Feature Request: Edit Index / Cue Sheet

The edit index panel provides a lot of useful information that I would like to be able to export into a text file. The only way I have found to do this is to export a timeline EDL file that is not configurable and only exports a small, fixed subset of Edit Index items.

Please consider adding the capability to export metadata that could be used to produce a cue sheet for clearing rights to 3rd party media. This requires the clip name, start and end timecode of the clip's usage(s), and a comment field, at minimum, to be exported. This would save filmmakers a lot of time in securing distribution for their work, and the final timeline is the BEST place to get this information from because the list would always reflect the latest edit.

The Edit Index may also be exported as a .csv or text file.

Media Pool > Timelines > Export > Edit Index

There is a separate forum for Feature Requests.

viewforum.php?f=33

Best practice is to search first, to see if someone already asked. If not, post one idea per thread with a very brief description of the idea in the thread's title.

Reynaud: Thanks. That was hard to find because it wasn't with all the other export commands, nor in the timeline commands. I also discovered that the fields that are exported don't match the field list layout I have set up in my on-screen edit index. Do you know a way of changing the exported layout?

Jim: Thanks to you as well. I've posted a modified feature request there based on the above.

I also discovered that the fields that are exported don't match the field list layout I have set up in my on-screen edit index. Do you know a way of changing the exported layout?

The Edit Index CSV export includes all available columns and in the order indicated in the column header's contextual menu.

Edit with any spreadsheet application.

After much trial & error I found a workaround for the lack of a Cue Sheet feature in Resolve.

1. Export Metadata from the Media Pool as a .CSV file to capture any descriptions, comments, and/or keywords you have added to clips in the media pool. (Use these fields to keep track of where the clip came from and any license or public domain notes.)

2. Export the Edit Index as a .CSV file:
. right-click on a timeline in the media pool,
. choose "Timelines,"
. then choose "Export,"
. then choose "Edit Index"
. then choose the .CSV file extension.

3. Import both files into separate tabs of a spreadsheet.

4. On the Media Pool tab, insert a column right after the File Name column for a new "Search Name."

5. Sort the spreadsheet on the new "Search Name" column in ascending alphabetical order. (This is necessary because the vertical lookup formula we're going to use in step 8 only works if the fields are sorted.)

6. Create a formula to populate this column with the "EDL Clip Name" column (unless it's empty, in which case use the File Name).

7. On the Edit Index tab, insert columns for the Media Pool Data you want such as Description, Comments, and Keywords, since the Edit Index doesn't display data you've added to the Media Pool entries.

8. Populate each of these columns with a vertical lookup formula (VLOOKUP) to search the Media Pool for a value in the "Search Name" column, and return values from the columns you want (e.g. Description, Comments, and Keywords). NOTE: In Excel it's important to set Range_Lookup field to "FALSE" so that you can see if a match wasn't found. (...just in case.)

You can then send this list (the Cue Sheet) to your attorney along with your film for a clearance review. The attorney can look at the timecode and instantly see what license you have, your grounds for claiming "fair use," and where the clip came from, as long as you entered that in the Media Pool.

While this workaround is a bit kludgy, it will save you a ton of time by not having to keep track of all your clips in multiple places, and keep them all up to date as the edit changes. Hopefully we'll see this built into Resolve in a future release.

Can you please post syntax samples for the two formulas you mention. I'm an idiot when it comes to Excel. Thanks.

Hi,

Here's a syntax example for the added column on the Media Pool tab:
=IF(OR(A229="",NOT(ISBLANK(AJ229))),AJ229,A229)

Where:
A229 = the File Name
AJ229 = EDL Clip Name


Here's a syntax example for the Description field on the Edit Index tab:
=VLOOKUP($K18&"*",'Media Pool'!$B$2:$O$505,11,FALSE)

Where:
$K18 = clip name
the &"*" concatenates the asterisk as a wildcard so that the file extension characters aren't considered
'Media Pool' indicates the name of another spreadsheet tab where I have imported the media pool metadata
! is a separator between the spreadsheet tab name and the contents on that sheet
$B$2:$O$505 is the range of cells to search for the clip name
11 is the column offset where the Description field appears
FALSE is required by the formula to find only an exact match.

Thank you.

This feature already exist in Resolve, select timeline icon in media pool and right click to> Timelines> Export> Edit Index and choose .CSV
and you will get a bread sheet, open in Excel or Number, fully editable text.

Hi Yasir, that's step 2 of the workaround procedure I documented above. However, to get the fields from the media pool that you need for a cue sheet, you need to combine it with media pool data. That way you can document the clip's source and licensing status in the clip itself, instead of having to produce a manual cue sheet.

Just for information, the Export index menu is now on the Edit Page/Edit Index/.../Export Edit Index...

Exporting the edit index helps, but it doesn't show the "Description" or "Notes" fields for the clips. Those are only in the media pool. So I have to separately export the media pool metadata, then put both into a spreadsheet, and cross-reference the edit index to the media pool, with filtering formulas to match the edit index names to the filenames from the edit index. It's a real pain, but can be done.

It would be sooooo much easier if BMD would just include the clip metadata in the edit index export.