benefit of having somebody in charge means that they can spot problems sooner. By reviewing the footage throughout the day as it comes in, looking at it, they might notice something like a focus issue with the lens, Or maybe that one of the cameras was improperly white balanced. Having the footage quality controlled and spot-checked along the way will minimize the chance of errors, and it can save you valuable time for post-production. You have to remember though that malfunction is possible. I've seen memory cards go corrupt and usually it's at the very end of the day after you've shot on them for hours, but you want to make sure that that data is redundant in being backed up. Hard drives get lost, people lose things, so making sure that before you leave a location, you are leaving with three copies of the data, and that those three copies are not traveling in the same bag, or on the same person, or in the same car, means that you're less likely to lose footage or have something catastrophic happen. I don't mean to be grim, but data management on set prevents you from unwanted things happening, like losing data, like having a malfunction, like something failing, or gear, or equipment, or memory cards getting lost or stolen. It's essential that you take the time to do it right. But, there are a few challenges.

Contents