WorkerNode command line script problem

[Jeff Schaap]

Hey Bryson, thanks for the response. Our solution, for the time being, is to just ingest via a Mac workstation. This way, all the paths are usable by WorkerNode and we move on with life.

[bryson jones] ”
Bigger issue, it’s a best practice to use UNC paths in CatDV and Worker. Mapped drives can create issues with Quicktime (google that for some fun) and also are more confusing for writing scripts.”

I am not sure how that is possible in a Mac environment (our CatDV server is a Mac) since UNC paths would be misinterpreted by WorkNode as well. Maybe I am misunderstanding something.

[bryson jones] “In defense of the system, not many systems (any?) will dynamically allow you to send a command based on a Mac or PC path being auto sensed and it’s fairly easy to have 2 scripts that run depending on the root of the path if you get outside of the Worker itself.”

I am not intending to bad mouth CatDV. It has some great features. It has some shortcomings. What would be great, for our purposes, is if the “original media path” search behavior in the client extended to WorkNode. Maybe there is some great reason it doesn’t but, in a mixed environment like ours it’s an issue.

I considered the “two scripts” idea but.. yikes. It would be easy enough to detect if the path was from a Mac or PC (you could do that within WorkNode’s interface I believe) but quite a scripting feat to convert a PC path to the correct corresponding Mac path. At least, for me. While I’ve written some python in the past I don’t have the time or inclination to spend the hours it would take me to figure it out. Deadlines are always looming. Much easier to just ingest via Mac for now.

[bryson jones] “Great work and let us know how you do with the mts files. (an even bigger mess) We can’t seem to get them to span correctly or carry TC when we just raw process them via a watch. Has Adobe sorted this yet?

If so, we’ll get to work rolling out some CLI scripts for Media Encoder so people don’t have to drop and move files”

Yes.. the AVCHD conundrum is at the heart of this whole problem. If CatDV could play AVCHD natively I think I would cry. Haha. When pulling .MTS stuff into Premiere I don’t see timecode and it isn’t adjoining clips that are technically all one recording. But, it’s of little issue for us. I guess some people might need that functionality.

When we were all Mac I used to command line ClipWrap from WorkerNode and create proxies for all our .MTS clips. A second pass from WorkNode would compress them down. This worked great most of the time but every once in while WorkerNode couldn’t process a clip generated by ClipWrap. So I looked for another route.

Tried FFMPEG and got random freezes. Tried Adobe Media Encoder through a watch a folder arrangement and that works most of the time but on big jobs it can hang. Frustrating that nothing is rock solid.

There’s Xuggle of course but the play back is too rough to be useful. If only there were an AVCHD codec for Quicktime. VLC can play it! Sigh.

[Bryson Jones]

Hey, nice to see someone write novels like I do. 😉

UNC, that’s correct, only on PC’s. But just know that you shouldn’t use D: or whatever when you do set up PC paths.

Totally, know that you’re not knocking the system. (I don’t work for SB, hey, knock away!.) But if you tie the Worker Node to the pathing for a server, what happens when you have a different Production Group on different storage on the same server? If you follow, the reason the path mapping needs to be separate is that you may have a Worker Node working for multiple “Groups” which if you know your CatDV, means different settings, including path mapping are possible. Maybe it could be read, but then you’d have to tell it which pathing to use from which Prod Group in a large environment. (In our shops people often mount the same storage different ways depending on access level.)

“While I’ve written some python in the past I don’t have the time or inclination to spend the hours it would take me to figure it out. Deadlines are always looming. Much easier to just ingest via Mac for now.” – That’s why I founded NSA 😉 (BLATANT PLUG)

AVC is like the poor, it will be with us always (now there’s a reference for you.) Actually I hope it is EOL someday. But if you import into Premiere as oppose to just dragging it in, you actually get good spanning and usually TC as well. That gives me hope.

Your drop folder is probably best for now. But yes, reliability is always an issue on any automated process.

You are doing good work over there man. Keep it up and thx for contributing.

bryson

bryson “at” northshoreautomation.com

northshoreautomation.com

[Jeff Schaap]

Hey Bryson,

I wanted to ask you about:

[bryson jones] “Bigger issue, it’s a best practice to use UNC paths in CatDV and Worker. Mapped drives can create issues with Quicktime (google that for some fun) and also are more confusing for writing scripts”

I did google it but I can’t find one definitive issue… So I was wondering exactly what the problem may be. Could I trouble you for a link to a specific site detailing the issue?

I ask because we have in fact had what I would call “access delay” in CatDV when previewing files on drive letter mapped locations. So, I am wondering if this is the issue.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Jeff Schaap]

Hey Bryson,

[bryson jones] “AVC is like the poor, it will be with us always (now there’s a reference for you.)”

Hahaha, yep, Matthew 26:11 🙂

Thanks for the encouraging word. I’ve benefited from your wisdom more than once and greatly appreciate your willingness to answer questions.

[Bryson Jones]

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=quicktime+windows+drive+mapping+problem

Jeff, I wouldn’t share that if you didn’t have a good sense of humor.

Seriously though, this is all over the place. We’ve watched it since CatDV v7 (Ah, the grey beard…)

I’m hoping for a fix, or someone to decide that QT is worth saving but not holding my breath.

bryson

bryson “at” northshoreautomation.com

northshoreautomation.com