Looking for community suggestions to name new software at DVinfo.net

Tim Dashwood · December 1st, 2009, 07:00 PM

I shot a 3 camera show last week but became very frustrated in post with split clips and the way 3 cameras with 45 minutes of content (3 segments each) were treated as 9 multicam angles in FCP.

After giving up on finding a simple no-fuss solution I sat down and started writing a Mac app to join long split HM100 or HM700 Quicktime .MOV files into reference Quicktimes that can be edited in FCP multicam sequences without losing any frames and maintaining original timecode.

When recording long clips on SDHC cards they will be "split" every 14 minutes because of the 4GB file size limits of the FAT-32 format. My app automatically determines which clips belong together, creates a new reference or self-contained Quicktime (user choice) for each take marks them in green. It then marks the original clips in red (to tell you not to bother dragging them into FCP) and locks them so you aren't tempted to trash them. Reference Quicktimes depend on the originals so it is important to leave them on your hard drive. Clips that are smaller than 4GB are left untouched.

Basically it takes this...

Looking for community suggestions to name new software-hmjoinerbefore.png

...and a few seconds later turns it into this:

Looking for community suggestions to name new software-hmjoinerafter.png

As you can see Quicktime reference movies take virtually zero space on your hard drive since they reference the content in the originals. Clip 000_0009_01.MOV in this example was not affected because it was not split by the camera.

So my basic question is "what should I call this app?" I'm open to suggestions and if I end up using one I'll send the lucky winner a couple training DVDs as thanks.

I was thinking of "HM Joiner" but I also added compatibility for the DR-HD100 and MR-HD100 recorders, and could easily add support for other models as well so that may not be ideal. Then I got thinking of "MOV Joiner" but a quick Google search seemed to suggest there were already a couple apps on Windows with that name.

I'd love to name this thing and release it in the next few days.

UPDATE Dec 6, 2009: WOW. So many great suggestions. It's made it difficult to make a shortlist and I wouldn't feel right about randomly choosing so I've selected my "Top 10" (plus my original "HM Joiner" name) and added an anonymous poll that expires in a couple of days. I'd love to get the opinion of the forum. You are allowed to select multiple names and vote for yourself.

Thanks again for all these great suggestions.

Steven Auerbach · December 1st, 2009, 09:58 PM

Tim,

Looks like a very useful application! I suggest calling it ".MOV Consolidator."

Steve J. Nordahl · December 2nd, 2009, 05:11 AM

HM VidPatch or VidPatchHM-MDR

Steve
Bethlehem, Pa.

Paul Shapiro · December 2nd, 2009, 05:39 AM

Lickety Split

Richard Gooderick · December 2nd, 2009, 06:03 AM

........ glueclip

James McBoyle · December 2nd, 2009, 07:50 AM

I was going to suggest GlooM (GluM?), but then thought that might not be up-beat enough...

Have Fun,
Jim

Kevin Gallagher · December 2nd, 2009, 12:55 PM

How about:

MOV Mate
MOV Match
Fuse MOV
Un-Busta MOV

cheers
k

Tim Dashwood · December 2nd, 2009, 03:55 PM

Wow there are some great suggestions. Some had me laughing out loud. "Un-Busta' MOV" especially.

Keep them coming! I'm working on an icon design.

Bob Richardson · December 2nd, 2009, 04:12 PM

So Tim not only has a great eye for cinematography, but can also code native Mac apps from scratch? That hardly seems fair. :-)

Tim Dashwood · December 2nd, 2009, 05:19 PM

I would never call myself a coder Bob. My objective-C/Cocoa skills are still on a very basic hobbyist level so I started with Applescript (which is the easiest of all scripting languages) and then compiled and built it into a native Cocoa applet from there. It's not fancy but it gets the job done and it doesn't seem to crash! I actually spent two days this week just on error handling and I think I've accounted for all the possible bugs. By the time I was done the whole thing had over 500 lines of code. It's crazy how these things grow so quickly from a tiny 20 line-long Applescript.

Of course I probably would have never even thought to do it if I hadn't needed it myself.

By the way the show I shot is well into post production now using the joined MOV files and multicam. So far so good.

Jurgen Schubert · December 2nd, 2009, 05:32 PM

how about:

ClipCollectorTool
ClipConnectorTool
= cct

:-)

James Workman · December 2nd, 2009, 06:13 PM

QuickJoin
QuickSplice (or QuickSplicer)
QuickFit (or QuickFitter)

Capt. Timmy's Whiz-Bang Quicktime Splicer and Gospel Opera

Robert Rogoz · December 2nd, 2009, 10:00 PM

Clip dis-patcher.

Tim Dashwood · December 3rd, 2009, 12:50 AM

I was also just thinking of "MOV Mender" or "MOV Linker"... and I have finished a preliminary icon design in photoshop. I was also thinking about stitches, staples or glue for the icon, but the splicing tape reminds me of my early days cutting on a Steenbeck.

I'll probably print out my favourite 5 or so suggested names and randomly choose one from a hat. The app is almost ready to be distributed so keep up the suggestions. They've all been great so far.

Alan Halfhill · December 3rd, 2009, 01:09 AM

QT Joiner
Movie Joiner
FAT Joiner

Alan

View Poll Results: What name do you like best for this new app?
HM Joiner	0	0%
GlueClip	2	22.22%
Fuse MOV	0	0%
MOV Match	0	0%
MOV Mender	2	22.22%
QT Joiner	0	0%
MOV Mater	1	11.11%
Clip Zipper	2	22.22%
FAT Cat	0	0%
ClipStick	5	55.56%
MOV Merge	0	0%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

December 1st, 2009, 07:00 PM	#1
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	Looking for community suggestions to name new software I shot a 3 camera show last week but became very frustrated in post with split clips and the way 3 cameras with 45 minutes of content (3 segments each) were treated as 9 multicam angles in FCP. After giving up on finding a simple no-fuss solution I sat down and started writing a Mac app to join long split HM100 or HM700 Quicktime .MOV files into reference Quicktimes that can be edited in FCP multicam sequences without losing any frames and maintaining original timecode. When recording long clips on SDHC cards they will be "split" every 14 minutes because of the 4GB file size limits of the FAT-32 format. My app automatically determines which clips belong together, creates a new reference or self-contained Quicktime (user choice) for each take marks them in green. It then marks the original clips in red (to tell you not to bother dragging them into FCP) and locks them so you aren't tempted to trash them. Reference Quicktimes depend on the originals so it is important to leave them on your hard drive. Clips that are smaller than 4GB are left untouched. Basically it takes this... ...and a few seconds later turns it into this: As you can see Quicktime reference movies take virtually zero space on your hard drive since they reference the content in the originals. Clip 000_0009_01.MOV in this example was not affected because it was not split by the camera. So my basic question is "what should I call this app?" I'm open to suggestions and if I end up using one I'll send the lucky winner a couple training DVDs as thanks. I was thinking of "HM Joiner" but I also added compatibility for the DR-HD100 and MR-HD100 recorders, and could easily add support for other models as well so that may not be ideal. Then I got thinking of "MOV Joiner" but a quick Google search seemed to suggest there were already a couple apps on Windows with that name. I'd love to name this thing and release it in the next few days. UPDATE Dec 6, 2009: WOW. So many great suggestions. It's made it difficult to make a shortlist and I wouldn't feel right about randomly choosing so I've selected my "Top 10" (plus my original "HM Joiner" name) and added an anonymous poll that expires in a couple of days. I'd love to get the opinion of the forum. You are allowed to select multiple names and vote for yourself. Thanks again for all these great suggestions. __________________ Tim Dashwood

December 1st, 2009, 09:58 PM	#2
Steven Auerbach Tourist Join Date: May 2009 Location: Franklin, MA Posts: 4	Looking for community suggestions to name new software Tim, Looks like a very useful application! I suggest calling it ".MOV Consolidator."

December 2nd, 2009, 06:03 AM	#5
Richard Gooderick Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 795	........ glueclip __________________ http://www.gooderick.com

December 2nd, 2009, 03:55 PM	#8
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	Wow there are some great suggestions. Some had me laughing out loud. "Un-Busta' MOV" especially. Keep them coming! I'm working on an icon design. __________________ Tim Dashwood

December 2nd, 2009, 05:11 AM	#3
Steve J. Nordahl Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Nazareth, Pennsylvania Posts: 96	HM VidPatch or VidPatchHM-MDR Steve Bethlehem, Pa.

December 2nd, 2009, 05:39 AM	#4
Paul Shapiro Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Paget, Bermuda Posts: 52	Lickety Split

December 2nd, 2009, 07:50 AM	#6
James McBoyle Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 87	I was going to suggest GlooM (GluM?), but then thought that might not be up-beat enough... Have Fun, Jim

December 2nd, 2009, 12:55 PM	#7
Kevin Gallagher New Boot Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Lewisville, NC Posts: 14	How about: MOV Mate MOV Match Fuse MOV Un-Busta MOV cheers k

December 2nd, 2009, 04:12 PM	#9
Bob Richardson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 178	So Tim not only has a great eye for cinematography, but can also code native Mac apps from scratch? That hardly seems fair. :-)

December 2nd, 2009, 05:19 PM	#10
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	I would never call myself a coder Bob. My objective-C/Cocoa skills are still on a very basic hobbyist level so I started with Applescript (which is the easiest of all scripting languages) and then compiled and built it into a native Cocoa applet from there. It's not fancy but it gets the job done and it doesn't seem to crash! I actually spent two days this week just on error handling and I think I've accounted for all the possible bugs. By the time I was done the whole thing had over 500 lines of code. It's crazy how these things grow so quickly from a tiny 20 line-long Applescript. Of course I probably would have never even thought to do it if I hadn't needed it myself. By the way the show I shot is well into post production now using the joined MOV files and multicam. So far so good. __________________ Tim Dashwood

December 2nd, 2009, 05:32 PM	#11
Jurgen Schubert New Boot Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 7	how about: ClipCollectorTool ClipConnectorTool = cct :-)

December 2nd, 2009, 06:13 PM	#12
James Workman Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 43	QuickJoin QuickSplice (or QuickSplicer) QuickFit (or QuickFitter) Capt. Timmy's Whiz-Bang Quicktime Splicer and Gospel Opera

December 2nd, 2009, 10:00 PM	#13
Robert Rogoz Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 457	Clip dis-patcher.

December 3rd, 2009, 12:50 AM	#14
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	I was also just thinking of "MOV Mender" or "MOV Linker"... and I have finished a preliminary icon design in photoshop. I was also thinking about stitches, staples or glue for the icon, but the splicing tape reminds me of my early days cutting on a Steenbeck. I'll probably print out my favourite 5 or so suggested names and randomly choose one from a hat. The app is almost ready to be distributed so keep up the suggestions. They've all been great so far. Attached Images __________________ Tim Dashwood

December 3rd, 2009, 01:09 AM	#15
Alan Halfhill Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Sequim, WA Posts: 127	QT Joiner Movie Joiner FAT Joiner Alan