Start logging without an Axle server project

What you gain

Evaluating Axle? Run a ClipLogger shoot on your current Mac before buying a server. Already on Axle? Add a durable source log to one production first.

You can start with the free base app and your existing storage. Use the first shoot to build a palette, identify known subjects and hand useful ranges to the editor. ClipLogger does not import an Axle database or replace its browser catalog and connectors. It can remove the need to buy those layers when your actual job is local footage logging.

1. Bring the files and keep the old log

For an existing installation, locate the originals and retain a supported metadata export from your administrator. Record the products installed and any fields or automations your team relies on. If you have not bought Axle, begin with your existing camera folder; there is no system to migrate.

Use a copy of one shoot for the first rename or metadata-writing attempt. Include repeated camera filenames from different cards, and retain the full source paths so you can tell them apart.

2. Reuse the work you already did

Download the mapping worksheet. It is a checklist for your records, not a file to import into the app.

If your existing filenames already describe the shoot, open that directory and choose Learn from these files… from the palette picker. With at least three visible files, ClipLogger can infer a palette you can edit. Supported XMP fields can also be read from media; that does not convert every vendor’s custom field or AI index.

3. Give the next editor a better log

Import a roster, menu or code-replacement table for the names and terms you know. Set fields such as action, shot size and rating, then choose a small batch for suggestions. Use a supported local model for no per-clip service fee, or choose Rush for hosted processing. Review the suggested values against the footage.

Use Drill-down to see nested camera folders together. Search by meaning, transcript or the reviewed fields, then narrow the results with the values available in the directory. Mark the useful ranges and promote the ones you want to log separately into virtual clips. Search and filter guide.

4. Write something you can keep

Enable .logger.json output and confirm the sidecars have been written beside your pilot media. Preview a filename built from your reviewed fields, then apply it to the copy. Keep names stable once the editor links the footage, or plan to relink after a rename.

Open a supported export in a test NLE project. Check the actual names, metadata and source timing there. If you need a separate media file, choose subclip export; a virtual clip by itself still depends on the original. Naming · Sidecars · NLE handoff.

5. Decide what you still need to pay for

If your institution already runs Axle, use ClipLogger at the logging desk for the names, project vocabulary and useful ranges you want to keep with the footage. Agree on the fields and export the deployment actually accepts. Keep Axle when its shared catalog and team access earn their cost.

Axle’s exit path depends on the installed products and export options. Its public MAM description does not establish a universal export of its AI index or a free catalog you can keep using. ClipLogger lets you retain written sidecars and filenames and continue with the free base app after paid processing ends. Back up the project and catalog too for records that have not been written beside the media.

Keep a way back

An evaluation can end without changing an Axle installation. Keep any existing catalog, originals and export records while you check the ClipLogger log and NLE handoff.

Retain the original media and old exports until an editor has used the new handoff. Back up the ClipLogger project/catalog as well as sidecars, especially when some work has not been written beside the files.

Return to the Axle AI comparison for capability and cost details.