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More Frustrations with XDCam EX Format
We shoot for pay per view television using the PMW-350 as our main camera and an EX1R for Bcam. I have had considerable frustration in my postproduction workflow and I’m about to sell all the gear and give up using this format.
I won’t go into all the history but most of the problems seem to have been with the XDCam Transfer and XDCam Browser software. My workflow after each shoot has been to take the approximately 20 SD cards that we use on location and copy them to harddrives by dragging the intact BPAV folders into directories named REEL 1, REEL 2, REEL 3, etc. I don’t touch any of the native folders or file structure. It’s just a straight transfer.
I then check each BPAV folder with the orginal SD card to make sure every byte of data got transfered over. When I am satisfied I have everything from a shoot, I mirror the hard drive to another hard drive and place the SD cards back into service for the next location shooting.
To deploy the footage into a program, I navigate to the desired “REEL” folder with XDCAm transfer and import. This works about 75% of the time. Frequently, not all the clips come up in the XDCam browser and I get errors. Sometimes, entire folders can’t be read in XDCam Transfer. This is entirely random.
When this happens, I transfer the BPAV folder to a local drive on the MacPro machine and try to read the same folder with XDCam Browser. Thankfully, this seems to save me most of the time. A folder or clip that chokes XD Tranfer will nearly always be viewable in XD Browser. (I then copy the files into a new folder and start over with XDCam Transfer)
Today, my luck ran out. I have 10 BPAV folders of clips from the same shooting that can’t be read in either Transfer or Browser. I have tried every work around, including copying the BPAV folders back to sDcards and trying to read them from the camera. Even that that failed.
I know ALL the data is there. I can see it. My records also refelct that I got every byte of data from the original SD cards before they were formated for another shoot. I know the camera is working properly because I just pulled the SD cards from our latest shoot and so far, all of them can be read in both Transfer and Browser. Please help me read and save these 10 BPAV folders. We will be out approximately $10,000 if we lost this material.
I just tried the latest version of Browser [2.6] and after loading once, it now just crashes and cannot be relaunched. I’ve rebooted and that does not help.
Many thanks for any help or input.
Thank you very much.
PMW-350
EX1-R
Nikon D3
(wlstevens.com) -
25 Replies
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[W. Lawrence Stevens] “My workflow after each shoot has been to take the approximately 20 SD cards that we use on location and copy them to harddrives by dragging the intact BPAV folders”
Don’t blame the format when it’s your workflow. You shouldn’t drag folder every. ClipBrowser with CRC On so it can verify the copy. Anything else and it’s an accident waiting to (or already in your case) happening.
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[W. Lawrence Stevens] “Please help me read and save these 10 BPAV folders. We will be out approximately $10,000 if we lost this material.”
Try reading the individual MP4 files using Clip Browser or XDCAM Browser … if the MP4 can be read then you can use the same app to rebuild a new BPAV directory for those clips, and so import them into your NLE as per normal.
Another option might be to buy and use Calibrated Software’s MP4-EX Import component which would allow you to read and edit directly with the native MP4 files (so you don’t need the BPAV directory) … as would Sony’s Cinemon import component (which they call their “workflow accelerator”).
https://www.calibratedsoftware.com/MP4EXImport_Mac.asp
https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-datastorage/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-cat-datastorage-solutions-cinemon.shtmlCheers
Andy -
Using Browser to “import” the individual MP4 files is tedious but it appears to work. It just goes to show that all the footage is there intact.
I still don’t understand why the copied BPAV folders can’t be read in Browser or Transfer when byte for byte, they are exact duplicates of what originally existed on the SD Cards. I’m not feeling this is a reliable system if you have to jump through hoops just to get simple concepts to work.
PMW-350
EX1-R
Nikon D3
(wlstevens.com) -
[W. Lawrence Stevens] ” when byte for byte, they are exact duplicates of what originally existed on the SD Cards”
You can’t be sure of that. That’s what CRC On determines. The function truly exists for a utilitarian purpose. It’s not window dressing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check
If you want something a bit more powerful when moving files there’s ShotPut Pro
https://www.imagineproducts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2Sorry but your workflow is not reliable. If you drive without a seat belt you risk a fatal accident.
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[W. Lawrence Stevens] “I’m not feeling this is a reliable system if you have to jump through hoops just to get simple concepts to work.”
Craig is absolutely right Lawrence, it’s your existing workflow that is flawed, not the reliability of the system. Follow the right practice and you’ll be fine, use a shortcut and you’ll probably be fine too … right up to the day when you’re not.
[W. Lawrence Stevens] Using Browser to “import” the individual MP4 files is tedious but it appears to work.
Is it 89 USD worth of tediousness? That’s all it costs for the EX-MP4 import component. Then again, using Clip Browser is free. Just think how much more tedious it would have been if you’d lost 10 grands worth of footage …
Glad I could help
Andy -
I am glad that you were able to get your files to work.
At the risk of piling on, I have to agree with Craig and Andy. I download 6 full SDHC cards worth of clips somedays. I use Clip Browser with the CRC on to transfer the files to my back-up hard drive. Clip Browser puts them in a randomly named folder which you can rename anything you want. This, in combination with proper camera metadata, makes it easy to search hundreds of files. It takes a bit longer but not nearly as long (or traumatic) as trying to find missing clips. For my purposes I then use XDCam Transfer to bring those files into Final Cut Server for my client access.
It is much easier, faster, cheaper(?) than tape. It is NOT the format.
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Thanks gentlemen. I appreciate the advice and collective wisdom. The problem I have (which I didn’t want to bore anyone with) is that I have an assistant upload all the SD Cards in the field immediately after they are shot on a small windows computer.
Our location shoots last over 15 hours so uploading the 20 or so full SD cards is easy during that time. It saves me many hours of babysitting the uploads afterwards if I had to do it myself. Instead of spending all that time uploading data, my job I just to compare each BPAV folder with each corresponding SD Card before it is reformated to make sure the upload was done correctly. That task takes me about an hour.
I need something idiot proof that can be done by an assistant in the field with a Windows computer without much training or fanfare. Apparently, a basic folder copy operation in Windows is not reliable (if someone can explain why, I’m really interested!)
Cost is really no object. I need something easy and fool proof. Clip Browser crashed on my Mac on the second go and won’t come back. Is Shotput automated? Any further advice is appreciated.
Many thanks again!
Steven
PMW-350
EX1-R
Nikon D3
(wlstevens.com) -
I think you are putting too much emphasis on how long a card takes to copy correctly using clip browser with CRC. It takes longer but it is still faster than realtime. If you are recording 113 minutes onto a 32GB card it will definitely be done copying before you are finished recording the next card. If you are using multiple cameras and recording more cards you could get a little backed up. I would buy more cards. They are VERY cheap.
I have Shotput but it is very confusing for my little brain. I really need to be able to copy a card and change it’s name one at a time. Especially if I am working on two or three different job numbers at the same time.
I bought a four-headed card reader (Medusa….just kidding) but that doesn’t work either. -
MXM (SD adaptor) Card Readers worth looking at
https://mxmexpress.com/category.php?id_category=18MXR (SD adaptor) MultiCard Reader
https://e-films.com.au/shoppingcart/products/e%252dMCR-(Multi%252dCard-Reader).html -
Hi folks,
I have had the odd problem with clip browser but the most effective way if you want to dump everything into your NLE is to use
Sony’s Cinemon import component software. You set finder on a single directory and search Mpeg4s, open your bins and drag and drop the clips into your system. The re-wrapping occurs very rapidly.Sometimes when I’ve been unable to access a file, this procedure always recovers them.
All the best,
Jim
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