Create a photo & video library – Part #2: organisation

Creating a well-functioning photo and video library isn’t the sexiest aspect of audio-visual production. But if you are interested in a workflow that does just that – flows, without blockages or sudden plunges into the void, it’s worth doing it right.

In Part #1 – Tech, I weighed up the various tech options available (RAID, NAS, Cloud). Here I’m looking at how to organise your library.

The key is to keep it simple and logical. But before we get into setting up folders, let’s look at the files themselves.

Naming files

So, you’ve shot a bunch of photos, or someone has shot them for you. The files come to you with the original out-of-the-camera sequence names eg. OMG_4385, OMG_4386 etc. 

The first thing you need to do is rename them. Giving files proper names that reflect their content will make them identifiable and therefore easier to use. It will avoid confusion when, after a year or two, you have numerous files in your system called ‘OMG_4385’.

Obviously, you don’t want to rename each file individually, so you need to be able to batch rename. That can be done in photo management software (in my case Lightroom). Or you can do it using batch renaming software. I use ‘NameChanger’.

In terms of how to name your files I go with:

DATE: YEAR+MONTH     >    DESCRIPTION    >    SEQUENCE NUMBER (4 digits)

So, that might look like:

2019.09_Sydney_workshop_0001

2019.09_Sydney_workshop_0002

Etc…

Metadata

Metadata is the digital information – words and numbers – stored within a file. 

In a nutshell, metadata can tell you:

• – Who took a photo (plus their address and contact details)
• – When it was taken
• – Where it was taken
• – What is in the photo

This is clearly very useful, especially if you didn’t take the photo yourself, or maybe you did but it was a long time ago and you’ve forgotten certain details.

Metadata + photo management software makes it possible to easily search for images. This where keywords come in. If I need a shot of a pig, I just type ‘pig’ and all the piggy pics will magically appear on the screen! That’s if I’ve typed the word ‘pig’ in the description or in the keywords box.

Applying metadata requires a little effort and organisation. But remember – just like renaming, you can do it in batches. 

First, I select all the photos and apply my name and contact details, and then anything else that all the photos have in common. Maybe they were all shot in the same location. Then I group and select photos depending on other commonalities – maybe images that include the same person.

It’s boring but a methodical process will at least make it fairly quick.

Folder structure

The structure of the folders within your library depends to a large degree on the kind of content you produce. And as you’ll know from common-or-garden filing, there’s no perfect system. Inevitably, some content will straddle categories. 

My work is mostly either photography or video; sometimes both together but more often it’s one or the other. So, for me a logical starting point is to divide my content into 1.) Photography and 2.) Video. 

But if you often produce both at the same event/for the same purpose, then that makes less sense. You might want to focus instead on your main project areas. If you are an international aid organisation, it might make sense to organise by the countries you work in. 

Once you’ve nailed down the primary categories you could break it down into sub-categories, or go straight to…

Chronological filing

I’m sure other folks have other ideas, but for me, a chronological system is hard to beat. So, within the primary folders, I would create different subfolders for years. And within the ‘year’ folders I would create a folder for each project. Naming the folder correctly is crucial. I would follow a similar pattern to file naming:

DATE: YEAR+MONTH(+DAY?)     >     NAME OF PROJECT

So, that might look like:

2019.09.20 Sydney workshop

Applying this chronological system means your folders flow sequentially and never change order, meaning they are always easy to locate. It will also mean you can navigate easily around your photo management software once you’ve imported your folders.

Back-ups

The final words has to be on back-ups. Your back-up library should be an exact replica of your day-to-day library. Ideally it should be stored in a different place, at least a different part of your house. That way, if there’s a fire you know all your digital files are safe.