[Ian Cook]

Are you seeing this only with long files? We’ve seen these crashes a number of times but in our experience it happens only when FCP 6/7 transcodes spanned AVCHD clips into large ProRes files. We can get it to happen by doing any AVCHD transcode that creates files over 70-80 GB. If we look at the logs afterwards it seems that FCP is running out of memory in the process of creating the large ProRes files. I can’t say this conclusively but the pattern is there. If you find it happening with long spanned clips (segmented 2 GB files that are linked into one logical clip) try sub clipping them and importing them in smaller portions.

[Ian Cook]

Yes, this is possible. Select file–>Render As, choose EX .MP4 as the file type and the appropriate EX codec as the output template (e.g. ‘HQ 1920 x 1080 60i, 35Mb’). You can export locally and then place the file on the card or you can export directly to the card. In either case the file needs to go to the root of the CLPR folder. Afterwards you need to update the card in order for the new file to be available for playback. (See below.)

As far as placing the file on the card if you export to another location, this can be done manually or by using XDCAM Browser or Clip Browser to File–>Import the clip. If you use one of the above applications to move the file to the card, the metadata will be automatically updated. If you export directly from Vegas or drag/drop the raw .mp4 file to /CLPR, you need to manually update the card to add the new file, create the metadata and generate a thumbnail. This is easily done from either the camera menu or using one of the above applications. On the camera, go to the CLIP menu and select UPDATE (Menu–>Others–>Clip on EX1, 1R and EX3; Menu–>Operations–>Clip on the PMW-320/350). Or, to update from the desktop, open one of the Browser applications and click on the card in the Explorer window. Simply selecting it will cause the Browser app to check for new files and add any new .mp4s. You will not see a thumbnail or be able to play back until the card is updated.

One last note re Vegas export. When the Export is complete, Windows Explorer will display two new files on card, the .mp4 file that was exported and an .sfl file. The .sfl file is a reference file automatically generated by Vegas with most file exports. It contains Vegas-specific metadata relating to the audio properties of the parent file. It is best to manually delete the file before inserting the card into an EX device. When an EX camcorder or deck senses a new, unregistered media file or any type of unexpected non-EX file on the card, the device will display a “Media Needs to Be Restored. Restore Now?” prompt. This is (in this case) a routine file system check. Once it verifies the file structure of the card the device and the media will operate normally. But because this process does not delete the ancillary file, the prompt will re-appear every time the card is inserted into an EX device until the card is reformatted or the file is otherwise deleted. So it’s best to delete the .sfl file before updating the card. It is not possible to disable the .sfl file creation when exporting.

———-

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Company

[Ian Cook]

If you put the .mp4s into one folder and add that folder as a source in XDCAM Transfer v 2.12 or higher (for FCP), the files will be recognized and importable.

You can also use Sony’s Clip Browser or XDCAM Browser software to manually import the .mp4s into a new BPAV. Highlight a location ion the ‘Explorer’ window on the top left, select File–>Import, browse to the .mp4s and import them. When you’re done you’ll have a new BPAV with new metadata and a rebuilt folder structure. If you’re on a Mac you can use the search window in the Import dialog to narrow the search to “.mp4” and it will show you all the .mp4s in a given location. This is helpful as it allows you to do multiple clips at once, even though they may be in their own folders..

If you do a search on this forum the above process has been covered in detail in previous posts.

[Ian Cook]

The PMW-500 records in both EX and Optical XDCAM formats. In Optical mode it formats the SxS media with the Optical Disc file structure and can record 50 Mb 422 in addition to several of the ‘legacy’ optical codecs. This can be done on any SxS-branded media (SxS Pro, SxS-1A) but not to SDHC or Memory Stick. SDHC and Memory Stick can be used in FAT mode.

[Ian Cook]

yes, correct

[Ian Cook]

Others menu–>Camera Data–>Store/Recall. Only active when there’s media in one of the slots. All PPs will be saved as one .suf file

[Ian Cook]

Going forward it would be a good idea to hang onto the original files from the card; they can be converted to other formats as needed. Your best bet for now would probably be to import those MXFs into Avid, Vegas or Premiere and render them back out in whatever format your client needs. If you have a lot of material you may want to investigate a high volume transcoding/conversion platform such as Episode so you can just set them up as a batch.

[Ian Cook]

Apologies for the delay in getting 2.13 on the site. In the meantime the release version of Transfer 2.13 can be downloaded from our FTP server. This download account is valid for 1 week. If the software isn’t posted by then I’ll renew the link for another week.

ftp://65.196.27.198
username: xdcam
password: pdzkp1

[Ian Cook]

The problem is that your version of U1 software/driver is not supported by the older version of Transfer. If you send me your email I can provide the latest version of Transfer (not on the US diownload site yet).. Otherwise you’d need to uninstall V3 of the XDCAM Drive Software and down-rev to V 2.3.

[Ian Cook]

let’s take this offline, please email me at ian dot cook at AM dot sony dot com