As mentioned earlier, the importance of the visual effects department to the overall filmmaking workflow has increased in recent years. Today, major facilities sometimes handle the additional job of data management on all-digital shows, the development of look-up tables (LUTs—customized algorithms that apply chosen color schemes automatically to digital-image data to allow better color management from on-set dailies through the final digital intermediate process), and other tasks. That is why we used the term filmmaking hub earlier in this chapter.

On your projects, however, it is unlikely that there will be any expensive facilities participating to help with your file management and color needs. But conceptually, if you are shooting with digital cameras and creating digital elements, a certain amount of unification among your editorial workflow for dailies, editing, final color, and visual effects workflow will be in order. You need to find a method of making sure you are correctly tracking all data, using the right versions of files, applying logical naming conventions to files, and so on. If you don’t make a strategic data management plan based on whatever your resources are, you run a great risk of losing elements or taking too long to get work done.

The first thing to comprehend is that as you create, capture, or download digital elements, you must back them up as soon as possible, preferably to multiple locations. You could back up to off-board hard drives, solid-state storage media, DVDs, cloud-based storage, or preferably some combination of these.

The second basic idea is to make sure you never work with or manipulate original data files. As you engage your backup process, come up with a plan for automatically copying all files to be used for actual work. Leave your raw files and original data alone, and work with their clones. This way, you will have survival options if something goes awry.

Third, pay attention to file-naming conventions, particularly if you will have other artists, friends, or colleagues working with your data. You need a strict naming process to make sure that each person involved is working on the right version at the right time. Having two or more files with the same or similar names, on a tight deadline, is a potential recipe for disaster. Also, make a plan for how you are going to track metadata—particularly file names, descriptions, and timecode. Whether you use one of the many digital asset–management tools now on the market, a simple spreadsheet, or even a scratch pad, you need a way of tracking, reading, accessing, and reaccessing metadata to find correct files and information.

Fourth, it’s a good idea to test your pipeline. Take a file, copy and back it up, and pass it through your proposed pipeline—no matter how sophisticated or simple—and make sure it comes out the other end as you intended. Remember to test for compatibility issues—verify that the equipment you hope to use can work on the file formats you propose to work with, or that you have a tool and methodology for converting files to different formats. The short history of digital filmmaking is rife with tales of file and data mismatches and presumptions falling short.

As you formulate your workflow plan, also think about archiving your digital data. At the studio level, this is a huge issue because original, pristine image data and computer models are assets owned by studios that might be used for future versions of the movie or sequels. At the student level, you are probably not thinking about future iterations of your movie per se, but on the other hand, if you have even the slightest belief you will ever work with any particular elements again, then you need to preserve them beyond the immediacy of your current project. Whether you store them through a cloud-based service or an off-board hard drive, thumb drive, or DVD, remember that future media platforms, and the hardware to read and show media, are likely to change over time. So if your project and its digital assets are particularly important to you, think not only about storing them now but about archiving them long term.

Also, keep in mind that these days, stereoscopic 3D movies are all the rage. At the studio level, this means the movie will be made one of two ways. It might be shot on-stage or in the field in stereo, using digital cameras on special stereoscopic rigs. This was the process Cameron used on Avatar, but as that project showed, it can be a hugely time-consuming and expensive way to do it. Alternatively, a traditional 2D picture could be shot with digital cameras, and then in postproduction, an artist or a facility converts the 2D image to stereo using a range of specialized software tools and the expertise of a stereographer to adjust imagery to better serve the stereoscopic viewing experience.

However, this early into your filmmaking education, it is doubtful you will be making a stereoscopic film any time soon, and even if you attempted it, you would likely not have the benefit of high-end professional stereo rigs for shooting or, alternatively, an experienced stereographer and all the tools needed to convert the imagery. Therefore, we will leave the detailed discussion for how to craft stereo imagery for another day. What you should understand for now is that any kind of 3D effort will, by its nature, double your data requirements and the logistical challenges that go with that.