I organize by source first, not by opinion. Something like:

PROJECT
- ORIGINALS
- GOPRO_A
- GOPRO_B
- PHONE
- AUDIO
- GPS
- PROXIES
- PROJECT_FILES
- EXPORTS
- NOTES

That prevents filename collisions and keeps original media separate from anything disposable. I do not rename camera originals until I know whether a vendor tool or metadata workflow depends on the original naming relationship.

For telemetry projects I add one more rule: GPS/FIT/GPX files are copied during ingest, not later. It is too easy to remember the video and forget the watch activity or phone track.

I also keep a small note that records which device was used on which day and any clock/time-zone oddities. That note has saved more time than elaborate filename schemes.

Checksums are useful for big transfers. You do not need a complicated media asset manager just to verify that the copy to the editing drive matches the card/archive copy.

And I would never mix proxies into the originals folder. Proxies should be safe to delete and rebuild. If you cannot tell which files are disposable, cleanup becomes risky.

Inside the editor, I mirror the same logic with bins or project groups: camera/source first, then selects or scenes. In VSDC, keeping the file relationship clear also makes proxy and telemetry workflows easier to reason about.

For chaptered action-camera recordings, I keep neighboring chapters together even if only one appears in the final cut. That helps when a moment crosses the file boundary or the metadata context matters.

The “source first, opinion later” rule is exactly what I needed. I was moving favorite clips into new folders and then losing track of where the surrounding chapters and GPS files belonged.

I will keep originals immutable, put selects inside the project rather than the filesystem, and treat proxies as disposable cache.