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Jody SappingtonJan 13, 2023 9:30:00 AM3 min read

What does it mean to ingest a file?

What does it mean to ingest a file?

Introduction 

Video ingest is how you receive and prepare video files for editing and making your final video. Ingesting is usually done with video ingest software, which can also be called video acquisition software. Check out our WHAT IS VIDEO INGEST? TOP OPTIONS FOR YOU blog to learn more.

To get a good idea about how important ingesting is for your business, let's take a look at what happens during this process: 

  • You shoot footage of an event or series of events (think weddings, parties, corporate videos) using either one camera or several cameras. Sometimes this can happen quickly, but in other cases, it takes multiple people hours or even days to shoot all of their footage, so it's crucial that when they are done shooting, they don't have to wait around for hours before being able to start editing their final product! That's where ingesting comes into play; once everything has been shot, all we need is someone who knows how to use their computer well enough to help us ensure everything gets uploaded correctly while not wasting any time doing so." 

Video ingest is usually done with some video ingest software, so you'll need to find one to use. Most video editing programs will not be able to do this for you; however, some free versions available can help. 

The most common type of video ingests software is hardware-based. This means that it's a physical device that you plug into your computer and then use in conjunction with your editing program. You may also see software-based solutions referred to as "soft" or "virtual" devices; these work similarly but run within the editing program itself instead of externally on its hardware. 

Other solutions also exist: some companies offer cloud-based services that allow users to access remotely (via phone or tablet). These are usually expensive compared to other options but tend not to be very robust because they lack any real storage capacity or processing power on their respective servers (which means they're always going to be slower than running locally). 

Video ingest software can also be called video acquisition software, a term that's more commonly used for video game footage. 

Video ingest is the process of receiving and preparing video files for editing. It's sometimes called "video acquisition," a term that's more commonly used for game footage. Video ingest can come in handy when you're working with footage from a camera or importing files from a hard drive, whether it's simply to convert them into another format or because you need to do some additional processing before using them in your project. 

Video ingestion software also allows users to encode their videos so they're viewable on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. 

Video ingest is a key part of making a great final product, and it can take many forms depending on your goals. 

As video production continues to grow in popularity and importance, so does the need for efficient ways to ingest, store and manage media files. This is especially true for large productions that involve a lot of content. That’s where the benefits of video ingestion software come into play. 

Video ingestion refers to importing and converting your source material into a format suitable for editing. Everything from GoPro footage to raw DSLR clips can be ingested using a wide range of tools available today—some free and some paid—each offering its own unique set of features. 

The software you use will depend on your needs as well as what type of work you do: if you’re shooting documentary-style interviews with one camera only, then a simple web browser will suffice; however, if you are working on feature films with multi-camera setups then desktop applications may be more appropriate for managing all those files efficiently without having them pile up on each other like an episode in Game Of Thrones (a good example would be DaVinci Resolve). 

Conclusion 

We hope you’ve learned much about the importance of video ingest in this article, and we encourage you to try it out for yourself! Video ingest can be incredibly complicated, but the more familiar you are with the process and software used by professionals, the better your final product will turn out. 

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