“AVOID XDCAM like the PLAGUE for editing on timeline!”

[Dave Jenkins]

I’m working on 23.98 XDCAM EX. As to importing, both Sony’s own XDCAM Transfer software and Import directly into FCP has been done.

When you say import directly what does that mean? Log and Transfer?

Dajen Productions, Santa Barbara, CA
MacPro Two 2.8GHz Quad Core – AJA Kona LHe
FCS 3 OS X 10.6 QT 10

[Philip Owens]

[Dave Jenkins] ”
When you say import directly what does that mean? Log and Transfer? “

Yes.

[Rafael Amador]

That “Out of Memory” sounds too like some kind of corruption or media managing problem to me as well.
Had you tried to save the project with other name?
Also you can try to copy&paste (or better drag&drop) all the Browser to a new project.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Philip Owens]

[Rafael Amador] “Also you can try to copy&paste (or better drag&drop) all the Browser to a new project. “

Already tried that, no joy.

I made a decision today after the failures – I can’t deal with this any longer, so I’m going to buy a Matrox MXO2 Mini and a DVD recorder to make outputs easier. Hopefully that’ll be less painful. It can hardly be worse….

[Jason Porthouse]

[Philip Owens] “I made a decision today after the failures – I can’t deal with this any longer, so I’m going to buy a Matrox MXO2 Mini and a DVD recorder to make outputs easier. Hopefully that’ll be less painful. It can hardly be worse….
“

Oh, you just reminded me. We have terrible issues with export too. Exactly the same – try exporting a long TL and at some random point it just hangs with the Out Of Memory error. If you open Activity Monitor and have that on display whilst working, you may see what I see – that is the available RAM reduces gradually till it’s working with maybe 50-100mb free. I think when it gets to this stage it’s only a matter of time before it crashes. My work around has been to export in chunks of no more that say 10 mins. A real PITA but at least viable. Your idea of an MXO2 is a good one, but something like one of the BM cards would be cheaper. I’d go for the O2 if the cash was there tho’.

In all honesty I think something is fundamentally wrong here. Whilst many report no issues, and write it off as corrupt media or incorrectly set up systems, we’re talking about a whole gamut of system types – from VAR supplied setups correctly configured to those like my own – a DIY build but with all the knowledge of 20 years in the industry, FCP since the 90s and the entire wisdom of the Cow built in to it’s construction!

Whether it’s the codec (which I suspect) or FCP (less likely given that all other working modes for me have been rock solid) or some voodoo interference twixt the two I don’t know, but it’s bloody frustrating.

Jason

_________________________________

Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
Then when you do criticise him, you’ll be a mile away. And have his shoes.

*the artist formally known as Jaymags*

[Michael Adante]

You couldn’t have said it better Jason..

Have you tried Media Managing the entire timeline to Pro Res Phil or going through compressor?

Michael

[Andy Mees]

Hi Philip

What is the target code for your (failing) export, is it XDCAM EX (as on the timeline) or is it a preferred delivery codec? If the former, then you might want to consider the latter. If the latter, then what codec are you exporting to? Either way, what is the step by step procedure are you using for export?

You mention that your timeline was fully rendered in ProRes first … I wonder if you realise that those renders are simply ignored on export when they are not timeline native. Given that your machine seems reasonably powerfully spec’d, you might want to consider adopting a new workflow, that being using a native ProRes timeline with your XDCAM source clips. Your machine should eat it up, and if you’re having a nightmare with your current workflow then you’d probably find the overall experience of handling the XDCAM sources much easier this way. Furthermore, on “Current Settings” exports any interim renders would be used accordingly, not discarded.

Hope it helps
Andy

[Philip Owens]

[Andy Mees] “What is the target code for your (failing) export, is it XDCAM EX (as on the timeline) or is it a preferred delivery codec? If the former, then you might want to consider the latter. If the latter, then what codec are you exporting to? Either way, what is the step by step procedure are you using for export? “

NIce to hear from you Andy! Yes, I’ve tried exporting as both XDCAM and also transcoding to ProResHQ – same end result – “Error:Out of Memory”. At this point I’ve been up half the night trying ever decreasing amounts of the timeline to see what actually WILL export!

[Andy Mees] “I wonder if you realise that those renders are simply ignored on export when they are not timeline native”

I did not know that, no, and thanks for letting me know that.

Re. your suggestion of switching to a ProRes timeline – that sounds like a great idea. Will I be able to cut SD DV @ 29.97, SD and HD ProRes @ 23.98 and 29.97 and XDCAM HD @ 23.98 clips onto that timeline? That’s the sum of my media types.

[Philip Owens]

[Jason Porthouse] “Whether it’s the codec (which I suspect) or FCP (less likely given that all other working modes for me have been rock solid) or some voodoo interference twixt the two I don’t know, but it’s bloody frustrating.
“

I’m 99.999% confident it’s the codec, as I have used the exact same hardware to do all-ProRes, Uncomp 10-bit SD, and DV projects, without the slightest problem. I’ve a similar profile to yourself, and have never experienced such problems with FCP before. During the feature I did all last year in DVCPRO HD, I think I had about three crashes in an entire year…..ah, fond memories of I-Frame codecs!

[Philip Owens]

[Michael Adante] “Have you tried Media Managing the entire timeline to Pro Res Phil or going through compressor? “

I’ve dreamed about it. When I came onboard the project (all dailies had already been captured into XDCAM over the past six months), my first recommendation was to transcode all the dailies to ProRes. But the money wasn’t there for the 5x file size – it meant the jump to much larger RAID’s than were deemed affordable. Same applies now- I simply don’t have the drive space available to transcode the entire project. So my current plan is that once I get to first rough cut, I’m going to media manage that timeline to a new ProRes project, and then carry on from there. That would be a considerable help, I’m sure.