Table of Contents       22. NeoFinder and Videos


22.3 NeoFinder and RED video files


Note (April 2023): It seems as if the latest versions of the RED software for macOS no longer contain the necessary QuickLook nor Spotlight plugins described below.
We are currently investigating with RED what is happening there, and hope they can fix that problem soon. Until then, NeoFinder and all other apps like the macOS Finder won't be able to get any metadata from R3D files.



Wouldn't it be wonderful if NeoFinder would give you a thumbnail and metadata for professional RED video files ".r3d"? Yes, that would be amazing, and NeoFinder can actually do that!

This feature requires that you have the
REDCINE-X PRO Software installed on the Mac that you use to catalog your data with NeoFinder.

Note: Please make sure you do not install version 42 of their software, as that contains a buggy Spotlight.plugin. Please use version 41, or wait for an update from RED.

Also, if NeoFinder cannot display thumbnails of R3D files, make sure you have a working QuickLook-Plugin für R3D files, and that the Finder can show thumbnails in its windows, as NeoFinder uses that QuickLook-Plugin for the thumbnails.

Install the REDCINE software

Then just catalog your data, and see what NeoFinder will do with it:



Isn't that amazing?

The Inspector shows even more incredible details for each R3D movie file:



A lot of details are displayed, like the frame rate, camera firmware, clip ID, lens mount name, sensor name, director, timecodes, serial numbers, and a lot more! Of course, all these can be searched by the “Any text” Find parameter.



Better Cataloging of RED video footage
Plenty of people use NeoFinder to catalog their work created with the professional
RED cameras.

Here is a cool trick that can save you considerable time when cataloging your disks in that case.

The RED software creates preview video files in several resolutions during the cutting process.
These are important for quick preview in the RED software, but you really don't need them in your NeoFinder catalog, as it is a bit slow to get thumbnails of the movie files.

Fortunately, NeoFinder has a very special feature that allows you to ignore files during cataloging, based on their names.

Use the
Expert Settings editor, and exclude metadata from files ending with:
_M.mov
_H.mov
_F.mov

Next time NeoFinder catalogs a disk, it will ignore the medium, half, and full size movie files of the RED software, speeding up cataloging quite a bit.


There is more!

NeoFinder also offers a unique
Movie Contact Sheet!
And NeoFinder also reads a lot of cool metadata for you:
22.2 Movie Metadata

22.4 Video playback in NeoFinder
22.5 NeoFinder and BlackMagic BRAW video files
22.6 Final Cut Pro X Projects and NeoFinder
22.7 Use ffmpeg for more video file support in NeoFinder
22.9 Rotate Videos