Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1279181
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 27 the basics of their classifi cation system and how using basic formatting allowed an ease of scripting commands that could be integrated into countless workfl ows agnostic to operating platforms, DAW, or library management software. They explained that the Universal Category System (UCS) sought to become an industry- standard classifi cation for all sound effects in the hopes of making the organization and global portability of sound fi les faster, simpler, and more user-focused. The presentation struck a chord with many in the industry who immediately volunteered to help bring the idea to fruition. defi ned by community volunteers from around the globe. The CatID is the fundamental portion of the naming scheme that allows scripts and workfl ows to utilize the UCS. By itself, this abbreviated but readable descriptor defi nes the Category and SubCategory a sound can be fi led under. This CatID is defi ned by the UCS list and cannot be modifi ed. Doing so will break the system and result in your sound fi le not reaping the advantages of the UCS. This is not the fi rst time that this has been attempted, but past lists have either been too narrow or too broad with as few as fi ve and the organization and global portability of sound fi les faster, simpler, and more user-focused. The presentation struck a chord with many in the industry who immediately volunteered to help A sound effects library is only as effective as your ability to fi nd desirable sounds within it. Without a properly maintained database, an editor is wasting time and effort, and can lose their fl ow by auditioning fi le after fi le desperately searching for that "one perfect sound." That task becomes even more daunting when working within a library that isn't your own. Years ago, Nielsen, who manages the library for Skywalker, provided his initial thoughts to the students and interested parties in a corner of the internet. Envisioning an established list of classifi cations, this question laid the groundwork for what was to come. The idea brewed and developed in the background until Nielsen recruited Justin Drury of Soundminer to help him fl esh out his concept. The two iterated upon the list until presenting a video entitled Universal Sound Effects Category System on Soundminer's YouTube page on May 28, 2020. Over the course of 40 minutes, Drury and Nielsen demonstrated What is the UCS? At its core, the UCS (Universal Category System) is a list of defi ned Category and SubCategory pairs. Within this list, each pair is provided a unique abbreviation or CatID. Also contained in this list is an expandable list of synonyms for each Category/SubCategory pair, as well as a growing set of translations as many as 2,000 categories. Since showcasing their working v6.0 in late May of 2020, the UCS has been further curated by top professional designers, librarians, and vendors working in the industry. Their efforts have culminated in the public release of UCS v8.0 comprising 82 Categories and 657 SubCategories. A section of the UCS list showing Category, SubCategory, CatID, CatShort, and Synonyms.