Add ClipLogger to your Iconik source workflow

What you gain

Keep the shared catalog and use ClipLogger for searchable source logs on the storage your Mac can access.

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. Iconik metadata JSON is not a ClipLogger sidecar. There is no automatic transfer of a complete Iconik workspace, versions or permissions.

1. Bring the files and keep the old log

Ask an authorized domain owner to configure an Export Location with the appropriate Metadata View. Iconik documents metadata export as CSV, JSON, or XML and separate transcript export. Preserve the view definition and an unchanged copy of each export.

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

Open Iconik-managed originals through their accessible storage path, or use downloaded originals. Log and search them in ClipLogger, then use the receiving workflow’s supported metadata format. This does not connect to the Iconik catalog automatically or make an Iconik workspace itself a mounted drive.

Iconik documents media exports and metadata sidecars, so it is inaccurate to call its metadata completely locked away. Those exports are still different from keeping the live Iconik catalog, permissions and search service. ClipLogger’s free app remains available for your local workflow; written sidecars and filenames do not depend on a Rush subscription.

Keep a way back

Leave the existing catalog authoritative throughout the trial. Keep export job records and source identifiers so every pilot file can be traced back to its original asset.

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 Iconik comparison for capability and cost details.