Photo by Robin Dennis
Naming conventions – a seemingly boring and nerdy topic, but boy – if you are working on projects with a large scope, or multiple projects, and are dealing with multiple versions, mixes, masters, snippets, etc… you need to be very organized or things can fall apart fairly quickly with embarrassing results.
Here is an example of a Cue Number, as it would appear in a film score (on your spotting/cues sheet):
2M03bS
The 2 refers to the reel, or if you are not dealing with reels, it usually refers to the Act. In TV, this split might happen after a return from commercial break. This also applies to working with cues in theater, where acts are clearly notated.
The M refers to music – as in, not dialogue, not FX, etc.
The next set of numbers, 03, is the cue number. This would be the 3rd cue, on the second reel or act. It is vitally important that you preceed numbers 1 through 9 with a 0, as this will ensure they are indexed properly when you are looking at a list – otherwise, your 1m3 will appear next to 1m30.
The ‘b‘ after the cue number means that this cue has an ‘a’ and ‘b’ part, and this is the b part. This may happen if a cue is split up for some reason, but is really still part of the same scene, and is a natural continuation of part ‘a’.
The final S stands for ’source’, meaning this cue will be material drawn from another source – not your composition. It might be a library piece, a song, or some other audio material that you are not creating, but may be responsible for adding. Otherwise, it just acts as a place holder.
Naming conventions for any files that are created should have Cue Numbers included, for reference and proper indexing. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and worry if you know that when you need to find cue 3 on reel 6, but the 3rd version, 2nd mix, it will appear where you expect and be named something that you’ll recognize right away.
2M03bS_TruthRevealed_v2_mix1.WAV
Here is our cue, with the number included in a useful naming convention – Cue Number, Cue Name, version, mix version. This filename tells you everything you need to know about this cue, and is handy when someone calls you and says “I like this one!” and you say ‘which one’ and they tell you the name and you know exactly what version/mix etc, the are talking about. If you kept an accurate Spotting/Cue sheet, you can also reference exactly where in the timeline this should be slotted in, and this Cue sheet will be provided to the music editor/supervisor for reference as well – won’t they be impressed.
If you have several version/mixes saved in different formats, this can save you a ton of headache, especially when you put a bit of effort into creating a filing system that is as neat and logical as your naming conventions. You kind of have to unleash your inner Spock, your inner neat freak, and then once this work is done and you make a habit of this, you are free to use your mental prowess to solve creative problems instead of figuring out where the heck those files are at.
Any cool naming conventions you use?
