MXF Relinking Question

[Shane Ross]

Well, I am not 100% sure, but about 90% sure that this won’t work. Because the only way to have things automatically relink when you drop anything into the MXF folder is if they are the same MXF files. If you had them copied over at one point…but then the drive died or the folder was lost, and you copied them over again. Pretty much everything else requires a relink.

But bringing in H.264, working with that, and then getting DIT files and trying to relink to those…I don’t think that will work. Not sure the H.264 will have all the same data, it’s not know for being metadata rich.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Glenn Sakatch]

if this does work, you would need to do the “relink to all selected clips” method. As Shane said, it won’t just automatically replace the clips in your bins, you will have to create new bins for the mxfs, probably have to re log those clips, and then hope you can relink the sequence.

I think the sequence might relink if the files are exact same length, name and timecode. Its not a hard test to try out on day 1, but I question how much time you are saving? Is this an ongoing process, or 1 day shoot? Either way, I’m pretty sure you would be logging clips twice.

I get it, everyone wants to get going NOW!, but think about the process, the headaches, and whether or not you are really saving any time.

if it takes the DIT several hours to upload the h.264s, and it takes you an hour or 2 to download them, that cuts into your 24 hour window. (I recently had a VFX guy tell me not to worry, he had 150 up and down for internet. Great for you, but I don’t, and the server you are sending to might not allow full speed either, so you are limited by their speed for upload).

Then you’ll have to decide if you can edit with the h.264s, or transcode them…if its a ton and your timeline starts to drag, you will probably want to transcode them…more time lost.

Then you have to do the relink the next day, and check that everything did indeed work. Lets assume you are working a 10 hour day. How much time are you saving if you are left with? An hour or 2 or 3 to actually edit with the H.264s? I would say shoot on Wednesday, and we will start editing Friday rather than Thursday. If this is a multiday shoot, you will be a day behind the DIT, and you might even catch up on Monday, if they aren’t shooting over the weekend…not terrible.

Glenn

[Michael Lonsdale]

Hi Shane

Many thanks for your reply.

Yes – it’s definitely not working..! :- )

I guess ultimately the question is:

Can you make Avid think one particular file is actually another file…?

In other words, I have file A with metadata 1, 2 and 3 (for eaxmple)

I have file B with metadata 1, 2 and 3.

Is there any way to AMA file A in, cut with it and then relink to file B…? I.e. tell Avid to relink file A to file B using some metadata vectors 1, 2 and 3.

Thanks in advance.

Michael

[Michael Lonsdale]

Hi Glenn

Thanks for the reply.

Yes – I understand your comments re ‘does it really save that much time’. I guess the fact is that that’s the way our editors are cutting so I’d like to make the process as simple as possible for them.

Re ‘I think the sequence might relink if the files are exact same length, name and timecode’. They aren’t the same length, but they will have the same name and timecode.

Michael