Here are a few tips for managing mocap script notes and files when working on a lengthy mocap recording session.
When recording a mocap session with iPi Recorder, I like to use a spreadsheet to keep track of each shot. Here's an example from a session I recorded this week:
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This makes it easy to understand what's been recorded in each iPi Recorder file without having to load it in Player or Mocap Studio, which can be a huge timesaver when tracking a lot of data for multiple shots in a production. In the above spreadsheet, I've recorded the filename, the mocap configuration, description, and other notes that I find useful.
You can use any spreadsheet program of course. For basic features and easy web access, I recommend
Google Docs. It's free and, assuming you have internet connection, your files are available all the time from any computer. For more robust spreadsheet features, I recommend
OpenOffice.Org, a free standalone program similar to Microsoft Office. I use this when I need advanced spreadsheet features or better security than the internet provides--personally, I don't need these features when recording my mocap script notes so Google Docs is perfectly fine for this.
Another useful tool is
Copy Filenames. This is a Windows utility that appears when you select files in Windows and right-click the mouse. When activated, it copies the selection as a text list, which you may then paste into a spreadsheet column. Here's a screencap of the tool in action:
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If I decide to create my spreadsheet
after a session has been recorded (like I did today,) I use this tool to copy and paste all the
filenames of the video files into the first column of my spreadsheet. Then, I open iPi Player and drag, drop and scrub each file to review what it contains and enter the descriptions. This workflow can move along quickly once you get the rhythm down.
Hope you find this info useful.
G.