Keep track of takes or highlights while recording or streaming

Trying to keep track of what you recorded and what you can use in the final edit is a major time consuming problem. One needs to keep track of which digital file contains which take(s), the timecodes of when each take starts/ends, if it was a good/bad take, and what the take was about/for. On big(ger) productions, there is usually an AD or script supervisor who keeps track of this sort of thing on set, and communicates that to the editors in post-production. But adding an extra human being to record all this information is incredibly expensive.

So having a simple tool you can use to quickly (hint: keyboard shortcuts) record all this information (by yourself if necessary) is very useful.

Of course the timecodes here are not precise/exact (we don't have a Tentacle Sync after all), so it may be off by a few frames/miliseconds/seconds when you open your files in your favourite editor. But hopefully, it saves you a lot of time/effort in scrubbing your video files looking for that one good take or highlight.

Workflow: One File, Many Takes

In my normal workflow, I tend to record multiple takes continuously (multiple takes in a single recording). This creates a single long recording file with many takes, rather than many small files (each with one take). This is also the workflow for streaming or Zoom because you can't start/stop a stream or Zoom room whenever you like, just to pick out a good/bad highlight (take).

Workflow: One Take per File

If your workflow is one where you start a new recording for each individual take (one take per recording) and create many small files, you can still use this tool by noting the File # and/or using the comment field to indicate the file name/recording number instead. Just remember that recordings that have no good takes in it are ignored and not saved to the Take Log.

General Workflow

• Before you start, be sure to set the correct FPS for your recording. Use Audio if you are doing audio only recordings.
• When you start recording on your Camera/ATEM/Recorder/Zoom room or start sending stream data to YouTube or Facebook RTMP Servers, click Roll Camera
• When:
  • the talent is ready, and you are ready to call "Action!",
  • you are about to start a key moment in your stream/Zoom room, or
  • want to mark a highlight or key moment in your stream/Zoom room that just happened
  click Action!.
• When the take is complete: if it is good and you want to keep it, click Good Take, but if it is bad, click Bad Take to ignore it.
• When you are done and want to stop the recording, click Stop Camera.
• At any time, you can click Take Log to add comments to each take. Simply enter the File # (for an earlier recording), Take # and Comment, and press ENTER to update the Take Log.
• If the Take Log is open, you can click on the copy button or press CTRL + C to copy the Take Log to your clipboard.
• To reset or clear everything, especially the Take Log, simply reload this page. Be sure to copy, paste and save the Take Log elsewhere first though.