Watchtower – is this the tool for the job?

Laurence

Hi there,

I am diving into an edit project with a lot of footage and wanted to ask if Watchtower will help me with this workflow.

My producer would like to review the footage in the file browser and move footage files into new subfolders so that we have a folder-based content logging structure which is visible outside of Premiere.

My challenge is two-part:

#1 Syncing the folder structure to my computer from the shared Google Drive. I think I have a handle on this with a combination of rclone and FreeFileSync so that files are not re-downloaded.
#2 Syncing the moved footage files into bins in Premiere without breaking links to any existing edit sequences using the moved files – can Watchtower do this?

I assume my local proxies may need to be relinked which is ok as the files/folder sync process will be done at set times when my producer informs me that footage files have been moved on the Google Drive.

I'm also assuming that renaming the source files will break the Watchtower links which is why I suggested subfolders instead of adding a description at the end of the footage file name.

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Laurence.

Sir_Ivan

Laurence

#1 - Google Drive might be an issue, sometimes users report problems when trying to import files with Watchtower from Google Drive. This is something I plan to check when I will work on next update.

#2 Syncing the moved footage files into bins in Premiere without breaking links to any existing edit sequences using the moved files – can Watchtower do this?

Can you give me more details about your workflow? I don't think I understood this part.

I'm also assuming that renaming the source files will break the Watchtower links which is why I suggested subfolders instead of adding a description at the end of the footage file name.

You are right and this is a good way to avoid Watchtower loosing files.

In any case, you always can get a copy of Watchtower and if it won't fit your workflow I will refund you.

Laurence

Thanks Sir Ivan,

#2 – I'm not sure if this is the designed purpose of Watchtower. If I begin editing with footage that is in a sync folder and these files are moved into subfolders on the drive, is the new folder structure reflected in the Project Bins, and does this affect any sequences with the footage that has now been moved?

Sir_Ivan

Laurence now I understand your workflow. Watchtower checks if file is imported by matching its file path. Since the same file in a folder and its subfolder will have different file path, Watchtower will consider it as 2 different files, so it will be imported again.

Laurence

I've had a very quick play around and it appears that folder restructuring doesn't update bins in Premiere – only new assets in new folders generate new bins. Does that sound correct?

Sir_Ivan

Laurence Do you mean that if you create new folder inside watch-folder it won't be created in Premiere Pro?

Laurence

Sir_Ivan Yes. This is my observation. Thank you for confirming. My producer has sorted the footage now and there was very little editing done on the first day, so Watchtower is definitely going to be a useful way for me to import the footage and view the bin structure the same as the folder structure my producer will be referring to. Cheers.

Sir_Ivan

Laurence great to hear that! Let me know if you will have other questions.