Consistent use of collections, collection types and collection structures is an essential capability to efficiently manage large numbers of media and thus a key feature of any Media Asset Management system. Limecraft allows you to create and manage different types of collections. Depending on the collection type, different metadata and custom workflows can be attributed to the collections of a particular type. This article is about how to work with collections. Setting up and configuring collection types is described in the chapter on Library Management.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. Creating collections

The sidebar on the left of the screen lists all collections and categories in your production. The categories are managed via the workspace setting as discussed in this article. 

Initially, there are no collections. Move your mouse to the section titled ‘COLLECTIONS’ and a button with a plus icon is shown. Click this button:

Screenshot of how you can create a new collection in Limecraft



A dialog titled ‘Create a new collection’ appears:

Limecraft dialog to create a new collection group


You will have to fill in two fields:

  • Collection group – In Limecraft Flow, all collections belong to a collection group.
  • Collection – The title of your collection

Fill in both fields, like in the example below. Press ‘Save’ to create the collection.

Limecraft dialog showing how to create a new collection


To create more collections, you simply repeat the above process. The collections you make will appear in the sidebar on the left of the library:

Screenshot of how collections are displayed in Limecraft


Clicking the collection will activate a filter showing only the clips in this collection. No clips are in our collection yet, so no results will be shown if you click it. So how do you get clips in a collection?

2. Adding Clips to a Collection

themYou can manually assign clips to a collection or drag and drop the using the drag icon with four arrows. 

Assign clips to a Collection

  1. Select a clip and click on the Assign to collection clip action. Limecraft dialog displayed when you want to add an item to a collection 
  2. Select the collection and subcollection in the dialog that opens. You can start typing the name of the collection to expose it.
  3. Create a new collection and subcollection in the same dialog if needed. 


Note: a clip can be in multiple collections at the same time.

3. Collection-level Workflows

If you hover the collection title in the sidebar, a button with a gear icon is shown. Clicking the button reveals a menu with actions you can perform on the collection. The standard collection-level workflows can be extended by custom workflows.

Fragment of a screenshot showing a dropdown of actions that can be executed on a collection


4. Using the Collection Builder as a Story Board

The Collection Builder gives you fine-grained control over the contents of a collection. Open the Collection Builder by clicking the button with the gear icon next to the collection name, and choose ‘Open in Collection Builder’ from the menu.


The top part of the screen will now show the collection contents. The bottom part still shows the library as it did before opening the Collection Builder.




5. Ordering the Subcollections

The subcollections can be sorted and ordered as preferred by clicking on the sort icon next to the collection.

Limecraft screenshot showing how to reorder collections.

Similarly, the order of clips in a collection can be adapted with the options revealed with the sort icon. 

Limecraft screenshot showing how to order clips in a collection.

The sort order you specified will be used in your exports of the collection. When exporting to an NLE, the items will be arranged in the same order on a timeline.

6. Removing an Item from a Collection

Select one or more items and click the red button with the broken chain icon.

Limecraft screenshot showing how to remove a clip from a collection. 

Note: If you click on the trashbin the clip will be irreversible deleted from the entire library.

7. Subclips

Note that subclips, like comments, can also be assigned to a collection. Multiple subclips of the same clip can also be assigned to the same collection.