[Ian Cook]

When the disc was backed up were all the correct drivers installed? You should first make sure you see CLIP, EDIT and SUB folders in the backup. This will indicate that the files were copied properly. If you only see PRO AV and GENERAL folders (with PRO AV opening onto numbered clip folders) the files were not copied properly and what you have are the ‘raw,’ de-interleaved files, and these cannot be copied back to disc (not easily, at any rate). If you don’t have folders and just copied the .mxf video files, make sure you see only one .mxf for each clip and not multiple files per clip with separate .mxfs for audio and video.

If you see the correct file/folder structure then the task will be a simple one. The basics of writing to XDCAM disc are as follows:

-Full res clips reside in the CLIP folder. The easiest way to copy a disc is to copy the .mxf files from the CLIP folder on one disc (or disc archive) to the CLIP folder on a new disc. All the proxy and metadata files are generated automatically and do not need to be manually copied.

-The root/top level of the disc and all the other folders except GENERAL and USER DATA are restricted.

-If the clips you are copying have unique names (i.e. anything other than generic Cxxxx.mxf filenames) you have to enable free-form naming on the device to which you are copying. This is in the operations menu on decks/camcorders and in the User Settings area of the XDCAM Drive Utility (used with the PDW-U1/U2 USB drives).

-You can mix record formats (including SD/HD, 1080/720, 35 Mb/50 Mb et al)) as long as they are all within the same frame frequency, i.e. 30/60, 25/50. 24p cannot be mixed with other formats on a disc. to mix record formats you have to enable ‘Mixed Recording’ in the maintenance menu on the decks/camcorders or in the Utility software for the PDW-U1/U2 drives.

-When a disc is formatted is it agnostic as far as video format/frame rate/codec etc. The settings of the device do not format a disc as a “60p” disc or a “24p” disc. The first clip you put on the disc is what determines the video format of the disc (if ‘Mixed Recording’ is not enabled/utilized).

I’m leaving out a lot of detail but these are the basics. If you still have questions let me know…

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Services

[Ian Cook]

Currently, no, though this is being investigated for possible inclusion in later firmware

[Ian Cook]

When exporting to DV-AVI the default is 4:3 squeeze. This is actually the correct setting if you want to maintain the 16:9 aspect ratio. The video will only appear ‘squeezed’ when viewed on a 4:3 monitor.

If you want to use letterbox or edge crop, click on the ‘Details’ button in the TYPE area of the Export dialog, then select Squeeze, Crop or Letterbox under ‘Aspect Ratio.’

[Ian Cook]

We will be showing the updated XDCAM workflows for FCP X at NAB in April.

I can’t say anything else specifically right now but I will add that for EX the planned workflow is consistent with what has already been suggested/reported elsewhere.

We will also have an updated XDCAM optical disc workflow.

Thanks everyone for hanging in there.

If you are at NAB this year, drop by the XDCAM/XM-Pilot area and say hello..

“This information is preliminary and is subject to change.”

Cheers,

Ian

[Ian Cook]

shortcut to jump to the first clip in thumbnail/media mode is PREV + Fast REV

[Ian Cook]

Browser will automatically put each BPAV into a sub folder named after the date and time when the copy was made, eg ‘201202131200..’

You can also manually create a sub folder in User Data called ‘Cards’ or ‘SxS’ (or anything else with legal ASCII characters) and select folder that as the master Copy-All location. Note that the copies will still be organized and stamped by date, only now you’d have something like ‘G:User DataSxS Cards201202131200’

[Ian Cook]

Hi Mike-

This is possible. In the ‘Edit’ tab of the Preferences, set the ‘Copy All’ location to the User Data folder on the XDCAM disc (for example G:User Data). Un-check the ‘Specify Folder When Copying All’ box. After doing this you’ll be allowed to proceed when you right click on a card and select ‘Copy All.’ As long as the XDCAM Drive always has the same drive letter (or is updated as needed in the preferences) this will work.

Best,

Ian

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Services

[Ian Cook]

When you have a moment email me at ian dot cook at am dot sony dot com . I’ll give you an FTP location we can use to exchange files.

[Ian Cook]

What firmware version is the drive running (you can check in the drive utility)? Also– what version of FCP is this? If you want to get in touch offline we can continue, or we can exchange test files..

[Ian Cook]

The settings are correct. The file should have 8 channels of 24 bit audio but the U1 will pad the file with extra channels when you copy to disc. It could have something to do with the fact that you’re using a very old version of Transfer (it would have to be if it’s running on a G5) and an up-to-the-minute U1 driver. Try the following– create a sequence and load the appropriate Sequence Preset (XDCAM HD 422 50 1080 50i), drop a 10 second color bars clip on the timeline, Export to XDCAM with the desktop as the destination. Can you or copy this file to the U1 from your windows machine? I’d also run the U1 Utility and check that the firmware on the U1 does not need to be updated.