Find reusable footage for a new advertising brief
Search your existing video library for shots that fit a new creative brief. Give editors a timecoded shortlist and a clear list of footage still needed.
How this works
A large archive can contain the right shot under an unhelpful filename or incomplete tag. AI can describe visible content and retrieve candidates from a creative request, but an editor still needs to inspect the actual footage and its permitted uses.
Keep this workflow focused on finding reusable material. A shortlist is useful even when the final edit changes direction. It should expose gaps before new production is commissioned and should never treat a visually suitable clip as automatically cleared for an advertisement.
Before you start
Creative intent
Obtain the approved audience, message, format and specific shots or moods sought.
Accessible archive
Use authorized media proxies or files with stable asset IDs and durations.
Rights metadata
Gather license scope, expiry, releases and restrictions maintained by the asset owner.
Prepare the inputs
- brief
- Required
message, channel, aspect ratio and shot needs
Separate essential visual requirements from optional creative preferences.
- assets
- Required
asset IDs, media and existing metadata
Check file readability, timebase, duration and whether the proxy matches the master.
- rights
- Required
asset permissions and restrictions
Unknown or expired permissions must be flagged; absence is not clearance.
Implementation, step by step
Translate the brief into shot needs
- List observable requirements such as subject, action, setting, framing and space for text.
- Assign each need a role in the story and distinguish required shots from interchangeable supporting footage.
Checkpoint: The editor can see what each search is intended to satisfy.
Prepare searchable descriptions
- For eligible assets, generate concise descriptions of visible scenes with time ranges and technical metadata.
- Keep factual observations separate from inferred emotions or brand suitability. Reuse existing descriptions when current and verified.
Checkpoint: Every description points to an actual asset segment.
Retrieve varied candidates
- Search using the shot requirement and reasonable descriptive alternatives, retaining asset IDs and matching reasons.
- Filter by permitted use and technical constraints before ranking; keep rights-unknown assets in a separate hold list.
Checkpoint: Each shot need has candidates or an explicit archive gap.
Inspect the selected segments
- Watch each proposed segment, including enough lead-in and ending to judge editability. Verify the description against the footage.
- Check framing, focus, visible logos, continuity, releases and useful duration; do not infer that an unseen frame is safe.
Checkpoint: Every shortlisted select has been visually checked or clearly marked pending.
Assemble the editor packet
- Create a selects sheet with in/out points, match rationale, limitations and rights status.
- Group alternatives by shot need and note missing footage in a separate production list. Avoid promising that a new shoot is unnecessary.
Checkpoint: The editor can find and compare alternatives without repeating the search.
Record editorial feedback
- Capture which selects were useful, rejected or unusable and why.
- Correct misleading asset metadata and retain rights changes separately from relevance feedback so future searches do not repeat the mistake.
Checkpoint: The archive gains specific corrections rather than ungrounded popularity scores.
Decisions along the way
The best visual match lacks rights evidence
Keep it on hold and ask the asset owner; offer cleared alternatives.
No adequate footage exists
Describe the missing shot precisely for production rather than broadening the brief silently.
What you will produce
footage-selects.csv
CSVA source-linked shortlist for editing.
Include: shot_need · asset_id · in_point · out_point · match_reason · technical_notes · rights_status · review_status
production-gaps.md
MarkdownRemaining needs after a documented archive search.
Include: shot_need · missing_requirement · alternatives · decision_owner
Check the result
- Verify every in/out point against the correct media version.
- Ensure AI descriptions never replace a visual check of final selects.
- Check license expiry and destination restrictions before handoff.
When something goes wrong
Proxy and master timecodes differ
Reconcile the timebase and regenerate affected in/out points.
Video input is unavailable
Use existing authorized descriptions for retrieval and leave visual verification to the editor.
A worked example
SYNTHETIC EXAMPLE · NOT A REPORTED BUSINESS RESULT
Request
Synthetic: find a five-second warehouse packing shot for a recruitment ad.
Inputs
The archive has a cleared close-up of a parcel at 00:14–00:20 and a wide shot with unknown worker releases. The brief needs visible teamwork.
Expected result
Offer the close-up only as supporting footage; hold the wide shot for rights review and record teamwork footage as an unresolved need. Do not claim either fully meets the brief.
Run a small pilot
Start small
One brief and a limited, rights-documented archive collection.
Record the baseline
Measure an editor’s manual search time and number of accepted selects.
Agree success criteria
Agree useful-select and metadata-error thresholds without assuming production savings.
Stop or revise
Pause reuse recommendations when rights status or media identity cannot be established.
Keep the scope clear
- No publishing, licensing purchase or new production booking is implied.
- Do not identify people in footage or infer sensitive traits from their appearance.
Check before using
An editor checks visual relevance, technical quality and permitted use before reuse.
Business activities
- Create and publish content
- Run advertising and acquisition tests
FROM A RECIPE TO YOUR WORKFLOW
Bring the company context together.
This workflow needs reliable inputs before it needs a better prompt. Moat8 Vault brings working information into a readable archive for the AI tools you use.
For this recipe: Creative brief · Permitted footage archive · Asset rights and metadata
Start with one recurring task, agree which sources to use, and review the first result with your team.
Discuss this workflow