XDCAM Transfer 2.1

[Mark Palmos]

hello Markus,

are you importing directly from the memory stick via FCP, or did you copy the media off the stick to the hard drive first.

if you copy to the hard drive first, the files are MP4 and final cut will not open them via XDCAM Trasfer.

the correct way is to put in the memory stick, import XDCAM via FCP and FCP opens XDCAM Transfer which will convert the MP4 clips to MOV and they will automatically show up in FCP.

If you have already imported the clips to your mac via XDCAM Transfer, then they are already MOV but you will have to import the clips to FCP as you would a regular MOV file, not using XDCAM import… but then i think you loose any metadata which would be retained if you did it the correct way.

at least this is what i understand.

cheers

Mark.

[Mark Albertin]

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your reply. I was strictly importing using the XDCAM Transfer method through FCP, hooked up to my computer through firewire. For some strange reason this plug-in is not seeing the clips I’ve got on my card. XDCAM Transfer says “no media”, so it is not seeing the card at all it sounds like. I’ve restarted, quit FCP a number of times and still no luck. I also checked to make sure I’ve got the correct system settings and that is correct to.
Any other ideas?

[Mark Palmos]

yes, one i forgot, if you are connecting the camera via usb or firewire (i assume) then there is a message ON THE CAMERA which you MUST say yes to before FCP can see the camera!
it says something like “do you want the camera to act as a usb hard drive” or something which you must OK or YES.
that is probably the problem
mark.

[Mark Albertin]

Really, really weird…o.k, I found the i-Link disable/enable option in the menu, only problem is…mine is grayed out meaning I can’t enable i-Link. I finally was able to use the USB connection to capture my clips…still wish I could figure out why I can’t import with i-Link. Any other ideas? Thanks for all your help on this. Wish things were clearer. Sony’s manual leaves a lot to be desired.

[Mark Palmos]

hi markus,
i didnt look in the manual to check, but i dont think the ex1 can transfer via the firewire socket, only usb…
till later
mark.

[Job Van nuenen]

Hi Markus,

The routine I’m using is as follows:

– slide the SxS card into the PcExtreme slot of my MacBook Pro

– copy the folder named ‘BPAV’ thats on the mounted SxS card into a new folder in the ‘rushes’ folder on my external Backup disk, I use for storing all Rushes. (this is a RAID 1 fomatted double disk Lacie, loosing your sticks’ contents is like burning your tapes..)

– open XDcam transfer (via Final Cut Pro) and mount the newly copied folder using the ‘add source’ command

– set in and out and hit the Import button

– The files are automatically converted to Quicktime and will be placed in the ‘import’ folder you set in the XDCAM transfer preferences.

– Quit XDcam transfer or aplle-tab to FCP and your media is already imported in your logging bin.

As far as I know it’s not possible to use the firewire output as a data transfer port. This will only output HDV realtime playout streams. It should be possible to output data via the USB output, using the camera as a really expensive card-reader. If you don’t have a MacBook Pro at hand, Sony produces small USB card readers for the SxS media.

Good luck!

Job

[Mark Albertin]

Thanks,

I don’t have a Macbook Pro, but have a card reader ordered. Again, thanks for helping out a newbie to the Sony XDCAM.

Markus

[Bob Glover]

Hi Job,

Have you tried with 35MBS at 25P or 50i.

I don’t seem to be able to get it to work.

Thanks

Bob

[Job Van nuenen]

Hi Bob,

I’ve imported 720, 50p and 1080, 25p this way. All works fine. Please note that I’m using the Sony XDcam transfer utility. The installation of this utility automatically adds the Sony XDcam HD easy setups to your FCP easy setup list. These are needed to setup your FCP for realtime playback of the EX material.

whitepapers on importing via XDcam transfer are found here:

bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/docs/FCP_XDCAMHD_whitepaper.pdf

To mount the SxS cards on a MacBook Pro, you’ll need to install the SxS driver software:

https://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowContent.action?logicalname=RME%20PRO%20Service%20SxS%20Driver

Good luck!

Job

[Mark Palmos]

Job, I dont know how you are doing that, as far as I know, it is not possible to import that way. I have just tried it again and the BPAV folder is greyed out in the XDCAM Transfer “Add” pop up…
Are you 100% sure you actually imported from the BPAV folder and not the memory stick, had you Ejected the stick?

If you are really copying off the hard drive and not the stick, I would love to know from Sony why some people can do this while others cant. It makes a BIG difference because if one can import from a BPAV folder then one could use ANY computer to copy this stuff over using USB and convert to mov later.
Mark

[Job van Nuenen] “- copy the folder named ‘BPAV’ thats on the mounted SxS card into a new folder in the ‘rushes’ folder on my external Backup disk, I use for storing all Rushes. (this is a RAID 1 fomatted double disk Lacie, loosing your sticks’ contents is like burning your tapes..)

– open XDcam transfer (via Final Cut Pro) and mount the newly copied folder using the ‘add source’ command”