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XDCAM and Snow Leopard–Complaints and work around.
God, Sony sucks.
Here is their message about Snow Leopard:
Since this is a very recent release from Apple that involves significant change to the Mac OS it may take several months, perhaps winter or spring for full Snow Leopard support from Sony. The exact schedule is still TBD. (SxS drivers is expected in September).
It is therefore recommended to continue using the most recent release of Leopard to maintain smooth operation of the XDCAM software within the Mac environment.
For your reference the latest Sony software release versions are as below:
As of August 26th 2009
PDW-U1 v 2.420
PDW-U1 Utility for PC or Mac v 2.21
FAM Driver 2.20 comes with the PDZ-1 software or XDT for Mac
PDZ-1 v 2.60
XDCAM Viewer 2.30 PC only separate from PDZ-1
XDCAM TRANSFER for FCP v 2.10.0
EX Browser 2.5.1
Thanks for your continued support of XDCAM!First off, I seem to have XDCAM transfer version 2.9–where the hell does that fit in their confusing and inane (not to mention illiterate: “drivers is expected”) list above!
At any rate the main problem in Snow Leopard with XDCam transfer is that you will get an error message about thumbnails. If you “Cancel all tasks” after clicking on a clip, that seems to allow the software to recognize the clip (or something). So you can then individually click on each clip (canceling the error message on each one) and that seems to allow you then select and import the clips as a batch.
In the meantime the crack engineers at Sony will be working on the monumental thumbnail issue (no doubt the biggest challenge the company has ever faced!). Maybe by Spring or Summer of next year they will have some progress to report?
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14 Replies
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Thanks for the updates Lance. I personally avoid the format, but I recently redesigned 8 HD suites for a client that runs nothing but XDCAM HD now and I passed along your post to them.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards.
Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post
Biscardi Creative MediaCreative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
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I heard there were also issues with P2. Is that still problematic with Snow Leopard?
Richard Sanchez
North Hollywood, CA“We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.” – Bill Hicks
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another reason NOT to upgrade to the latest and greatest
unless its vital to your business. -
What the Sony post means is that you are not using the latest version of the XDCAM Transfer tool. For some decimal-system-defying reason, the version after 2.9 was 2.10 and not 2.91 or 3.0.
Unfortunately, this does not solve the thumbnail problem (It is a bit weird that this only affects some machines. I’m wondering if it isn’t an obscure bug in a graphics card driver, or something).
I have just read on another forum that Sony have released an SxS driver for Snow Leopard, which is available here:
https://www.sony.ca/promedia/drivers.htm
The XDCAM Drive software for the PDW-U1 doesn’t work at all on Snow Leopard. If they are having the same problems with the FAM driver (I have no way of trying it), which is part of XDCAM Transfer installation, then maybe this is causing the delay in releasing a new version.
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Hi Lance!
Still ranting I see – always good points though. Can’t believe its been 10 years since our days on 2-Pop.com.
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I basically have only one gear on the internets! LOL.
Great to hear from you!Lance
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Hey Everyone! I have a SOLUTION!
I have experienced equal frustration after upgrading to Snow Leopard. After days of research and testing, I’ve finally found not a workaround, but a SOLUTION. This applies to anyone using Snow Leopard to capture from Sony SxS cards through the express card slot on their MacBook Pro.
Here’s how I did it:
Uninstall any previous drivers you have on your Mac for Sony XDCAM.
Download and install these drivers from Sony’s site: https://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowContent.action?product=PMW-EX1&site=biz_en_EU&category=XDCAMCamcorders&contentId=1193315621889§iontype=Product&preserveContext=trueRestart your computer and reset PRAM (hold Command, Option, P, R as machine is booting) to ensure driver installation succeeds (this is just a precaution).
Then download and install this: https://support.sonybiz.net/software/detail.aspx?id=BPE-SS-03AD&model=PMW-EX1
This install does not require a restart. Once complete, insert your SxS card and BLAM! NO KERNAL PANIC.
Launch FCP and choose File–Log and Transfer and VOILA! ALL GOOD!
I’ve included a video showing the workflow of importing the clips once the drivers have been installed that you can watch here: https://gallery.me.com/amirij/100120
If anyone has any questions, reply to this post.
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Does this work in FCP7?
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We’ve just bought a new machine and upgraded existing to Snow Leopard. We use 2 XDCAM HD (F330 & F350) cameras and the current version of Sony’s XDCAM transfer software (2.10). We went to transfer for the first time today in Snow Leopard and hit this problem.
The XDCAM transfer software is unable to fetch the proxy data (both stills and low-res Quicktimes). It can transfer the clips into FCP, you have to cancel each error message, but can import as you normally would. However, as you have no proxy file for previewing it makes naming and choosing clips a non-starter. Sony’s line is that they not officially supporting Snow Leopard yet and are estimating a fix for this next Spring!!! So anyone in the same boat as us will be hopping mad too. We’re rolling one machine back to Leopard as an ingest station – that’s the only option at the moment. If you’re using EX cameras they’ve released a new Snow Leopard driver for the SxS cards.
If anyone else has the same problem please phone Sony & complain – the more people that call them, the sooner they’ll update the software.
Best,
Alex
Alex Bluffield
Final Cut Pro Editor
W: https://www.a2bpostproduction.co.uk
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