6 min read
Archiving production sound: folder structure, checksums and files you can reopen in 2036
Rushes outlive the project. What you keep, and how you name it, decides whether they are usable later.
The archive is the part of the workflow nobody is paid for and everybody eventually needs. A reissue, a legal request, a director's cut, or simply a second film built from the same location library.
Keep the masters, not the working copies
The originals from the recorder card are the archive. Poly WAVs with intact bext and iXML metadata hold timecode, scene, take, notes and track names. A folder of split mono stems is a derivative: convenient today, poorer as a record.
Split working copies when you need them and keep the poly masters untouched. Splitting is quick and repeatable; recovering lost metadata is not.
A folder structure that survives
- PROJECT / SOUND / YYYY-MM-DD_DayNN / originals from the card, unmodified.
- A sound report PDF or CSV alongside each day.
- A separate WILDTRACKS folder, because these are the elements you will want most in five years.
- No spaces or accents in filenames, and dates as YYYY-MM-DD so sorting works everywhere.
Checksums, not hope
Copy with a tool that verifies: it writes a checksum for each file and confirms the destination matches. A silent corruption during a card offload is rare and unrecoverable. Store the checksum file with the media so you can verify the archive years later.
Formats to avoid in an archive
- Anything lossy. MP3 and AAC copies are for review, never for the master archive.
- Proprietary session files as the only copy of a mix. Keep a WAV bounce next to the session.
- Files renamed by a batch tool that discarded the original recorder names, unless a mapping file is kept.
Verify before you seal it
Spot check a few files from each day: sample rate, bit depth, channel count, metadata present, audio actually there. The audio inspector reads all of that in the browser without uploading a byte, which matters when the rushes are confidential.