Ingesting the Footage

Now that you know how to record footage, you’ll want to start using it. In your setup, that process can be broken down into two parts, ingesting and uploading.

Ingesting is the act of pulling the footage off of your iPhone and putting it onto your computer. Once the footage is ingested, then you’ll have handy video files on your Mac or PC that you can start working with.

Uploading is the act of sending those video files from your computer up to the internet. You’ll do this when you want to send raw footage to your editors so they can turn it into finished videos. There are two different uploading techniques you could use. This tutorial is going to cover ingesting, and another tutorial will cover uploading.

Ingesting – Grab the footage with iTunes

As an iPhone user, you’re already familiar with the iTunes software. What you probably don’t know is some of the advanced functionality hidden in iTunes, which lets you copy files from your iPhone apps over to your computer. It’s actually quite simple, and this video explains how to do it. While the exact layout of your iTunes interface may look slightly different depending on your version, the process is the same in every version.

Naming Conventions – Organization matters

To save yourself a lot of headaches, we strongly recommend you use descriptive and organized names when you ingest your files. If you don’t have a structure in place for naming your video files, you’ll soon find them overwhelming and could easily lose track of the footage you’re looking for.
The following structure should help you immensely:
CompanyName – Date Shot – Actor – Subject – Take Number
So let’s use the example.

  • You work at Mango Incorporated [CompanyName: Mango]
  • and you shot a video on February 3rd 2013 [Date Shot: 020313]
  • featuring Bob Miller [Actor: BMiller]
  • talking about your money back guarantee [Subject: Guarantee]

Now the very first attempt you shoot, he fumbles his lines and you have to stop the recording and start over.
That first fumbled recording would be called Mango – 020313 – BMiller – Guarantee – 1 .
Then your second successful recording would of course be called Mango – 020313 – BMiller – Guarantee – 2 .

Take the extra few seconds to name your files properly when you’re ingesting them, and you’ll save hours down the road.

Now that you know how to ingest and name your files locally, let’s move on to Step Five, and learn about your online workspace.

VidSimple Beginners: Table of Contents

  1. Step One – Unboxing and Assembling Your Studio in a Box
  2. Step Two – Preparing to Shoot With Your New Studio
  3. Step Three – Manual Settings Secrets
  4. Step Four – Ingesting the Footage
  5. Step Five – Introduction to the Collaborative Video Player
  6. Step Six – Uploading Your Footage to the CVP