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iPad for Directors | Part 3 | Organising References

Previous: iPad for Directors | Part 2 | The Apps

So, we’ve found some useful apps to do a variety of things during pre and production… but what’s the best way or organising images and references that you may want to take into meeting or onto set for quick reference?

I’m currently in early pre-production of my next feature CRASHING WALL STREET which is a period film set in 1929. I’m up to my neck in reference books, images, archive videos and style references. Wouldn’t it be great to have all of these in one place? I’ve had a look at few different apps but none beat the beautifully designed Photos and Videos app built into the iPad. I’ve messed around and come up with a few ways to bring these consumer applications onto our way of thinking.

Images

I’m using the iPad purely as a tool for work. If you’re using it to show off your latest holiday photos as well as store those location pics then you’re going to have a bit more trouble. This method of using Images on iPad as a place to store and organise references takes a little setting up but it’s very easy.

Create a new directory (lets call it ‘References’) on your computer. Anywhere, it doesn’t matter. Now, within the ‘References’ folder, create a few sub folders that you want to organise your images in. For example, I have sub-folders called ‘Recce Photos’, ‘Costume References’, ‘Style/Mood Refs’ etc. Now, drag all of your reference images that you want store onto the iPad into these folders. Organise it how you want… however, as I’ve come to realise, this method only supports one sub-folder eg. you can’t have a folder within ‘Costumes’ for the different characters. Create separate folders for them eg. ‘Costume Refs - Mary’, ‘Costume Ref - Steve’

Still with me? Great…

Now, you don’t want iPad to sync with iPhoto. Steer clear of that… especially if you’ve got all of those drunken iPhone pics synced to it. Keep your iPhone for showing these off. The iPad is for work.

Plug in the iPad to your computer. In iTunes, go to the PHOTOS tab for your iPad. Make sure the tickbox is clicked next to “Sync Photos From:”. In the drop down menu, select “Choose Folder” and then find your References folder. Once that’s done, check that ALL FOLDERS is selected and also INCLUDE VIDEOS.

Yep, that’s right. The Photos app on iPad can also play video! Feel free to save some video references right alongside your images.

Now, hit SYNC/APPLY in the bottom right. Once it’s done, open up your Photos app on the iPad… and look! All your references, organised into clusters and read to use on set at the touch of a button. Video also plays well… just click on the PLAY icon on the image.

Video

“But, the images app plays video!” I hear you cry. Yes, it does… but what if you want to keep them separate or organise them differently? Here’s a few things I figured out.

No doubt, as a director, your showreel or latest bit of work was the first video to go onto your iPad (and doesn’t it look glorious on the screen?). In VIDEOS on the iPad these should have all happily appeared under the Videos tab at the top. If you’ve got a few podcasts on the iPad already you’ll see that this tab has appeared too.

If you’re like me and you shoot music videos and TV shows, why not make use of iTunes’ “Media Kind” function to organise the video properly? This is the way a video tells iTunes where to store it. At present the only Media Kind’s you can select are Movie, Music Video, TV Show, Podcast and iTunesU. These options are what relate to the taps at the top of the Videos app on iPad. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could create your own custom tabs for your reference videos? Unfortunately, you can’t. I’ve looked.

But, don’t cry. You might as well make use of the Music Video tab to store your toe-tapping videos here. I’ve also got a clever way of organising video references using the TV Shows tap but I’ll get to that…

If you don’t know how to convert a video to optimize one for iPad, there are many sites on it. Have a read of this one for compressor. Don’t have Compressor? (Call yourself a Mac Geek!) Download this tool to convert video.

So, you have a music video. Convert it and drag it to the Movies tab in iTunes. Now, CTRL/(ugh)Right click on the video and select GET INFO. Click on the OPTIONS tab. Under MEDIA KIND select MUSIC VIDEO. Hit OK and sync. On the iPad, check your Videos app - lookie there! Your Music Video is under the correct tab. If you’re as OCD as me (you should be, you’re a director) that will excite you greatly.

Another tip: if you have a load of videos you’d like to change the ‘Media Kind’ of, you can just select them all and then CTRL/Right click on them, select GET INFO and you’ll have a Multiple Item box appear. Change it once and all will be changed.

Lets get back to the references. So, you have a load of video references. I know I do. A couple are stored in the Images app but what about others?  Well, you can trick iTunes to think that your references are TV Shows. Why? Because iTunes will automatically sort multiple episodes (reference videos) under one TV Show (category). It means, in the end, you can have a custom made list of related videos in one place instead of just all over the Videos tab.

To do this, drag a load of references into the Movies tab on iTunes. Select them all, CTRL/Right click, GET INFO, go to OPTIONS, under MEDIA KIND select TV SHOW. Now, go to the VIDEO tab. Next to SHOW, type what kind of reference video these are. For example, Lighting References. Now, click OK.

Ping! Your videos have disappeared. Don’t worry, click on the TV SHOWS link under your Library in iTunes. You’ll see there’s now an icon called your category. Double click on this to see what’s in this category. You’ll find all of your videos there.

Repeat these steps to create your different categories of references. When you’ve done, sync your iPad.

Go to VIDEOS app on the iPad, hit the TV SHOWS tab and look… there are icons relating to the different categories. Tap on one of the images… and look! All of your references organised under the relevant category in a great playlist format. A note: I have no idea why the name of the category doesn’t show up under the TV Shows tab - I’m working on finding that out.

Enjoy! You don’t have to thank me… well do, post a comment. :) Also, don’t forget to share what you’ve found useful on your iPad.

Next: iPad for Directors | Part 3 | More Apps (coming soon…)