Production · interview production cards and drives
interview production: find individual missing takes
How can I locate individual missing takes from the interview production?
Short answer
Usually by narrowing the gap before scanning: use the timecode of neighbouring answers and your notes to pin down which camera, card and time range lack the take. Cameras often split long takes into chapters of up to 4 GB, so one missing chapter looks like a lost answer. Then scan only that card read-only.
The situation
Most of the interview production is present, but specific scenes, angles or tracks are missing.
One answer is missing while the rest of the interview is intact. Before any scan, it is worth checking whether the camera simply split the take: long recordings are written as chapters, and a single missing chapter looks exactly like a lost answer.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
Cameras divide long interviews into chapter files, often at 4 GB on FAT32 cards, and copy tools sometimes drop one of them. Alongside that, the answer may have been recorded on the other body, or the operator changed slots between questions. The timecode of the neighbouring answers shows which device and which card covered the gap.
Partial deletion, a slot change or an incomplete folder copy can affect only one asset group. For interview production, this matters because the interview production combines several sources, takes and handoff steps that must be reconciled as a set
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Note the timecode where the answer should start and where the next usable clip begins, from both cameras if possible.
- 2
Check the destination for a chapter file with a consecutive number, and look in the second camera folder and the recorder tree.
- 3
Work out which card was in that body at that timecode, then take it out of use and keep it in a reader.
- 4
Scan that card read-only, export the missing chapter to the edit drive and place it back on the timeline.
Do not record the pickup interview onto the same card in the hope of saving time, and do not delete the partial chapters at the destination. Removing the surrounding chapters destroys the numbering that tells you which part of the answer is actually absent.
03 / Choose the method
Match the tool to the source
For stable, readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 or uncompressed IMG, DD, RAW and BIN images.
Unconfirmed exports are marked .UNVERIFIED.
Recovery finds only what is still on the card; an answer recorded over by a later session is gone. File Recovery Hero reads exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 sources and cannot repair a chapter whose data was never completely written to the card.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
Put the recovered chapter between its neighbours on the timeline: the sentence should continue across the join without a missing word, and the external audio should stay locked to the picture. A chapter that ends mid-frame or freezes is only partly recovered.
Keep the source until two verified copies exist. One working preview is not enough.
Sources and technical references
FAQ
Questions about this recovery case
Can interview production cards and drives be recovered in this situation?+
One answer is missing while the rest of the interview is intact. Before any scan, it is worth checking whether the camera simply split the take: long recordings are written as chapters, and a single missing chapter looks exactly like a lost answer. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not record the pickup interview onto the same card in the hope of saving time, and do not delete the partial chapters at the destination.
Does scanning write to my memory card?+
Your memory card is only read. Nothing is saved to it.
How do I know whether the result is complete?+
Put the recovered chapter between its neighbours on the timeline: the sentence should continue across the join without a missing word, and the external audio should stay locked to the picture.