CatDV to Cache-A archive inconsistencies

[Rolf Howarth]

I’m not sure what a Cache-A “Resource temporarily unavailable” message means but try breaking things down to see at what stage it goes wrong.

When you archive files to the Cache-A from CatDV what it does it copy the files to the Cache-a VTAPE volume, then wait for the Cache-A device to automatically copy them to tape. First, check that the files are indeed copied to the vtape. Then, try doing an archive operation just using the Finder without using CatDV. Copy an entire P2 or JVC folder structure to the vtape and see if that is correctly archived or also gives you errors.

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi Rolf,

Thanks for your reply. As for the transfer of media CatDV > CacheA the media begins to transfer from VTAPE to tape almost instantly once the archive process has been initiated in CatDV. Generally the VTAPE to tape transfer does not complete until a few minutes after the CatDV transfer to the VTAPE is complete.

The error message ‘Resource temporarily unavailable’ at some level implied to me that perhaps there was a permissions issue occurring with the Raid where the raw media sits. I have checked and double checked this and find no issue in regards to permissions.

As for dumping P2/JVC folders directly to the VTAPE for archive, I have not tried it yet with those two particular media types, but I will report back when I do. I have successfully performed a direct VTAPE dump of an Ikegami MXF media directory, as for now I am not ingesting that media into CatDV as it can not be read as a Metaclip, at least on a PC based system, which we have discussed previously.Again, I will report back with findings from direct VTAPE transfers of P2 and JVC today or tomorrow, including transfer logs.

Thank you and have a great day,

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi,

I have sent this issue directly to CatDV Support, but will relay here on CreativeCow as well.

I have finally successfully performed a direct archive of all 3 of the MXF media types I am working with (P2, JVC & Ikegami). This was done through a staged transfer process by copying an individual directory folder directly to the CacheA internal HDD, not directly into the VTAPE, but into a staging folder. From the staging folder, if a media directory was copy/pasted into the VTAPE folder, the transfer would result in random, non-repeating errors (noted after multiple tests of the same folder). But if the media directory to be archived was dragged from the staging folder and dropped into the VTAPE folder the transfer completes successfully to tape without error. I have also successfully restored media archived using this direct, staged transfer.

After completing the direct transfer with confidence, I created a new CatDV catalog and ‘Import Directory’ to bring in one of the media directories that had been used during direct testing, specifically a P2 directory titled ‘Alternative_Enterprises.’ The directory imported into the catalog successfully as metaclips. I then used the ‘Archive Media’ tool and let the process run to completion as noted by the end of a session in the transfer log in the Cache-A UI. The transfer still produces a transfer log with errors, and when I attempted to restore the media I discovered that parts of the MXF directory are not being archived. Please review screen shots for details/visuals. The errors still seem to indicate a permissions issue, but Raid serving as main storage for the media directories being archived is open and accessible with no permissions restrictions. Perhaps I am missing a setting inside CatDV or Cache-A? Or perhaps it is something else?

Thanks for any and all input,

Lindsay

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[Rolf Howarth]

It’s true that CatDV won’t archive the LASTCLIP.TXT file from a P2 card. By default, when you import a folder into CatDV it only creates clips for media files it recognises. In general an arbitrary folder could contains all sorts of irrelevant files – backups, temporary files, hidden files, non-media files etc. – that simply aren’t relevant to a catalog of media assets. If you select a number of clips and archive them it will only copy the files directly used by those clips.

[Lindsay Simpson]

Thank you for clarifying Rolf, but how then do I successfully archive the MXF media through the CatDV interface, as it seems the text files such as ‘LASTCLIP.txt’ and even empty folders within an MXF directory are integral to restoring the media structure properly?

Today I was introduced to the concept of a CatDV worker node (I believe that’s what it was called, could be remembering this wrong) to transcode media out of MXF. I have skimmed through my CatDV 8 manual (I don’t have the v.9 manual printed off yet)and haven’t come across that term specifically. Can you point me to some informational resources to get my head wrapped around this process within CatDV?

Thanks!

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Well did a bit of digging on my own, and the worker node is out of reach for us right now. We have a budget of zero to make any purchases. I suppose I held a misconception that the MXF option of CatDV would be enough to facilitate the Cache-A archive function properly with that file type. Back to the workflow drawing board I suppose. Finding a balance between the great ability to work natively with all of our MXF media in the Adobe production suite and get it to archive using the CatDV catalog system is proving challenging. Right now I am struggling to imagine how to efficiently convert the massive library of existing MXF media we have to a more, friendly universal format that is expected to have some longevity, without making another purchase of something like Worker Node which can directed to perform such processes in the background or after hours.

Is anyone aware of a method to set up scheduled conversion of media using Adobe Media Encoder?

Thanks,
Lindsay

[Rolf Howarth]

That’s a good point about the empty folders. We don’t actively track empty folders in our catalog but could probably restore them in the specific case of restoring a P2 volume.