Chapter 27 — Key Takeaways

The one-page card to screenshot before you sit down to prep an edit. Dense and skimmable by design. The whole chapter reduces to one rule — you cannot cut what you cannot find — and one pipeline that guarantees you can.

The terms, in one line each

The edit-prep pipeline (run it in order, every time)

Order logic: safe first (1–2) → organized before synced (4 before 5) → chosen before strung out (7 before 8). Move proxies earlier (after step 3) if footage stutters during review.

The ingest checklist (tape it above the desk)

Folder-structure template

PROJECT-NAME/
├── 01_FOOTAGE/        ├── CAM-A/  ├── CAM-B/  ├── B-ROLL/  ├── PHONE/
├── 02_AUDIO/          ├── RECORDER/  ├── ROOM-TONE/
├── 03_MUSIC-SFX/
├── 04_GRAPHICS-STILLS/
├── 05_PROJECT-FILES/
├── 06_PROXIES/        (disposable — regenerable from originals)
├── 07_EXPORTS/
└── 08_DOCS/           (brief, script, releases, questions)

• Number the top level so it sorts in workflow order, not alphabetically.
• Mirror these folders as bins in the project. Add project-only bins with no disk folder: Selects and Timelines (they hold pointers, not files).
• Never move or rename ingested files/folders once the project links to them → that's what causes "media offline."
• Naming: keep it consistent and sortable; never rely on camera-default gibberish alone. (Full naming scheme → Ch.37 §37.2.)

Proxy decision guide

What makes a clip "heavy" = resolution × bitrate × codec difficulty (Long-GOP is the sneaky one — it decodes groups of frames to show one; all-intra stores every frame whole). A proxy is a small all-intra copy.

Sync methods

• Keep the camera's scratch track running always — it carries the sync spike and is the auto-sync reference (it's never the final mix).
• Drift: on long takes, mismatched clocks can pull sound out of sync by the end. Re-clap/sync in chunks, or trust timecode.

The editorial ladder (know what "done" means at each rung)

raw clips → STRING-OUT → ROUGH / FIRST CUT → FINE CUT → PICTURE LOCK
            (selects,     (Ch.27: every beat   (Ch.29:    (Ch.30: no more
             end to end)   in place, watchable)  polished)  picture changes)

Rule: get the whole piece to a rough cut before perfecting any one scene — you can't judge a scene's pace until you've felt the scenes around it.

Top mistakes → fixes

Craft principles (the why beneath the checklist)

• You cannot cut what you cannot find. Organization isn't clerical — on a deadline it's what protects your creativity. (🚪 Threshold Concept.)
• You shoot for the edit. Every "boring" on-set habit — the clap, the room tone, the extra coverage — only pays off here, at edit-prep. Selecting reveals whether you actually shot for the edit.
• Sound is half the picture. Sync early, keep audio organized; it's half your instrument, and transcribing synced dialogue speeds the edit and builds captions (accessibility) in from the start.
• The checklist beats the memory. The failures here are tired people skipping a usually-remembered step, not skill gaps. Run the pipeline every time so the mechanics are automatic and your mind is free for the cut.
• The craft lives in the editor, not the tool. These habits work identically in free DaVinci Resolve or any paid suite. (Software menu translations → Appendix E.)

Deferred to later chapters (don't build these today)

Project increment (Production Checkpoint)

Project 2 — set up your documentary edit. Ingest and back up the media (two verified copies), organize bins, sync your double-system audio, add proxies if it stutters, and build a string-out of selects. You've made no "real" cut yet — and you're already ahead of most people who have. Chapters 28–30 turn this string-out into a locked film.