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Drive AND video formatting for PC users
It has been a few years since I have had to prepare large video clips for delivery to a PC-based client’s office.
Assuming that they’re on up-to-date PC machines and operating systems, how should I format a drive for delivery to them? If the drive format is acceptable, will .mov and .mp4 files then play properly?
I also wonder if there’s a file size limit within this ecosystem. By virtue of the fact that some of the unedited clips are an hour in length, we’re getting up into the 50GB+ range for some of the .mov files.
Unfortunately this question just occurred to me AFTER I had finished preparing the client’s drive in Mac OS format. It’s about 3/4 full, around 9 hours of video on board. (this will be a big redo if I have to reformat).
Grant Peacock
Grant Peacock Images
Washington DC
http://www.gpi.tv -
2 Replies
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It would be cheaper to buy MacDrive for the PC than re format and retransfer. If you formatted NTFS for Windows then you would need to buy software for your Mac. ExFAT is a possible solution being cross platform and able to have larger than 4gig files.
MacDrive is terrific and I use it all the time swapping between Mac & PC. On the question of suitable file formats for PC then it all depends on the Editing software that they are using on PC.
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Thanks Michael. In a project like this, I am supplying video for a future edit. I don’t know who will be previewing the clips, or when. As such, I just need to deliver in the most generally acceptable format.
It sounds like this may not even be possible without asking a series of questions of the new client. With your guidance, and assuming that they are in a PC-dominated environment, I can see that it is going to be necessary to do a reformat and 2nd full transfer.
Beyond the PC- compatible formatting issue, one other thing to ask – is there a generalized, natively PC-compatible playback format, as QT is to Mac? Or are PC users all over the place, not having a single built in playback platform?
Thanks again. – Grant.
Grant Peacock
Grant Peacock Images
Washington DC
http://www.gpi.tv
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