VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Debbie Irwin]

After 10 years at this biz, I should be all organized and on top of my S*%!#!
But, while I'm cleaning out my computer/external HD/dropbox files (since I've run out of space) and as I'm forever in pursuit of better ways of storing/accessing my work, I thought to ask my esteemed colleagues, if you have a system that works exceedingly well for you.

Components (likely forgetting something here):
* active projects
* archived projects
* scripts/audio files (uaually in one of the above folders)
* video of completed projects
* audio of completed projects
* work by genre
* work by year
* save for website/demo use

I actually have a very good system for my paper files/project management, which I'm happy to share if anyone's interested.
Thanks!
Deb

[vkuehn]

It is good to ask what works for the rest of us. BUT, keep in mind that how you file things can be very SUBJECTIVE. Any mechanism you select, you may need to tailor it, modify it to fit how YOUR brain works.

I look forward to reading what other people are doing. I date back to the DOS days I date back to when we filed things on Mainframes and mid-sized computer boxes.

But recent versions of Windows have pretty well forced me to turn my world upside down. (I could trick XP into letting me file MY way.) Windows 7 seems to smirk at me and whisper: "Do it MY way... or you will be sorry!"

Having one more "folder" on your hard drive does not run up your expenses. From the DOS days I still want to give little short names to files and folders. Learn to give big, long descriptive names to files and folders. There is no extra fee for that.

If you use a MAC... I can't give much advice that is unique to that platform.

[Debbie Irwin]

Frank Sinatra wasn't the only one who was proud that he "did it my way".
We all have our proclivities.
Just wondering if other Mac users have streamlined systems that are logical and shareable.

[Jason Huggins]

Hey Debbie, I agree, it'll be highly subjective and determined by your personal mental organization, however, I have everything set up like this:

Main folder for audio is my VO folder.

Within VO is:

- Auditions
- Demos
- Agents
- Jobs Awarded

Auditions gets everything that is not for an agent (including P2P and other). Demos has all of my current or "in-progress" demos and their components. Agents has a subfolder for all of the agents that I get jobs from. Jobs Awarded has a subfolder for every client that I have paying projects with. Within each client, there is a folder for each specific project.

Once a month I burn everything to DVD and dump it from the computer. I also use CrashPlan online backup. This keeps a running backup of everything. I can go back to a specific time period, and pull any fill down from the cloud as if I was pulling it from my computer. Since I have unlimited storage there, I don't worry about keeping everything on my computer.

I keep the VO folder in the Favorites bar of my Finder. I also arrange everything in "Icon" view with it Arranged by "Kind" (this will make it so the most recent thing you saved in the folder is first, making it really easy to find current projects).

That's just me though I do all my other organization in Quickbooks. The reports are SUPER useful for all of my analysis.

[todd ellis]

I do something similar to Jason, but I just fill up external hard drives now. 3tb western digital have become my favorites. Every folder/file has the date, client name and project. For example: 082613_vobb_sacksofcash
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[heyguido]

+1 on the external hard drives. Storage is so cheap these days, it just makes sense.
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

[Jason Huggins]

But then what if there is a solar flare that causes an EMP?? All your data would be erased!

[Jason Huggins]

But then what if there is a solar flare that causes an EMP?? All your data would be erased!

[heyguido]

Yeah, you've got a point. Canned goods and rifles, it is, then.
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

[Jason Huggins]

LOL I think using hard drives is a much better solution. DVDs take time and extra effort to arrange, burn and store.

Does anyone do any off-site storage of data other than cloud storage? It doesn't seem necessary now that you can backup in the cloud, and those companies have backups of their own.

I really only archive for easy retrieval of old projects and the occasional laugh at my earlier work.

[Bruce]

Storage is dramatically cheaper on a hard drive than on a DVD these days so everything goes on drives here nowadays. By the way, if we get hit with an EMP, what we lose on our drives may be the least of our worries!

I'm on a Mac and very little audio lives on my main hard drive, just the audio editing programs and the usual everyday hooha. All of my active and recent editing files reside on a drive I call "Media". When I'm fairly sure I won't need them but want to keep them for potential client needs (2 years or more) I move them to a drive called "Old Files". All of my finished audio goes to a drive called "Music" which also contains all of my production music and sound effects plus my personal music collection. All four drives are backed up almost every night to a backup drive.

When I think of it, every couple of months or so, I delete files and folders I'm sure I won't ever need again. When things are trim I only need about 300GB of backup storage for everything. However, using Mac's Time Machine I just maxed out my TB backup drive with updates so it's time to erase it and start over.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Bish]

I'm running four drives in my Mac, and an external Drobo.

1) Drive 1 (boot - ssd) holds my OS and all current open projects, which have folders on the desktop. This drive is backed up constantly with Time Machine to a partition on the Drobo, and nightly with ChronoSync to its own bootable backup.

2) Drive 2 - backup for primary drive

3) Drive 3 - scratchpad, temp files and general dumping ground for flotsam and jetsam.

4) Drive 4 - Archive and audio file storage. Everything from archive copies of all auditions sorted by year to closed/completed customer files and all production music and libraries. Backed up nightly via ChronoSync to the Drobo.

Drobo - Time Machine for boot drive, backup of all audio and client files. Also, prime storage for anything that I'm prepared to lose in the event of a major hardware failure (ripped movies and "entertainment")

With the price of drives dropping all the time, I just slap something bigger in the Drobo. I try to keep my main boot drive as lean as possible (256GB SSD) which means that I'm always moving stuff to the "archive" drive.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Debbie Irwin]

The WD 3T is only $140!
I've been using a 1T Glyph, looking at the 4T, which is $400--
twice the price of the WD4T.
I wonder what the diff is....

Only other issue is access.... I'm in NYC M-F, and the Berkshires on the weekends, so having access to that backup is important.

That's where time machine comes in, I guess....
Thanks for all your help and ideas.

Much appreciated!

[Ed Fisher]

[vkuehn]