[Lindsay Simpson]

Thanks for the info Tom. I just wanted to confirm that the tape which produced the error was not permanently corrupted.

When you use the term loads, you are referring to the number of times a tape was inserted and read by the CacheA correct? Just want to verify. I will keep that information in mind. Luckily we have not come close to that load limit with any particular tape, but I have noticed some ‘Space Lost’ on various archive tapes. I will be sure to keep an on eye on that in the future.

Thanks,
Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

My bad again…should have mentioned we are all PC based, so unfortunately Telestream is not a option. Given the text file is not required to restore….why then, does CatDV say the files are missing?
Check out this screen shot…I had attached the wrong one in my last post.

catalog_restore_attempt_ae.jpg

Which reminds me, about a question I had as I think I am missing a step when it comes to restoring through CatDV. With the correct archive tape loaded in the CacheA, is it required to manually pull all of it’s contents to the VTAPE, prior to using the restore function in CatDV? I have feeling that will fix the error I experienced above.

I will go ahead and erase/re-archive the troublesome tape. No big loss there. Thanks for confirming.

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Matt,

In terms of CatDV to CacheA, let me give you a bit of history on the workflow I have established and then provide some details on the archive issues being experienced.

Our small production house shoots mainly on three different tapeless HD cameras including, a Panasonic P2, JVC, and an Ikegami. Each of these cameras records with a slightly different MXF wrappers & codecs. Our main NLE system is the Adobe Production Suite CS5. These native MXF files are easy to import and edit from in Premiere, so up until now I have avoided converting from MXF to another format like some sort of AVI or MOV, which is ideal given our limited time & editing resources.

After each shoot or field excursion, the contents of a P2 card, for example, is copied to an individual folder within our P2 Files Library on a raid array. Each card dump is stored basically as separate events though any given card may contain numerous subjects, events or locations etc. This is where CatDV becomes especially handy in terms of organizing and cataloging footage in the long term.

I began my work with CatDV by importing individual MXF directories as metaclips, adding log note data applicable to each clip, and then sorting these clips into an appropriate master catalog based on a specific category, like ‘Elk’ or ‘Winter Scenics.’ My end goal is archive the catalog categories, so that even a few years from now, that one spectacular clip found in a directory that may otherwise be irrelevant to the latter, can be located in an efficient and effective manner through CatDV and then can be easily restored if it is no longer present on the raid array.

At this point, only the P2 and JVC media can be imported to CatDV as metaclips. I have sorted all of our existing media of those types into the established category catalogs. The Ikegami MXF is not yet supported by CatDV based on my correspondence with Rolf.

With the MXF option of CatDV 9, I made the mistake of assuming that since the software can ingest and read the MXF clips properly within a catalog that the entire complicated, MXF file structure would be archived properly when the archive function was engaged in CatDV. This assumption has proved to be wrong based on my tests. When archiving from CatDV, I always select chunks of clips from 20-30 GB per CatDV’s recommendation. Generally I always receive errors in the CacheA UI during an archive transfer.

On the occasion I do have a catalog archive through CatDV without any errors resulting in the CacheA UI, when I attempt to restore those files from tape, CatDV indicates those files are missing. It appears CatDV is not archiving the entire MXF structure, including its empty folders and the LASTCLIP.txt document (P2 media), which are required for a successful restore allowing the media to be edited from again. Rolf has confirmed that CatDV will not bring over those text files associated with the directory, and only focuses on the media directly related to that individual clip, the audio & video MXF files. Perhaps I have misunderstood him?…fingers crossed.

Here is a screen shot of the attempted restore failure:
catalog_restore_attempt_directlyfromvtape_catalog_archive_missingmetadata.jpg

I feel as though at this point I am stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. I understand products like the ‘Worker Node’ can be utilized to convert MXF or any media type to another, based on a schedule, and can be run in the background. Unfortunately, like many, we have no budget with which to buy any new equipment/software.

Does anyone know if it is possible to utilize Adobe Media Encoder etc. to function in a way similar to Worker Node? Any other suggestions? Or questions? Please let me know if you require more details or this is unclear. I have plenty of examples.

Again here is one test log from the CacheA UI. During this test I attempted a drag/drop file system archive of an individual directory and then also tried to archive the same directory through CatDV.

4025_stagedtransfercatdvcatalogtransfer2011logall4312.htm.zip

Thanks again Matt for your interest and time. I’m eager to utilize this system and CatDV to its fullest.

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for reply. I can’t say I have any account of power crash etc. that would have triggered this, but no mind. When you say to re-archive, can that same tape be erased & reinitialized to be used again?

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi Matt,

I should have mentioned before that I am running CatDV 9 Pro with MXF and Archiving Options. Thanks for touching base with CacheA as well.

Thanks
Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your response. Here are the details you requested:

Our Cache-A OS is version 2.1.14

So far this error has only occurred once on one tape. When this tape was first initialized I did not notice any strange behavior/

The files were archived via dragging/dropping in the file system. I have yet to perform a successful archive from CatDV to CacheA with any of my MXF media types. At this point I am stalled on that particular CatDV issue so I have been focusing on the file system transfer to at least have a back up of my media, organized or not.

I’ve attached a transfer log representative of the CatDV errors I’m experiencing in case you are curious and might have some feedback on that issue as well.

4025_stagedtransfercatdvcatalogtransfer2011logall4312.htm.zip

Thank you for your time,

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi Jeff,

Wow, you have no idea how strangely comforting it is to have evidence of another Cache-A/CatDV user experiencing difficulty with products and workflow. Our issues are different however.

I have yet to even play with the multiple volumes options,as at this point with the media types we utilize (3 varieties of MXF)I have yet to have a successful archive out of CatDV to Cache-A. That is an archive that transfers error free as logged by the Cache-A UI

May I inquire as to what media types you are importing into CatDV for cataloging?

Based on our staff, equipment, software etc., it has been convienent and effective to edit directly from the native MXF pulled from tapeless camera media, including P2 cards, SD cards and Ikegami GFPaks. So of course these formats would provide some great challenges in terms of archive! We do have the MXF option purchased for CatDV as well as all of the Calibrated MXF plug-ins too, but it seems that we will be forced to convert from MXF to something else to archive using CatDV. At this point we have no money to invest in a worker node, and I guess I can really only blame myself for not recognizing that issue when the CatDV purchase was made specifically for the archiving function.

We are a PC based system, just FYI.

At this point…I almost miss tape…

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Well did a bit of digging on my own, and the worker node is out of reach for us right now. We have a budget of zero to make any purchases. I suppose I held a misconception that the MXF option of CatDV would be enough to facilitate the Cache-A archive function properly with that file type. Back to the workflow drawing board I suppose. Finding a balance between the great ability to work natively with all of our MXF media in the Adobe production suite and get it to archive using the CatDV catalog system is proving challenging. Right now I am struggling to imagine how to efficiently convert the massive library of existing MXF media we have to a more, friendly universal format that is expected to have some longevity, without making another purchase of something like Worker Node which can directed to perform such processes in the background or after hours.

Is anyone aware of a method to set up scheduled conversion of media using Adobe Media Encoder?

Thanks,
Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Thank you for clarifying Rolf, but how then do I successfully archive the MXF media through the CatDV interface, as it seems the text files such as ‘LASTCLIP.txt’ and even empty folders within an MXF directory are integral to restoring the media structure properly?

Today I was introduced to the concept of a CatDV worker node (I believe that’s what it was called, could be remembering this wrong) to transcode media out of MXF. I have skimmed through my CatDV 8 manual (I don’t have the v.9 manual printed off yet)and haven’t come across that term specifically. Can you point me to some informational resources to get my head wrapped around this process within CatDV?

Thanks!

Lindsay

[Lindsay Simpson]

Hi,

I have sent this issue directly to CatDV Support, but will relay here on CreativeCow as well.

I have finally successfully performed a direct archive of all 3 of the MXF media types I am working with (P2, JVC & Ikegami). This was done through a staged transfer process by copying an individual directory folder directly to the CacheA internal HDD, not directly into the VTAPE, but into a staging folder. From the staging folder, if a media directory was copy/pasted into the VTAPE folder, the transfer would result in random, non-repeating errors (noted after multiple tests of the same folder). But if the media directory to be archived was dragged from the staging folder and dropped into the VTAPE folder the transfer completes successfully to tape without error. I have also successfully restored media archived using this direct, staged transfer.

After completing the direct transfer with confidence, I created a new CatDV catalog and ‘Import Directory’ to bring in one of the media directories that had been used during direct testing, specifically a P2 directory titled ‘Alternative_Enterprises.’ The directory imported into the catalog successfully as metaclips. I then used the ‘Archive Media’ tool and let the process run to completion as noted by the end of a session in the transfer log in the Cache-A UI. The transfer still produces a transfer log with errors, and when I attempted to restore the media I discovered that parts of the MXF directory are not being archived. Please review screen shots for details/visuals. The errors still seem to indicate a permissions issue, but Raid serving as main storage for the media directories being archived is open and accessible with no permissions restrictions. Perhaps I am missing a setting inside CatDV or Cache-A? Or perhaps it is something else?

Thanks for any and all input,

Lindsay

3943_stagedtransfercatdvcatalogtransfer2011logall4312.htm.zip

catdv_test_archive_media.jpg

catdv_test_archive_media_in_progress.jpg

catdv_test_archive_post.jpg

catalog_restore_attempt_ae_step1.jpg

catalog_restore_attempt_ae_step2.jpg

catalog_restore_attempt_ae.jpg

catalog_restore_attempt_directlyfromvtape_catalog_archive_missingmetadata.jpg

catdv_error_msg.jpg