[Ian Cook]

XDCAM Transfer v2.12 will see ‘orphaned’ (i.e. pulled from the BPAV directory structure) .mp4s; you do not need any other plug-ins. Gather them in one or more folders and add the folders as sources in Transfer.

https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/sony-software-model-PDZKP1.aspx

[Ian Cook]

Hi Bob,

Menu–>Video Set–>Y Pb Pr/SDI Out. Set this to ‘SD’ to get SD-SDI and SD component output. Also make sure that Menu–>Others–>i.LINK I/O is set to ‘Disable’ as enabling the firewire output disables the SDI output.

Best,

Ian

[Ian Cook]

Hi Richard,

[Forgive me if you’ve already figured most of this out…]

The splitting of clips is due to the file system used on the cards. They are formatted Fat32, which has a 4 GB file size limit. When you go over 12 minutes or so you create ‘spanned’ files– multiple MP4s joined by an SMI file (the SMIs are what live in the TAKR folder).

The SUB CLIP list in the Logging area will show the master clip as ClipName.SMI with the component MP4s listed below it as ‘part 1,’ ‘part 2’ etc. Typically the SMI is checked by default, although you can deselect it and bring in the subclips/portions if need be.

Glad the ‘Free Space’ issue worked itself out. Note that this is usually caused by trying to write back to a Fat32 formatted external drive (assuming there is enough free space), which has the same 4 GB file size limitation as an SxS card.

Cheers,

Ian

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Company

[Ian Cook]

Hi Matt,

Unfortunately, no, when you do the raw mp4 import the metadata is rebuilt so the spanning information may be lost. The video and TC should be intact, however, and can be joined in your NLE.

Ian

[Ian Cook]

Hi Mick,

You can archive EX files back to XDCAM discs in 2 ways– as generic data (files in a folder, not ‘playable’ video files that you can view on the camcorder/deck) or as MXF files (these can be played on XDCAM optical camcorders and decks).

The 350 has a slightly different directory structure than the newer models. Discs formatted on newer models (PDW-U1 drive; PDW-HD1500, PDW-F1600, PDW-HR1 decks; PDW-700, PDW-F800 camcorders) get a ‘USER DATA’ folder which can hold any amount of generic data up to the remaining size of the disc. This is usually where EX files are archived when saved as data. Older models do not support this directory. The 350 will have a ‘General’ folder but this can only hold 500MB so it’s not really useful for large media files.

The other means of archiving is to use Clip Browser with the Main Concept plug-in to transcode to an optical MXF format (Export–>MXF For XDCAM HD) which is saved in the /Clip folder of the disc. This can be done using the PDW-F350/F355. If you go this route, keep in mind that XDCAM HD 420 is a 1440 x 1080 format and that any XDCAM EX ‘HQ’ files will get resized from 1920 x 1080 when transcoding to XDCAM HD.

Alternately, you could use the PDW-U1 drive, which is a low cost bare drive unit and format-agnostic. With the U-1 you’d be able to use the XDCAM HD 422 export/transcode option which would maintain the 1920 x 1080 raster size of XDCAM EX ‘HQ’ recordings. Also the U-1 supports the ‘User Data’ folder so you’d have that option as well.

Hope this is helpful…

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Company

[Ian Cook]

Hi Prashant,

Craig addressed most of your questions but I thought I’d expand a bit on exporting back to the SxS card (if that’s really what you need to do) as the FCP/XDCAM Transfer workflow is not as intuitive or self-explanatory as it could be when it comes to this.

You can export an MP4 from Final Cut Pro to an SxS card, but either Clip Browser 2.6 or an EX camera/deck are indeed required to properly integrate that file into the BPAV folder structure.

You do not need to manually File–>import the MP4 using Clip Browser. When you export from FCP to an SxS card the MP4 file is automatically placed in the root of CLPR. If you go to Clip Browser and refresh this source, the file is automatically registered and integrated into a BPAV structure. A new clip folder is created using Clip Browser’s XDZ_ prefix (or whatever is stored as the current title prefix in the preferences) and this folder contains the MP4 and all the necessary metadata. (You can see this happening as soon as the source is refreshed if you open a Finder window on /CLPR while refreshing the source in CB.)

If you don’t have access to Clip Browser you can put the SxS card back into the camera and update the media from OTHERS–>Clip–>Update–>Select A or B. After this update the file will be registered and display a thumbnail in Media Mode.

You can also export to removable drives following the above procedure. To do this there should already be a BPAV folder on the root of the drive. You can use CB to create one if necessary. When you export from FCP, select the root of the external drive. Finder will show a loose MP4 on the root of CLPR but as soon as the source is refreshed in Clip Browser or an ‘Update’ done from the camera/deck menu, the file will be properly registered and the BPAV updated. This the easiest method– of course you could also simply place any ‘legal’ XDCAM EX MP4 file on the root of CLPR and update from there..

XDCAM Transfer 2.12 has the capability to display ‘orphaned’ MP4s, so the application will show a preview for loose .mp4s in CLPR (in addition to the registered ones) and the file will be import-able without the Clip Browser / Update step. This step is only required to register the file and bring it into the existing BPAV so that it’s seen as a legitimate clip in the volume on the camera or in Clip Browser.

Hope this is helpful…

Best regards,

Ian

Ian Cook
Sony Broadcast and Professional Company

[Ian Cook]

Hi Hilary,

Yes, the 32 GB SxS Pro cards will work in any EX-1 with 1.11 or higher firmware.

Ian

[Ian Cook]

Hi Nate,

Yes, my guess is Express will not work with the proxies either as Apple only puts the Pro codecs in Final Cut Pro..

Ian

[Ian Cook]

Hi Nate,

Without FCP you won’t be able to view the files in QuickTime. I would try downloading the trial version of Calibrated Software’s MXF component; I believe that has support for the MPEG4 Proxy Codec.

Ian

[Ian Cook]

Hi Jay,

Here’s a link to the US download page…

https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/sony-software-model-XDB1.aspx

Best,

Ian