auto numbering take field ?

Hello guys,

Say you have 5 files, one for each take from the same scene. Is there any way to select all 5 files and auto number the "take" field from 1 to 5 ?

Thanks

No, there's no metadata to tell FCPX what take is which, if the camera didn't write it itself.

Since the files are in alphanumeric order, that doesn't matter. It is always in sequential order of the file name.

The things is, for a music video we shot for which I have several takes of each shot, it is painfully annoying to go into EACH "take" field and entering the number in it. I would definitely like to have a faster way to do that.

I could not fill in that field and use a counter from a filename renaming preset, but that would mean the "take" is only there, difficult to read quickly.

We rename our clips upon ingest. The naming scheme is traditional broadcast/film. It includes the scene and take number in it. Been doing this since the legacy FCP days, works well.

I personally am moving away from assigning take numbers, as when I ingest, I go through and review my footage, and select what I want to use, mark as a Favorite, mark the bad ones as Rejected.

But no, there's no way for FCPX to magically know what clip is which scene or which take. You're doing to have to do it manually.

I wish there at least was a way to set some meta data in the import window, such as Reel, Camera Name, Angle etc... And while they'd be at it they should add automativ take numbering to that too

FCPX.guru wrote: But no, there's no way for FCPX to magically know what clip is which scene or which take. You're doing to have to do it manually.

I don't want to be rude, but again, what I want is not magical. I know there is no way that FCPX guesses what take it is.
What I want is to incrementally number a chosen field of several selected rows. Just like you would do in Excel.

And if there is no way, then there is no way ... :dry:

Feedback page, it would make sense to have that function.

Hi Ronfya
I think Producer's Best Friend from Intelligent Assistance www.intelligentassistance.com/producer-s-best-friend.html
can do this?? You might have to export the XML into a spread sheet, make the changes and then reimport.
Shoot Greg a line and ask. He can most likely help.
Seems to me it should be doable via XML.
If you want to do it manually, you should be able to set this in the Timeline index?? I think, haven't tried it. If it can be done there, it might be possible to set up an Automator action script to do this in a click or two.
Hope this helps, Greg

VidGreg wrote: Hi Ronfya
I think Producer's Best Friend from Intelligent Assistance www.intelligentassistance.com/producer-s-best-friend.html
can do this?? You might have to export the XML into a spread sheet, make the changes and then reimport.
Shoot Greg a line and ask. He can most likely help.
Seems to me it should be doable via XML.
If you want to do it manually, you should be able to set this in the Timeline index?? I think, haven't tried it. If it can be done there, it might be possible to set up an Automator action script to do this in a click or two.
Hope this helps, Greg

Thanks Greg, though exporting and reimporting an xml seems a little bit overkill ...
So far, the fastest way I found to do it is by selecting the first row of my takes, pressing tab several times so that the "take" field is becomes editable, type the number, press enter and go down to the next row.
Maybe I should be able to write an automator action using that principle.
Thanks guys.

I think "Shot Notes X" would be easier to introduce in a shoot to ingest workflow and doing in a CSV file from "Number" or "MS Xcel"

my two cents

Yes, but the project or team doesn't always suit that workflow. And sometimes you are just given the material without anything else.

Well I understand this.. but since "Shot Notes X" essentially is an EVENT list fcpxml matched to a CVS file then back to-> fcpxml and reimport it could be useful.. All you need is to get your camera card clips list or timecode start list imported in spreadsheet then match after adding more metadata ... it could be a temporary workaround.

Any way a good feature request to ask in feedback.

EDIT for matching possibilities
Matching Automatically
Matching based on Final Cut Pro Clip Name
Matching based on file name
Matching based on TIMECODE

FCPX' Batch-Renaming abilities maybe a workaround?

select your clips
in the Inspector/Info, click on Apply Custom Name/New
and create your new naming scheme…



yep, that changes the clips name, not the Take column … but for a start?

Hey Karsten,

Like I said above ...

ronfya wrote: I could not fill in that field and use a counter from a filename renaming preset, but that would mean the "take" is only there, difficult to read quickly.

I indeed thought of that but that would mean the take number is difficult to read quickly

How would it be difficult? This is how we do it, and it works well. We also do Smart Collections based on this naming scheme.

ronfya wrote: … but that would mean the take number is difficult to read quickly

huh? you lost me here - why is that difficult to read?? :huh:

The batch-renaming feature allows to put, for example, take# first - so in a list-view you could arrange your clips numerically.