I'm not sure this question belongs here, but I don't really know where I would post it (moderator, if there is a better spot, please move there if need be), and since I am a Mac and FCP user, I figured this was as good a place as any to start.

I have been given a hard drive, with roughly 12 weeks of footage (about 20,000 individual video clips, some 10 sec long and up). A friend has a company, and has some interns, and he has asked if there was anything he could have them do for me. I have asked him to have them view the clips and log each one for me. I want them to give me info about what, who, and where, are contained in the clips.

I was curious if there was any kind of program I could have them use that would allow them to add tags to the clips. That would allow me, at a later date, if I wanted to look for all the clips that had a certain person in it, I could type his name, and it would show me those clips. Then if I wanted to narrow it down by a certain location, it would give me more specific clips. Does that make any sense?

Any thoughts?

Jeff

Hi Jeff
I think whatever route you take, you will need to make sure that the people doing the logging are given really clear instructions. Pretty obvious, but f there is any variations in the way it is done you could end up with a mess.
If they all have FCP work stations, then you could just use this. If not then you'll need something like HD log or any DAM software, Bridge is quite useful for this I find.

Another app that might come in handy in the process is Quicktime notetaker. It's not really DAM software, but it could prove useful.

QT Movie NoteTaker .5 RELEASED! (free) | DVcreators.network (http://www.dvcreators.net/qt-movie-notetaker/)

If I have them use one of these programs, once they've done the work, will the program allow me to search using tag information?

I'm looking for a way to be able to access the video by its content, with out having to sort through a bunch of pieces of paper.

For example if I typed John, it would give me all the video with John in it, then if I typed Sally, it would narrow the results down to video containing John and Sally, and so on? Is this possible?

Ive been working on this project, for some friends (not getting paid), and If I can make things easier on myself, I am all about it. I just finished putting together a 90 sec highlight reel, of the 3 month tour, and they are pitching it to gain funding for future things. They have other things they want to do with all this footage, and it would be nice to have an easy search feature for access what I want, as opposed to just riffling through clip after clip (like I have been doing), to try and find what I'm looking for.

Can anyone recommend a low cost DAM software? I've done a quick search and found a couple in the $300 and up range. Since I'm not being paid, Im not really interested in spending a great deal on this. Plus, the one I did find, it was licensed for 1 machine, and since they won't be using my computer for cataloging this, Im not about to spend a ton on a program they wont be mine when their done.

Thanks again,
Jeff