Robert Dexter
Forum Replies Created
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If MXF-D30 does mean MXF D-10 (a.k.a. IMX) 30 Mb/s, then isn’t your best bet to install Sony’s completely free XDCAM Transfer software and use the FCP File > Export > Sony XDCAM menu that appears? You can save your MXF files anywhere you like not just to an XDCAM disc.
https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/sony-software-model-PDZKP1.aspx
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It sounds like you may be just missing the XDCAM Drive Software that makes the PDW-U1 look just like one of the decks or camcorders (i.e. /Clip/C0001.MXF, etc. rather than /PROAV/CLPR/C0001/C0001V01.MXF, etc.).
Try e.g. https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/sony-software-model-PDWU1.aspx.
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You don’t need FCP! XDCAM Transfer will happily rewrap MXF or MP4 to QuickTime movie without the FCP codecs installed.
Obviously you can’t see the video without the codecs installed, but you can still import. It will warn you that the codecs aren’t installed, but just set Preferences > General > Codecs: Import clips with no installed codec, and there you go. Of course, your producer will need the codecs on his Mac to review the movies. (And there have been suggestions in the past on how to accomplish this without installing FCP… RE: XDCAM Transfer w/o FCP.)
> i heard earlier on a post that qt is going to incorporate a tc track in its next version.
What do you mean by incorporate a tc track? QuickTime movies can already have timecode tracks and QuickTime Player can show this timecode in its time display.
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OK, if I’ve understood correctly it sounds like you have two issues with using XDCAM Transfer:
1. The fact that you’d have to use it to make .mov in addition to using Clip Browser to make MXF for Avid
2. Your producer doesn’t want/need a full-res .mov and XDCAM Transfer doesn’t do transcoding
Is that right?
I can see that (1) doubles the storage/time taken, since you’ll be turning all your .MP4 into both MXF and .mov, but if you actually need both I don’t think you’re going to find any software that can produce both simultaneously. (Hmm, maybe you could run both Clip Browser and XDCAM Transfer simultaneously?)
If I’ve understood that you need (2) as well, that seems like the real trouble. Maybe there’s some app that will batch transcode to make small .mov for you?
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Sorry I’m confused. I thought you said i have avid media composer on a mac.
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What is it about the QuickTime movies created by XDCAM Transfer that isn’t producer friendly?
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mxf to bpav or better yet mov
Well if you really mean ‘better yet mov’, then XDCAM Transfer presumably does what you want really easily, on a Mac…
On the other hand if you really want ‘mxf to bpav’, then I don’t know any software that can do this in one step. With the latest version of XDCAM Transfer (2.8) having converted your MXF files to .mov, you can then export the clips from Final Cut Pro without any re-rendering back to .MP4 files for use on an SxS card (BPAV). You might even be able to use the XDCAM Exporter app directly without going anywhere near FCP.
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Great! Just remember (as mentioned in other threads) that the SxS cards won’t accept MP4 files larger than 4 GB so you shouldn’t export anything for your workflow longer than about 15 minutes.
Let us know how it goes!
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Alister Chapman pointed out on that other forum one problem you might be encountering: if you export direct to a completely blank SxS card from Final Cut Pro’s File > Export > Sony XDCAM the camera sometimes doesn’t pick up the new clip. He suggests recording a very short clip with the camera first so it makes the necessary BPAV folder and XML files. If you now export, then the camera should ask you to Restore Media and find the new clip quite happily.
Apparently, you could also use Clip Browser after having exported to .MP4 from FCP to your hard drive to put the clip onto an SxS card, but if the above works, there’s no reason to bother with Clip Browser.
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Did you/are you using Clip Browser to transfer the clips from SxS card to your hard disk, or just copying the BPAV folders using Finder (much easier!)?
If you have been using Clip Browser, I seem to remember that it had a bug when copying spanned clips (.SMI) to hard disk that might account for your problems:
Locate the actual .SMI files on hard disk (somewhere under BPAV/TAKR) for one of the spanned clips that has the problem in XDCAM Transfer. Next to it you should find a file with the same name but ending M01.XML. Open this in TextEdit or something and you’ll see it has Duration value (in frames). Does it look correct? – I’m guessing not. I don’t know if this bug is fixed in the latest Clip Browser.
One solution you might try if you have XDCAM Transfer 2.8.0 is to use its new support for folders containing only .MP4 files:
Locate the .MP4 files for all the parts of your troublesome .SMI files (somewhere under BPAV/CLPR with similar names to the .SMI file) and put *just* these .MP4 files in a new folder somewhere completely different and then drag this folder into XDCAM Transfer’s Source list. You’ll now see the parts as separate clips, with no way to treat them as a single spanned clip, but they may have the right timecode.