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EX-1 duplicate file names
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After speaking with Sony about this issue, here is their reply;
“None of the engineers I’ve spoken with have been able to reproduce the anomaly you reported, or think of what combination of events could have caused it.
If it happens again, please let us know as quickly as possible, and well see if there’s any additional troubleshooting data that can be gathered.”
Our hope, at this point, is to try and move away from Sony’s software (ex clip browser) as quickly as possible. Currently, we are exporting our clips, via the clip browser, as “MXF for NLE” at which point we assign new names. From here, we are using a combination of Calibrated Software’s MXF codec’s and CatDV asset management software to database our files. This is working great so far. Greg, from Calibrated Software, is working on an MP4 codec that should allow us to manage our EX-1 footage natively and eliminate the need for Sony’s software altogether.
Our hope is we will not have to retain the BPAV folder structure and will be able to simply remove the MP4 files and manage them like any other media. This would remove the need for the BPAV structure and it’s restrictive file naming and handling conventions. I think we are just around the corner from being locked into Sony’s somewhat disappointing software.
Simply being aware that our camera’s MIGHT generate duplicate file names gives us the ability to deal with it, but it certainly doesn’t take the stress levels DOWN knowing these camera’s might just duplicate file names at any given point.
Hope this helps someone avoid disaster. This incident came to light when we “dubbed” some of our footage by dropping clips to a timeline only to discover (by the CLIENT!) that not all of the footage was transferred. We know what we shot, and when our client called us back and ask us, “where were those shots I ask for?” we went back, found them and realized that the simple act of grabbing all of our files and dropping them to the timeline, in one action, had omitted the files with duplicate names. Disturbing when you make an assumption that your gear performs a certain way and it acts exactly opposite.
Watch out folks, this has some pretty heinous implications.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
I’ve had this same problem happen twice with me now where I was shooting on one card which filled then it auto switched to the next card and continued the sequence along on the continuation file then switched back to the exact same numbers that the first card had started at ie it went from a continuation of file 0342_01 back to 0330_01. I couldn’t combine the folders in the xd cam browser software because of the duplicate files. I would really like to know if and when this problem is identified as it messes up my storage of the original files in one folder as I’ve found no way to re-name them. Hopefully Sony or someone out there will come up with a solution to fix this in the future.
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After further research I think I may have discovered what triggers the abrupt switch back to original file names from the first card. I had a battery go down at just the same time that the file switched over, ie the file number was correct and continuous, my battery went dead and the file stopped and when I re-powered back up with the new battery that is when the files jumped back to the old numbers. I still don’t know why the camera did it but I know for sure that is where the jump backwards took place so you may have had some kind of similar power disruption with your shoot as well.
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Hi Randy,
I’ll ask the shooter if he remembers changing batteries around this time. This never came up in our discussions with Sony regarding this issue. I will pass along your information. So far, Sony has no idea how this is happening. Since this posting, I’ve had one other person call me and tell me they have encountered the same problem. Very troubling.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
I’ve just learned that my EX-1 footage from two consecutive days of shooting on an HBO job suffer from this random backtracking of clip numbers. I’m glad I decided to look here before calling Sony about it.
Sadly, the earlier theory that a firmware updated will solve the problem doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m running v1.25 and have been for about six or eight months after a Sony servicing. Indeed, the earlier firmware worked just fine, so in my case it’s the upgrade that seems to carry the problem.
I concur with the theory that a dead battery can cause this problem, but I have a new theory, which has to do with switching card slots too quickly!
I don’t like to let clips run over from one card to another, so I briefly pause the roll and then switch slots and start recording again. Often very quickly! But I recall that when you push the card slot button there is a period of a few seconds when the light on the camera hasn’t exactly reset to green on whichever slot has been toggled. Perhaps the result is identical to the power failure glitch in re clip numbers?
Just throwing it out there. This is a big problem!
I see that no one has written on this thread for quite a while – wonder if there’s been a solution I should know about.
A.R.
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I can tell you first hand that if a battery dies during a recording you can encounter duplicate clip number, just last week I had an F3 battery die with my b-cam operator and missed a shot an it was at that point I realized the duplicate clip numbers. After replacing the battery the operator didn’t restore the media as prompted by the camera and switch card slots to continue shooting. We were in different locations and he had never encountered a restore media before.
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I’ve been having this problem as well, multiple times on different hardware. Batteries are never the culprit as in our case we run everything off AC power.
I have this issue on material shot in Los Angeles using my own cameras and have experienced it again a few weeks later shooting on rental cameras in Chicago.
An example would be in my folders from Chicago, I have two clips named 216_0017 that were shot hours apart:
216_0017 Duration 00:29:25:28 (07:01:16 – 07:30:42)
216_0017 Duration 01:10:53:14 (10:53:13 – 12:04:07)I used to be able to rely on my media folders being able to be combined down to tidy single folders per shooter (which is critical cause these are 8-10 camera shoots), but all of a sudden I’m getting dupes.
Looks like it’s been happening for years and there are still no real answers. I’m going to try to make a backup copy of one of the clips and see if I can manually edit the metadata files and retag the clip info…
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I was able to manually edit the folders, file names, directory structure and contents of XML and SMI files and fool it into thinking the clip is called 216_0022.
Going to write a little script to do it for me as needed.
\V
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Well this looks like it’s not that rare an anomaly. We’ve had out EX1 for a few years now, and once or twice noticed a few shots having duplicate names. We’re working on a doc at the minute that has a lot of shooting spread over a few days and it’s become apparent that this duplicate naming happens more frequently than we thought; in fact it’s happening every couple of cards or so.
It didn’t stand out so much because we usually ‘copy’ clips in the XDCAM Clip Browser, in this case the browser steps in and renames the duplicated names adding a (1) at the end. However if we choose to ‘cut’/move the clips onto the HDD, the browser doesn’t rename & tells us the clip already exists. The simple workaround seems to let the Clip Browser rename it during the move, but this is certainly something we need to sort out long term, and could prove very troublesome.
In answer to other speculation, it doesn’t require a battery to die to happen, and we’ve even tried reformatting the various cards every time we use a fresh one and it hasn’t made a difference. and it doesn’t just happen when the clips span cards, in fact we don’t even need a second card in for it to happen. While we can’t reproduce the effect en cue, it’s definitely happening a few times a day for us.
Anyone have any insight?
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This used to happen to me since years and it happened again today. So I decided to google and found this thread. My EX3 file names start with (custom) EX3_####_## and EX1 names with EX1_####_##. I can’t remember if it had happened in both cameras but it happens every once in a while. Apparently XDCAM browser, when copying to one final folder, appends the duplicate name with (1) and it creates a problem in sorting the files. In Premiere Pro the remedy I use is to sort the files by time and drag to the timeline. Sorting by name will mess up the order of clips.
This last job I know I did not have a battery dying on me so that suggestion is ruled out.
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