XDCAM Mac workflow using Clip Browser

[Craig Seeman]

On the Mac, ClipBrowser is used for copying clips (use CRC On ALWAYS)
ClipBrowser can also split (or combine) BPAV folder so one can archive to such things as optical disks (DVD, DVD-DL, Blu-ray).
It can also import and create BPAV for orphaned MP4 files
There are other functions but those are the key ones IMHO.

XDCAM transfer is still used for joining and wrapping as MOV

You can also use FCP Log & Transfer but XDCAM transfer has more features.

CalibratedSoftware has an MP4 utility which will allow them to be use in FCP and any other Quicktime based app without the wrap to MOV.

That said,
You should ALWAYS USE ClipBrowser (with CRC ON) to copy clips.
Drag and drop will increase the risk of a bad copy. It only takes one accident to lose a master, a shoot, need a reshoot, lose a client. The only alternative is to use ShotPut. Do NOT drag and drop!

If you haven’t been using ClipBrowser you’ve been driving without a seat belt. Accidents can be fatal.

[David Soriano]

I started out using BROWSER but then moved on to TRANSFER to wrap files in MOV for use in FCP. I don’t even use BROWSER anymore…i just copy/paste BVAP folder to HD then wrap in .mov in TRANSFER. Are you saying it’s never a good idea to drag/drop BVAP files from card to HD…instead use BROWSER?

Is this solely for safety reasons, or are there other reasons, other than what you mentioned? After reading your post i opened up BROWSER for first time on months to play with it. It looks different, maybe there was an upgrade that got downloaded recently or maybe it’s more evidence that i’m losing my mind.

Regarding initial post, i’m kinda confused at to what it is your trying to do. I’m kinda new to XDCAM myself, having just done one large project and a couple of small ones. The one project had a good 50+ clips so there was alot of work to do in organizing before i ever got down to editing. That’s the one thing i hate about the flash media method…organizing and naming clips.

[Craig Seeman]

[david soriano] “Are you saying it’s never a good idea to drag/drop BVAP files from card to HD…instead use BROWSER? “

Generally NEVER.
I can think of RARE exceptions. Even on PPC Mac where you can’t use ClipBrowser you can use ShotPut which is an inexpensive purchase. This product also verifies the copy.

These ARE your masters we’re talking about. If you’re copy has a corruption and you erase the cards then you’re SOL big time.

Of course if you’re archiving rather than erasing the SDHC AND you are in a terribly rushed short turnaround situation (not using CRC and double the transfer speed) that might be the ONLY EXCEPTION I can think of.

Maybe it’s my aged mind and nearly 30 years experience but I can’t fathom why one wouldn’t want to have a confirmed good copy for archival. I can only someone new to computers who has never experienced a corrupt file copy or a hard drive crash, thinking that drag an drop to a hard drive is secure enough. I apologize if anyone takes offense.

[david soriano] “Is this solely for safety reasons, or are there other reasons, other than what you mentioned?”
Do you need another reason? To be more specific it’s about income. Can you afford risking the expense of a reshoot or losing the client?

Clip Browser 2.5 is the current version. It’s an almost primitively simple utility. At its most basic you simply copy with CRC on. You can split (or combine) BPAV folders so you can fit them on the optical disk of your choice. It has other functions but those are the two most important for “safety.”

[david soriano] “That’s the one thing i hate about the flash media method…organizing and naming clips.”
I don’t understand this. You can do or not do this just like tape. This is much faster with XDCAM EX as the transfer speeds are so much faster than tape. Personally I don’t rename the clips to make it easier to reconstitute an offline project although it might work with renamed clips assuming the UMID is used. I haven’t tried that myself. I just use the comments field to add descriptions as needed. The one difference is there are no “reel numbers.”

[Ed Kukla]

drag and drop is unsafe…I assume it bypasses the crc checks?

copy/paste individual, selected or all clips will use the crc; assuming crc is selected in preferences?

Just want to clarify all this

[Ed Mellnik]

I have been dragging Bpav files for two years without problem till recently…
Since I am stuck on a quad G5 I do not believe the clip browser will work. If I remember when I tried to install it said it was not compatible with that computer.

My work flow has been to copy the BPAV to hard drive then use XDcAM file transfer utility to render to .mov files. So on the hard drive I have both versions of my shoot.
If you have other suggestions of a better way given that I can not use clip browser please let me know. This has worked well till recently.

I use the MXr adapter for using SDHC 16gig memory cards in my EX1.
The last three shoots – I get home and I get a message that it needs to be restored. I restore and it says failed to restore.

So I take the SDHC card out and copy the contents of the BPAV files over to the hard drive. Somewhere in the middle it stops. So I go in and see where it stopped and continue. This has worked but I loose one corruped clip.

At first I thought I just had a bad SDHC card. But now its happening on other cards. Starting to wonder if my camera is at fault.
My next test is to do it with the original SOny SxS cards and see if the problem is still there.

If you have any other thoughts I would love to hear them.
Thanks

EMA VIDEO
Portland Oregon

[Craig Seeman]

[Ed Mellnik] “I have been dragging Bpav files for two years without problem till recently…
Since I am stuck on a quad G5 I do not believe the clip browser will work. If I remember when I tried to install it said it was not compatible with that computer. “

Shot Put will work on PPC and it also performs file data integrity checking
https://www.imagineproducts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2

[Anthony Beltempo]

Would you mind elaborating on naming clips in Clip Browser? For the life of me I can’t figure it out.

I bring in about 25 clips and then name each one in the Preview window where it says “title 1,” however when I export my named clips to NLE the names don’t carry across.

[Ed Mellnik]

TUrns out that the reason for corrupt files was a bad SxS SDHC card adapter that I got from MxM. THey are replacing it.

THanks for the info on Shot Put

EMA VIDEO
Portland Oregon

[Ed Kukla]

Which software?

In premiere, it won’t show up in the clip bin. Very frustrating. I’ve filed a bug report to Adobe. If you are using Adobe, please complain to them.

[David Soriano]

i don’t have CB in front of me, but i think you name the CLIP section what you want to name it, then there might be a settign where you choose to export the clip with the CLIP name used instead of the original name that was attached to the clip when it was first recorded. I’ll get in front of it and check it out…