Sure, this can be a video digital camera doing the folder shuffle.
I problem one of many main video modifying software builders to repair the “folder shuffle”. What’s the “folder shuffle?” That’s the dance it’s a must to do in post-production, both bypassing or eradicating all the unneeded and superfluous folders that fashionable digital cameras write to the digital camera card when recording media. This isn’t to be confused with the reconnection dance , which has been considerably rectified since this piece was written again in 2010.
Right here’s an instance of what a typical Sony digital camera writes to the reminiscence card and what’s written to the drive as you backup media from a shoot:
The digital camera creates these recordsdata and folders, however do we’d like them within the modifying mission?
The above picture is only one instance of 1 specific Sony digital camera and never even all the pieces that it truly writes to the digital camera card. Completely different cameras and producers have their very own strategies for a way and what they write to the cardboard, with some having far more folders and recordsdata than others.
What we in the end want are the video recordsdata (MXF, MP4s, MOVs, and many others, and many others).
Hey, I see video recordsdata and plenty of different folders and recordsdata.
Is there some strategy to get these video recordsdata and the DIT/human-created group into the modifying instrument with out all that different stuff (learn on for the reply)? It shouldn’t be that tough, what with AI and all, since AI can clear up all the world’s ills.
However first, a rant
However right here we sit, 20+ years into our world of digital cinema and digital digital camera acquisition. You shove a reminiscence card into your digital camera, shoot a bunch of footage, pull that reminiscence card out, insert it right into a reader, and offload it to your SSD drives. It’s possible you’ll do that when, twice, ten instances, 100 instances, a thousand instances all through the course of a full manufacturing. Relying on the digital camera you’re capturing with, that digital camera writes these video recordsdata onto the reminiscence card in a really particular manner. Typically it could be so simple as a folder with a bunch of .MOV recordsdata in it. Different instances, we could get a jumbled stack of folders nested in folders with XMLs, thumbnails, and any variety of different issues together with the video essence. Maybe that’s an MXF file, or possibly it’s an MP4 file.
When it comes time to edit that footage buried deep throughout the digital camera’s folder construction, what we actually need are these MXFs and people MP4s. What we regularly get after we import these digital camera offloads is that mess of folders the digital camera creates. A bunch of superfluous recordsdata we don’t want, together with the movies and clips we have to edit. I’m positive there are very legitimate causes for all of these totally different folders and recordsdata. You don’t really want all of these folders imported into an edit mission. We’d want a few of the knowledge from all of these recordsdata. However as soon as within the edit, we solely want the video recordsdata.
You do have to again up the complete digital camera playing cards and all of these totally different recordsdata and folders. Extra on that later.
Let’s say you’ve a well-organized folder construction out of your shoot which may look one thing like this:
I like a well-organized set of folders coming off the set.
Relying in your workflow and the way you want to prepare your edit mission, you may want that precise folder construction mirrored in your modifying mission. However what you in all probability don’t need are all of these different recordsdata that the cameras create. I’ve been coping with this so much on a latest present, and it acquired me questioning how this could possibly be higher and the way all of the totally different modifying instruments would possibly deal with this example.
Adobe Premiere Professional
Premiere has a number of totally different strategies through which to import media. However the two “skilled” methods can be the Media Browser and the comparatively new Import tab.
First, let’s strive the media browser:
The Media Browser was each profitable and a messy failure all on the identical time. To start with, for those who take a look at the Cam A, Cam B, and offload quantity, the folder construction was retained. On the identical time, the Media Browser introduced in all of these additional unneeded folders, switch logs, and JPEG thumbnails—and plenty of stuff you positively don’t want in your modifying mission.
And the brand new Import tab:
On step one of the Import tab, I like what I see right here. As Premiere is ready to look into these particular person folders and even inform me what number of recordsdata it sees to import.
However then, upon import, I don’t get any of the folder construction retained. And on high of that, Premiere additionally imported all the JPEG thumbnails that the digital camera created.
Retaining the folder construction on import has been a giant Premiere dialogue through the years, and this was added in 2023. So we are able to form of get the most effective of each worlds in Premiere, as you’ve a selection in the way you import. Should you want all of these folders, use the Media Browser. Should you simply need to dig all the pieces out, use the Import tab. Whatever the technique you select, you’ve acquired some work to get your bins organized as soon as the media is imported.
Now, for those who learn that publish on when this was added to the beta, it seems to be like that folder construction retention could come to the Import tab. However personally, I hope that doesn’t occur as I like having choices on how I import. And Premiere is the one one that can do that.
Avid Media Composer
Avid Media Composer’s Supply Browser is a advisable technique to hyperlink to authentic digital camera sources.
Whereas Avid’s Supply Browser can look into all the chosen digital camera folders and dig out the wanted MXF and MP4s, there is no such thing as a folder construction retained. I give the Avid Supply Browser credit score, although – it doesn’t convey within the JPEG thumbnails. It’s sensible sufficient to know you don’t want these.
DaVinci Resolve
Resolve has an attention-grabbing set of choices on the Media web page. And also you do use the Media web page when importing media into Resolve, don’t you?
You may select to only straight-up import all of the media in a set of folders, or use the “Create Bins” choice to just do that, have Resolve robotically create bins when importing media.
My intestine would inform me that “create bins” is the way in which to go as a result of I need to Create Bins from these folders, however Resolve takes it fairly actually and creates a bin out of each single folder it sees. Should you’ve acquired giant shoots with plenty of offloads, that’s going to be plenty of cleanup it’s a must to do utilizing the Create Bins technique. It appears to herald folders I didn’t even know existed!
The important thing to getting any of that media imported with Resolve can be to make use of the Add Folder and SubFolders into Media Pool possibility. Then you definitely get all the video media and people pesky JPEG thumbnails simply dumped into one bin. Some cleanup and group are required, irrespective of which technique you select. And once more, a giant plus to Avid for ignoring these JPEG thumbnails.
Remaining Lower Professional
Remaining Lower Professional has an import dialog field that’s value going by and checking a few settings:
I all the time select to go away recordsdata in place when working with Remaining Lower Professional as I need the media to remain the place I’ve organized it on my onerous drive. Since Remaining Lower Professional doesn’t have conventional bins, you’re making Occasions and Key phrase Collections for group. Making key phrases from the folders robotically may be the way in which to go.
Making key phrases from the folders didn’t assist a lot there both, as Remaining Lower Professional simply dumped all the pieces into one occasion, together with the JPEG thumbnails.
It’s not simply the digital camera that may do the folder shuffle, the folders can dance that dance as properly.
Am I asking an excessive amount of from my modifying software program?
It may appear insane to undergo this tedious train, however for those who’re engaged on a present that’s capturing a number of cameras over a number of days or even weeks, the place you could have many offloads per day, you’ve acquired plenty of media residing deep down in plenty of totally different folders. I partake in numerous workouts like this to optimize workflow, together with offloading media, creating folder buildings for these offloads, organizing media upon import to the modifying instrument, and organizing bins throughout the modifying instrument. If I can shave off only a few minutes right here and there, which may find yourself shaving off just a few hours, or possibly even many hours, in the midst of an extended edit. There’s nothing mistaken with attempting to optimize workflows.
That begs the query: am I asking an excessive amount of for the modifying instrument to acknowledge my organizational folders from the shoot whereas ignoring all the many totally different camera-created folders (and recordsdata)? Trying on the workouts above, I suppose the reply is sure. I’m asking an excessive amount of of the modifying instruments.
However but, in a world the place we are able to have AI assist us do issues like:
- Take away objects from a body robotically
- Combine audio
- Create edits from our script
- Manage media by content material within the body
- Transcribe textual content with nice accuracy …
Is it an excessive amount of to ask AI to be constructed into our modifying instruments to kind out all of these superfluous folders and recordsdata we don’t want for the edit? What we actually need AI to do most of all (no less than what many people need) is assist with these boring, tedious, and laborious elements of post-production that we don’t take pleasure in doing. We need to get to the inventive a part of the edit. Sure, this can be a job that’s nice for an assistant to have them import media and manage it in a selected manner. However not all of us have assistants.
So, how do you take care of this, Scott?
The brief reply is, I usually do plenty of guide organizing. It’s a kind of essential and obligatory evils of modifying and post-production, that you just regularly have to prepare manually. Templates, macros, and keyboard shortcuts could make this so much quicker. After doing it for numerous years, you’ll develop your individual methods to hurry this course of. Relying on the job and the way you want issues organized, typically this takes much more time than others. Good group and setup are a part of what ought to be budgeted in each your time price range and your cash price range for any edit.
However I nonetheless use Kyno to assist.
I’m a giant fan of third-party instruments, and the most effective instrument I’ve discovered to assist take care of that is the beloved (if considerably in limbo) most wonderful post-production software program instrument ever created exterior of your modifying software: Kyno.
Here’s what Kyno can do. Kyno has an incredible “Ship to” possibility that can ship media from Kyno into Adobe Premiere Professional, DaVinci Resolve, or Remaining Lower Professional. It will take media you’ve organized in Kyno with tags, markers, or subclips and ship that media from Kyno into your modifying instrument with that logging intact. There are additionally choices for easy methods to take care of folders and subfolders, together with the insane digital camera buildings that fashionable digital cameras create.
Right here I’ve informed Kyno to drill down right into a dated folder and take a look at all the pieces in that folder, together with a number of off-loads for my cameras. There are alternatives to filter what I need to see, so I’ve informed Kyno to solely present me the video recordsdata and exclude any audio recordsdata and pictures. Excluding pictures will filter out these pesky JPEG thumbnails which are utilized by the digital camera and never used within the modifying course of.
Now, utilizing Kyno’s File > Ship To command will give me choices for a way I need the media despatched from Kyno to my NLE.
I can inform Kyno how a lot of the DIT folder construction I need to retain. On this case, I’ll go together with the date as I’ve a number of offloads over many various dates. The top result’s the best choice that I’ve discovered for this course of.
Again in Premiere, you possibly can see that whereas not good, I’ve acquired my dated and offload folder buildings intact with only a naked minimal of camera-created folders. Gone are the Sub, Clip, Edit, Take, Basic, personal, DATABASE, Sub and plenty of extra folders that you just don’t want in your modifying mission. It’s so much quicker to prepare from these few folders than it’s to prepare from all of the folders that a few of the different instruments will import. Not good, however I’ll take this. Time saved is cash made.
However Scott, isn’t Kyno useless?
Kyno will not be useless and it’s nonetheless obtainable for buy on the Lesspain Software program web site. I’ve made my love for Kyno identified many instances through the years, as no different post-production instrument has ever matched its usefulness. Kyno was acquired by Signiant in 2021 and appears to have been in limbo since then. However at NAB 2025, I used to be informed by Signiant {that a} Kyno replace was coming with Apple Silicon assist. When that replace hits, you’ll hear about it right here! Within the meantime, you may get plenty of use out of that $160 Kyno Customary model. If it saves plenty of time relating to folder import group, then it could possibly be cash properly spent. Or seize the free trial and take a look at it for your self.
Talking of those folder buildings …
You’re backing up the whole digital camera playing cards, aren’t you?
I used to be visiting a latest shoot and noticed the producer digging deep into all these folders created by the cameras and digging out simply the MXF and MP4 recordsdata to again up onto a tough drive. This isn’t the popular technique as a result of, apart from taking plenty of time to dig into all these folders, it’s attainable some media might simply be missed. That precise factor has occurred. Some workflows in all probability require plenty of these recordsdata created by the digital camera within the post-production course of, together with workflows that may’t learn the right timecode with out all the camera-created recordsdata. Moreover, it’s a lot simpler to seize the top-level folder off the digital camera card and again that up in an organized manner, versus digging deep into the XDROOT or M4ROOT folders simply to seek out the clips. There also needs to be a DIT organizing the media, not the producer, however that’s one other dialog for one more day.
I’ve all the time assumed everyone all the time backs up the complete digital camera card buildings, however I put a ballot on social media the opposite day asking precisely the way you again up your media, and I came upon that not everyone backs up the whole folders.
First, Threads:
Okay, that’s nice to see. Most individuals are offloading correctly by copying the whole folders or utilizing a instrument like Offshoot to do the work for them.
And TwitterX:
While you’re offloading footage from digital video cameras, and the digital camera writes a fancy folder construction to your card, how do you go about that footage offload?
— Scott Simmons (@editblog) August 3, 2025
That’s nice to see most individuals are on Twitter or additionally backing up the complete digital camera playing cards. I’m actually fairly shocked that the outcomes of the ballot are that top. I believed far more can be simply pulling out the MXFs or MP4s.
How do you deal with this, expensive editors? I’d love to listen to for those who’ve discovered a third-party instrument or plug-in that may clear up this.
