Sony XDCAM transfer

[Craig Seeman]

Can you explain your workflow and software version numbers?
I’m not sure why you’re using XDCAM Transfer which rewraps MP4 to MOV.
Clip Browser 2 has CRC error checking. Once BPAV folders are copied from cards to hard drive you should then be able to copy to Blu-ray. While I haven’t used Blu-ray I’ve done this with DL-DVD without problems.

[Mark Huckle]

Hi Craig

Thanks for your reply. I’m using the latest versions of FCP Studio 2 and the latest version of XDCAM transfer for my Sony SXS cards (Camera is EX1). There appears to be no rhyme or reason why I can save to external hard drives two of the cards in XDCAM transfer and why the other two come up with the “error O” pop up box. I’ve Googled and have found a similar request, but none has come up with a solution yet!

[Craig Seeman]

It’s still not clear what your workflow is.
You’re apparently backing up the MOV files rather than the BPAV folders, not that that should cause an issue.

You don’t say how you’re attempting to burn the Blu-ray disk at all. What drive, what software?
Do you have a rewritable disk so you can experiment with?
Have you tried altering burn speed for example?
What burn software are you using?

I could ask a good 20 or 30 questions. You really need to post details. EVERY DETAIL no matter how insignificant you think it is.

[Mark Huckle]

Hi Craig

My aim is to be able to delete all files relating to a wedding project on my laptop but to be able to re-access them say in a years time when blue-ray is more widespread and Apple produces a blue ray burner and I can buy blue-ray duplicators. In the old tape days, I could print to tape and make a back-up or I could save my FCP files for a project (audio, video, render files, etc.) to an external hard drive should I so wish. The video files could be easily located and copied from the capture scratch folder.

I want to be able to get all my files relating to the wedding backed up to an external hard drive. Some of my video files that are located in the XDCAM transfer file won’t copy to external hard drive. I assume that the video files are in XDCAM transfer file as they sure are not in the capture scratch file.

Workflow: filmed with Sony EX1 – transferred SxS cards to laptop via XDCAM transfer – imported files into FCP Studio 2 – edited in HD – downconverted to SD – outputted as SD onto DVStudio Pro 4 for authorisation and creation of DVD.

I’m not using blue ray yet. I just want to be able to gain access to all my files for the wedding project in a year or twos time from my external hard drive. At the moment when I use the external hard drive and seek to reconnect, there are media missing that currently cannot be reconnected.

I’m not sure what else I can add.

[Craig Seeman]

[Mark Huckle] “Some of my video files that are located in the XDCAM transfer file won’t copy to external hard drive. I assume that the video files are in XDCAM transfer file as they sure are not in the capture scratch file. “

I’m not sure what you mean by this. XDCAM Transfer takes the BPAV and converts the MP4 to MOV. Exactly where are you having the problem? Can you see the source files in XDCAM Transfer. Are they being converted to MOV?

Once they’re MOV files you can burn them to disk like any other file (although only a system with FCP 6.0.2 and up will play them).

[Mark Huckle] “Workflow: filmed with Sony EX1 – transferred SxS cards to laptop via XDCAM transfer – imported files into FCP Studio 2 – edited in HD – downconverted to SD – outputted as SD onto DVStudio Pro 4 for authorisation and creation of DVD. “

But none of this has to do with Blu-ray and the error you’re reporting. If you can use all the files in FCP then they’ve been successfully converted to MOV.

[Mark Huckle] “I’m not using blue ray yet. I just want to be able to gain access to all my files for the wedding project in a year or twos time from my external hard drive. At the moment when I use the external hard drive and seek to reconnect, there are media missing that currently cannot be reconnected. “

Could be the files got corrupted on the hard drive . . . unfortunately. Can you reimport them into FCP?
I back up the BPAV to DL-DVD. This way if anything happens to the files on hard drive I have the source BPAV to rewrap to MOV again with XDCAM Transfer.

Please double check that the MOV files on your hard drive are still accessible to FCP or Quicktime (which will play them if you have FCP 6.0.2 and up installed).

[Stephen Schott]

I don’t mean to Hijack this thread but I am curious as to your workflow after putting everything to the DL-DVD. As a for instance, you’ve shoot, you’ve edited, a year down the road they want a re-edit. You pull out a DL-DVD. Do you have to then put everything back onto a SxS card, then re-import using the transfer method so it is wrapped in an .mov file? Or is there a way of getting it straight from the DL-DVD and it still be a .mov file?

When you’ve got family, everything is extra.

[Don Greening]

[Stephen Schott] ” Do you have to then put everything back onto a SxS card, then re-import using the transfer method so it is wrapped in an .mov file?”

I would suspect that the archived DVD dual layer media is already in the EX .mov format. Then it’s just a simple matter of copying the files back to your editing suite. No SxS Pro memory cards needed.

– Don

[Stephen Schott]

As I recall, and I’ve got a horrible memory, but the BPAV folders do not have .mov files. Do they? Hence my question for the workflow and the SxS cards. If the folders have the .mov files then all is good. Otherwise all I see is transferring back to a card then using the Transfer to get the m4v files wrapped in .mov. Sorry but I’m still new to the EX thing.

Stephen

When you’ve got family, everything else is extra.

[Don Greening]

[Stephen Schott] “but the BPAV folders do not have .mov files. Do they?”

That’s correct. The BPAV folder contains .mp4 files. It’s the process of transferring the .mp4 files from the card to computer using the Sony Transfer Tool that converts the files to .mov. It’s been my understanding that most people will do it this way because they want to edit their project right after the transfer process. Afterwards, the .mov files are simply transferred to another type of storage for archiving purposes.

Wanting to archive the actual BPAV folder is a sound idea if you want to leave the option open to edit on both Mac and Windows platforms down the road. I this case you would use Sony’s Clip Browser to archive to dual layer DVD or XDCAM Disc. Although I haven’t used this method it’s my understanding that the entire BPAV folder is transferred but, in the case of DL DVD-R, the program will split the folder into equal parts for the dual layer spec. When it’s time to retrieve your BPAV folder, I think, although I’m not sure, that the Clip Browser will transfer everything back to a single BPAV folder that you then use with the Sony Transfer app. to convert the .mp4 files to .mov.

– Don

[Craig Seeman]

Since I moved to Intel Mac I’m ALWAYS archiving the BPAV to DL-DVD. Clip Browser 2 has a split button so 16GB cards will fit on 8GB DL-DVD. Clip Browser 1 didn’t break at the right point so you’d have to type in 7.9GB (which is what a DL-DVD actually holds . . . 7.95GB to be exact).

I’m thinking YEARS into the future when I archive. I’ve seen so many NLEs come and/or go through major changes that I just wouldn’t trust the .mov variant which is tied to FCP/QuickTime.

I use ClipBrowser to copy from SxS to hard drive. Use XDCAM Transfer to wrap to MOV. Back up BPAV to DL-DVD. Delete the BPAV from hard drive. At that point I have MOV on hard drive and BPAV on DL-DVD. The MOV gets deleted sometime after the project is done.

Also at some future point you may want or NEED to give the files to someone ELSE. What if you’re handing stuff to a graphics person on Windows for example . . . or heck a graphics person on Mac who does NOT have FCP (hence doesn’t have the codec). You’re FCP MOV files aren’t going to work. ClipBrowser 2 can rewrap the BPAV MP4s to “MXF NLE” for example (Avid and other NLEs?).

In fact as long as you have those BPAV MP4s you can hand them to nearly ANYONE and they can view them with the ClipBrowser which is cross platform. You can’t do that with the MOV files.