Organising Your Media Projects: How We Track Our Music and B-Roll
When you’re juggling multiple science films, sailing tutorials, and tuition videos, the biggest challenge isn’t always the filming—it’s finding that perfect shot or soundtrack later. Did we record that hummingbird close-up last summer? Which folder holds the dramatic timpani loop we used in the diffusion video? Without a system, the answer is usually: somewhere.
At Philip M Russell Ltd, we’ve learned that organisation is production gold. Here’s how we track our music and B-roll so nothing gets lost in the digital fog.
Why It Matters
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Speed: Deadlines don’t wait for you to hunt through “Untitled_25.mov”.
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Consistency: Students notice when your cutaway shots feel polished and purposeful.
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Reuse: A library of labelled clips and music themes saves time and money.
Step 1 – Metadata is Your Friend
Every clip and track gets:
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A descriptive title (e.g., “Thames_River_Sunset_WhalyBoat_2025.mov”).
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Tags for content (science, sailing, classroom, drone).
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A date stamp to track projects chronologically.
This means a quick search pulls up exactly what we need.
Step 2 – Separate Your Libraries
We keep:
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B-Roll Vault: cutaway shots, time-lapses, drone sweeps, lab close-ups.
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Music Library: divided into mood (uplifting, suspense, calm, comic) and type (synth, organ, orchestral, AI-generated).
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Sound FX: splashes, bubbling beakers, church organ pedal thumps!
Each has its own top-level folder, synced to both our servers and cloud backup.
Step 3 – Use Playlists & Reels
In DaVinci Resolve, we build B-roll reels and music playlists:
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Reels let us preview 30–40 short clips quickly without digging into folders.
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Playlists keep the mood consistent—so our chemistry videos don’t accidentally feature the same soundtrack as a sailing mishap reel (unless we’re going for comedy).
Step 4 – Tag in Your Timeline
During editing, we use colour tags and notes in Resolve:
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Blue = lab cutaways
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Green = sailing shots
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Yellow = stock graphics
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Red = “must not forget audio here!”
It sounds simple, but future-you will thank past-you when revisiting a project.
Step 5 – Build a “Go-To” Kit
We keep a Favourites Bin: the five most-used tracks and the ten B-roll shots we always grab (e.g., pipette close-up, boiling tube bubbling, dinghy gybe in the Thames). They act as editing shortcuts whenever we’re building a quick explainer.
The Payoff
By tagging, separating, and pre-organising our media, we’ve cut hours off editing and massively reduced frustration. Our students and viewers only see the final polish—but the secret lies in a system where every clip and track has a home.
✅ Pro tip for tutors and creators: even a simple spreadsheet with file names, tags, and links can transform your workflow if you’re not ready for a full media asset manager.
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