-
Resources
-
XDCAM EX1 Hands-On - Final Cut Pro Workflow
Published by Matthew Jeppsen January 4th, 2008 in Cameras, Formats, FreshDV, NLE, News, Post-Production, Research, TutorialsThis article is part of a series of tests FreshDV conducted with the Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1. Thanks to Miami rental house and Sony dealer Midtown Video for providing a XDCAM EX camera. And thanks to DSC Labs for providing test chart patterns. You can read more about ours and others experiences with this camera here.
For our testing Midtown Video provided FreshDV with a EX1 camcorder with the 8GB SxS media card. Before the camera arrived, I downloaded the latest XDCAM Transfer software and SxS drivers. I also had to ensure that I was at the latest FCP version, 6.0.2, and I also brought my Tiger OS and Quicktime versions up date using Software Update (I’ve been a bit behind, these things make me nervous). I should note that I am using Final Cut Studio on a PPC G5 2.7 Dual. I did not have a computer with ExpressCard slot available for these tests, so the USB connection on the camcorder was used. It simply uses a standard USB cable with mini connector on the camcorder end. Footage shot was a mixed bag…most of the time the card ended up with a mix of SP, HQ, and overcranked 60p footage on it. But regardless of the format, the import procedure into FCP is the same. I wanted to note my experiences with that process. For starters we should note a few things about the camcorder.
Below the rotating handgrip is a small flip-up plastic cover that conceals a line of output connections…A/V, Component mini, and USB mini. The EX has both Camera and Media (VTR) modes, but you can connect to your computer in either mode. When you connect the USB mini cable to the camera and computer, the EX will ask on the display if you would like to connect to the computer…Execute or Cancel. You can use the jogstick at the top of the handgrip to select and click Execute. As a side note, this camera makes you feel really powerful…every confirmation action prompts you to choose “Execute!” The only way that process could be geekier is if the camera gave you a “Make It So!” option. But I digress…
When the camera connects the your Mac, you’ll quickly see a new disk volume mount on the Desktop. The camera LCD screen will display USB Connecting and all menus become non-functional until you disconnect. SxS cards are formatted in FAT23, and you can browse the card in Finder just like any other disk or folder. I am told that the cards load on the desktop in the same manner when using a ExpressCard slot instead of USB. If you wish to make a backup of the card pre-import, simply copy the volume’s BPAV folder to a directory on another disk. That could be archived or imported/logged later if you wish. As long as the BPAV and ensuing subdirectory files are maintained, Sony’s XDCAM Transfer software can import it as if it were a card mounted on your Desktop. Handy.
To import a card into a FCP project, click on File > Import > Sony XDCAM. This loads up the XDCAM Transfer interface separately from Final Cut. I should note that when it loads up, FCP is not “locked” in any way by the transfer software…you can switch back to it and edit while the software imports, etc. Sony’s utility loads pretty quickly, and when it does it begins grabbing thumbnails of each clip on the card. These small thumbs are saved as ~50kb jpg in the XDCAM software’s database folder structure (which you set the first time you run the software). The Transfer software keeps a log of imported cards on the left side column, and calls up the thumbnails for each when you click on the card name (even if the card is unavailable). This seemed to be of limited use to me, as cards are generally just going to be dumped and erased…but the feature is there. The software allows you to preview clips right there in the window or as full-screen, reveal the clip in Finder, and view generic info on the footage (format, datarate, date/time, but no lens or shot settings seem to be retained). You can also set in/out points for each clip which will automatically create a subclip of that clip which is listed under the Logging tab, and just import the necessary segment(s). You can list multiple subclips for each clip, and it’s really quite simple and intuitive to choose which to import, add, remove, all under the Logging tab. Subclip’d clips will show a IN/OUT overlay on their thumbnail, and you can globally clear subclips by selecting all clips, right-clicking, and choosing Clear Subclips from the contextual menu. The Transfer software keeps track of how many subclips you create on a clip…if you make Subclip 1, and then later delete it, the next subclip from that master clip will be named Subclip 2, regardless of whether or not the first subclip still exists. This behavior is retained when the software is closed and restarted. And it makes sense…that way you can never have a conflict with subclip names if you go back and pull in more clips. On transfer, subclips will have an additional number sequence designating they are a subclip. If the master scene clip was named 700_0007_01.mov, subclips one and two would be 700_0007_01_01.mov and 700_0007_01_02.mov, respectively. FYI, clip number designations are derived from a setting in the Others menu of the EX1…you can set the number sequence and reset the clip count as you wish.
To transfer clips from the SxS media, simply select the clips you wish to import, ensure the “Send to Final Cut Pro project” option is ticked, and hit Import. Now is a good time to grab a cup of hot joe…transferring a full 8GB card over USB seems to take around 10 minutes. I’m told that ExpressCard slots are much faster (one user quoted “5min or less for a 16GB SxS card”). As the clips are changed from raw MP4 streams into MXF MOVs, they begin appearing, as if by magic, in the Final Cut Pro Project window. Each clip in the transfer window will indicate if it is being transferred or in queue, and a card clip countdown is shown next to the card name in the left sidebar. When the transfer completes you can kill the XDCAM Transfer software and start editing. The transferred clips are stored in folders matching the card name within the XDCAM Import Location (which is set on the first time you run the software and configurable within the Preferences). Organizational nazis will probably want to change this setting on a project by project basis.
UPDATE: On the subject of organization, here’s a few notes on metadata that is transferred. If you manually add a clip or subclip Title in the Transfer software, that is carried over to FCP in the form of the clip’s actual filename in lieu of the numbered name. Manually marking a clip or subclip as Good OK in the Transfer software will tick the Good option in FCP’s Item Properties > Logging tab. Likewise, the Transfer software’s clip/subclip Comment field maps to FCP’s Log Note. Transfer software’s Creator field doesn’t appear to map to anything in FCP. In the import method I outline in the paragraph below this one, the Comment and Good metadata does not get automatically transferred into Final Cut. So if you are manually adding metadata to clips in the XDCAM Transfer software, use the “official” method outlined above. Thanks to Mike Curtis for raising this question!
UPDATE #2: Specifically setting a bin as the Logging Bin has no effect on where the XDCAM Transfer software imports clips. In every situation they end up in the root of the project window. A minor complaint perhaps, but worth noting. Thanks to Kendal Miller for the suggestion.
That is one way to do it…perhaps the official way. Let me tell you how I made the process more streamlined for me, and why. Whether you initiate the XDCAM Import from the File menu or by right-clicking in your project window, the imported files will always show up in the root of your project. You can try the import from within a bin, but no dice. The bin is ignored and the files go to the main project root. For a project organizational freak this is most distressing. You quickly end up with a project window littered with unhelpful clip names like 400_0007_01. Then you gotta make bins, drag all the files into those bins, pray to $DEITY that you didn’t accidentally select and move a sequence or other file into the wrong bin, etc. Very messy and most irritating. Here’s what I did. Instead of initiating the import from within FCP, I would mount the camera/card and load up the XDCAM Transfer software myself (it’s in your Applications directory). It acts, walks and talks the same way with the exception of a missing “Send to Final Cut Pro project” option. But no worry. Next, I select the Untitled card on the left sidebar and name it in the info tab. These names have to be fairly short (probably a FAT32 thing), the software will warn you if it’s too long. Then I just hit CMD+A to select all the clips on the card, and hit Import. The clips are massaged and transferred to a folder with the new name you chose, in the XDCAM Transfer Import folder (which is set when you first start the software, or under the Preferences for Import Location). If you don’t first name the card, you’ll end up with a jumble of files in a Untitled folder. After the transfer completes, I right-click in my FCP project window, select Import Folder, and browse to the appropriate folder name under the XDCAM Import directory structure. Bam. A new bin with a name that makes sense, chock-full of the files you just transferred. This process takes little or no extra time than initiating the transfer from FCP, and the end result is that I control the bins the clips get imported into. Much cleaner overall in my opinion.
When you are all finished importing and logging clips, you should eject the SxS card volume from your desktop like you would any other disk. At that point you can unplug the USB cable from the camcorder and format the card(s) if you wish. One odd thing that happened to me more than once…after renaming a card, transferring clips and then ejecting it (and waiting a few seconds before unplugging the USB cable), the camcorder would sometimes display that it needed to do a Rebuild. This process took all of about 2 seconds to complete, and I never figured out why it would do this. It seemed to happen about 50% of the time for me. I never lost a clip, and haven’t seen corrupted or odd files yet (though I do have about 55GB of video to review still, so perhaps we’ll find something at a later date). I am assuming it had something to do with renaming the cards on import, as it seemed to start doing this after adopting that workflow. I would appreciate some feedback or explanations from other EX1 users who have experienced the same behavior.
The EX1 clips edit in FCP just like any other long-form GOP format. Not blazingly fast on my 2.7 DP G5, but I certainly get realtime playback with color correction and limited effects. The only real complaint I have is some odd behavior with bins containing a large number of XDCAM format clips…at perhaps 40-50 clips in a bin, the UI will start acting a little wonky. When you select a clip, the clip above it selects instead of the one you clicked on. It’s not unusable, but it’s really irritating. I have seen this behavior in two of my dozen or so project bins. I haven’t figured this one out yet, any helpful tips would be appreciated.
Overall I am pleasantly surprised with the XDCAM Transfer utility and import/logging/performance in general. The UI is useful and performance on my system was snappy. Clips load and preview quickly, and creating subclips is a simple three-click process. USB import directly from the camera isn’t particularly fast at 10 min for a full 8GB card. Assuming you’ve got 30 minutes of footage on a 8GB card you are looking at 3x faster than realtime. However, ExpressCard slot transfers are much faster, so MacBook users have a definite advantage. For P2 users the workflow should be very simple to pick up, and those used to tape will appreciate the ability to non-linearly grab and import scenes and subclips from a card without capturing/importing the whole thing.
Thanks again to both DSC Labs and Midtown Video for making this EX1 test series possible. Stay tuned here or at our EX1 link page for more test results.
-
About FreshDV
-
Sponsors
-
Recent Comments
- DrDimento on P2 Killer? Panasonic HVX200 vs Sony HVR-V1U cost analysis
- Ray Paunovich on Overview Video of the Sony EX3 Camera
- Leo on Handy Resolution Chart
- Johnny McMillion on Overview Video of the Sony EX3 Camera
- jesse on Overview Video of the Sony EX3 Camera
-
Fresh Links
Hi,
I think I had the same problem as you with the “need to rebuild”. This happened just after I renamed the the SxS card. Maybe the camcorder should change something when the name is not the default “untitled”. This also happen each time you unplug/plug the card back into the camcorder.
I also have the “clips showing twice in the bin”.
When you select the upper one, it is not highlighted. you need to select the lower one…
I read on dvinfo forum you can safely “delete” (remove) the clip from the bin, then go to your finder, to the import folder and drag it again to the bin.
If someone have a real solution for those 2 small problems, I’ll be happy.
I also had a third problem with the import utility.
I’m working on a dual 2Ghz G5 on Tiger (+updates). I unload the SxS cards on my Macbook Pro to an external HD. I just copy the whole PAB folder to a special directory. Then plug the HD on the G5 and start using FCP -> import -> xdcam.
I had to leave FCP alone while it was importing. When I came back, everything was stuck and FCP was asking for “would you like to auto-save the project”. I checked no, but the xdcam import tool was dead.
Since then, every time I use import->xdcam from FCP, FCP crashes. The import tool, on it’s side, is working well.
The solution I found for now was to re-install the G5 on a new drive, with Leopard :)
Removing prefs, application support files and re-installing solved nothing. Of course, I didn’t try to re-install FCP…
Ah, yes I just read an account by a Creative Cow writer about the twice-imported clips. Appears there is a bug in the XDCAM Transfer tool’s interaction with FCP. That would explain why I haven’t seen the issue on files I manually imported into FCP bins (”MY” workflow described above). And your experience with the Rebuild issue is consistent with my renaming the cards…there must be something that the camera has to relink or make note of on the card when a card name is changed. That makes me feel better, sounds like less of a bug now.
-Matt Jeppsen
I know the odd behaviour you describe as well, but not from final cut bins - to me it appeared in Motion, when you export your clip and select a format/compression from the dropdown list. It’s always choosing the next one instead the one you’ve picked.
The same strange behaviour appears in iphoto, which I sometimes use for creating photo books. When you change the font of the template book you’ve chosen, it again selects the above font instead the one you’ve picked! (This might be only the case if you have a bunch of fonts activated - on my machine it’s quite a lot.)
This is really annoying and seems to be a problem of OSX rather than the applications itself… Could you guys do me a favor and try out for yourself? If you’re feedback’s positive, I would get in touch with Apple support so that they a least take note of this issue.
Thanks,
Carsten
…oh, and thank you Matthew for the very informative contribution! I’m about to get a EX1 myself, but I still wonder: after importing; when’s the time to switch to e.g. ProRes? Or the other way around: do you have to define certain project settings before you start your import?
Carsten, I’ve not seen that sort of odd selection behavior on anything but the the twice-imported XDCAM clips, so I don’t know how to help you on your other issues. Appreciate the kind words on our coverage of the EX1. I’ve been using ProRes as the render codec, defined in your sequence settings (or in the setup of the project). I just used the XDCAM Easy Setup before I started my imports, though I don’t think it’s entirely necessary for getting the clip format right. And with FCP 6, it will automatically adjust your sequence settings if you drop a clip on a new sequence that doesn’t match the clip format…so it’s sorta a non-issue for me.
Hope that helps,
-Matt Jeppsen
Hi everyone,
I am very new to video.I just purchased the Sony PMW EX1 and I own a Macbook Pro.I do not have FCP.Just the computer with whatever software was included with it,like iMovies.
My Macbook Pro will NOT let me edit anything that’s not SP 1080i.
When I shoot a clip that’s HQ 1080/24P or even HQ 1080i with the PMW EX1 and connect the camcorder directly to the laptop via the supplied firewire cable it will not let me import those clips (unless I shoot in SP 1080i}
Do I need FCP in order to be able to edit anything that is HQ 1080/P or HQ 1080i or even HQ 720/24P?
As I mentioned earlier,I am very new to this.How does one edit these sort of clips?Why i my laptop not letting me import them?
Thank ypu i advance to anyone who can help me out with this.
Nick Dallas
lordofunionsquare@yahoo.com
Nick, it sounds to me like you need to install Sony’s transfer software and I believe you’ll also need FCP or perhaps FCP Express to import XDCAM material. I’d suggest reading up on the features that FCP Express offers and see if they support that flavor of material.
http://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowContent.action?site=biz_en_GB&contentId=1166605189229&parentFlexibleHub=1166605189820
-Matt Jeppsen
Thanks Matt,
believe me, you have no idea how much you have helped me.I downloaded the free software,called Apple and they said the same thing you mentioned. That I need Final Cut Express for now.In the process ,thanks to the link you provided,I was able to discover a Sony product that will help me. The PDW U1 XD CAM HD Burner. Dont know if it works with the PMW EX1 but ,hey, I’m getting somewhere in my education of Video editing. Again, thanks a lot for helping me out. This is all very new to me.My first camcorder was the Canon HV10 and I will tell you something. The images from that little consumer model were jaw dropping to say the least. At night outdoors it was a poor performer, but take it out on a sunny day and no camera could compete with the stunning images it recorded.
Nick
“the UI will start acting a little wonky. When you select a clip, the clip above it selects instead of the one you clicked on. It’s not unusable, but it’s really irritating”
Any solution on this matter. I am having the same issue and it is a pain to work with.
Glad to help Nick!
Thomas, the fix to that particular issue is to clear/remove the media from it’s bin (or the project) and re-import the files in FCP. You don’t have to go through the Transfer process again, just import the files from whatever folder they were transferred into. Bottom line: you are just getting rid of duplicate imported files from the project.
Hope that helps,
-Matt Jeppsen
THanks Matt
It works perfect.
Thomas
Matt,
first of all thanks for all the earlier advice.I went to Apple and they told me that Final Cut Pro does indeed recognize all the XDCAM EX1 clip formats.
I have been able to figure out the camera a bit and was able to set the Picture Profile for a sunny day. But I could certainly use your help or ANYONE OUT THERE reading this to give me some suggestions on what is the best Picture Profile setting for night time outdoors in a low light situation. I need help with the Matrix (Standard, Hi SAT, Cinema), Level, Phase, RG, RB, GR, GB, BR, BG, Gamma, Black Gamma
If someone can give me a recipe then I will just copy it to the PIcture Profile on the camera and pull it up when I have a night outdoors low light shoot.
Thanks again Matt
Nick.
I’ve been importing into FCP 6.02 without any problem, until today with 1080p footage.
The interlaced footage resolves perfectly and I can edit like a dream, but the
progressive material judders, can’t play at proper speed. I’m on an iMac w/Leopard 2.8 dual, with 2GB ram.
Do you think the ram is insufficient? Or perhaps my settings aren’t correct,
although I’ve tried just about every setting there is. If Anyone can help, please …
Nick, have a look at the DSC ChromaDuMonde color charts I posted. If you compare how they handle the blacks and low greys while keeping an eye on the f/stop marked on the chart, you can quickly deduce which settings combo will best suit your needs. From a cursory look at the charts, it seems that Matrix:Off and Gamma: STD4 provides a good look into the blacks and efficient low-light response (note the iris was all the way up to f/13 to expose that chart properly). The Cine modes provide greater dynamic range, but tend to push into the highlights first and that will hurt your low light performance a bit. They don’t progress linearly up the scale, there is a soft s-curve rolloff/compression on highlights (at a slight expense of sensitivity).
I’ll quote Adam Wilt’s excellent review of the EX1:
“In essence, cine gammas have a S-curve in the highlights, similar in effect to the soft shoulder of film’s DlogE curve. Highlights don’t clip as harshly as in the standard gammas, they roll off much more smoothly, with gradual desaturation instead of sudden hue shifts in color.”
Hope that helps.
-Matt Jeppsen
David, I don’t think RAM should be the issue. I’m only running 2.5GB RAM and on a slower machine than yours, a 2.7 DP G5. It sounds like your sequence settings are screwy. Perhaps you dropped 1080/24 material into a interlaced timeline? Create a new timeline, and drop a single 1080/24p clip on it. It should change the sequence settings to match the media and play back without judder. Unless something else is wrong.
-Matt Jeppsen
Matt,
thanks again. I made the changes you told me. I set the Matrix to ‘off’ and the Gamma Level to STD4. I even named this Picture Profile Matt J in your honor and also for easy reference! Keep in mind all this is very new to me but I’m actually making great progress thanks to you and another person on the Digital Information Network that has a thread specifically on Picture Profiles for the EX1. They will love you there as they have quite a bit going on now on the subject of Picture Profiles for the EX1 in that thread. That’s where I got the Picture Profile settings for a bright an sunny day.
I don’t have a chance to go outside and try a test shoot again since it is starting to get bright, but I will certainly do so tonight.
Let me give you a run-down as to what the other settings are ,so this way it will be easier for you to steer me in the right direction when I post my results much later on tonight.
Picture Profile Name: Matt J (for easy reference)
Matrix: Off
Gamma Level: STD4
Detail: On
Level: 0
Frequency: 0
Crispening :0
H/V Ratio: 0
Knee: On
Auto Knee: On
Knee SAT Level: 50
Gamma: 0
Black: -12
Black Gamma: 0
Low Key SAT: 0
With the exception of the Matrix being turned to ‘off’ and the Gamma Level set to STD4, all the other settings are from what I got for a bright and sunny day. I’ve left them the same until you tell me they should be set differently for a night/outdoor type/low light shoot.
Thanks so much for all the help, I cant wait to try it out tonight.
Matt,
I set the Matrix to ‘off’ and the Gamma Level to STD4 as prescribed by you, but left all the other settings as they were before in the Picture Profile now named Matt J (for easy reference)
In a nutshell:Matrix off, Gamma STD4, Detail On, Level 0, Knee On, Auto Knee On, Knee SAT Level 50, Gamma 0, Black -12,
Black Gamma 0, Low Key SAT 0.
I set the Gain at 6db and the Iris at F2.4
THERE WAS NO NOISE WHATSOEVER! But I have to say that the reds need to be dialed down as they simply dominated the scene. This seems to be the only problem.
I had to play with the gain and Iris to get a fairly bright scene without bringing back the noise.It was at night and the streets were only lit by the overhead lamps.
If there is any advice you can give me on this I’d sincerely appreciate it. With the Matrix set to ‘off’ and the Gamma STD4 the noise problem has completely gone away. Much thanks to you.If you think that there are other changes I need to make in the Picture Profile setting I have detailed above PLEASE let me know.If however you feel that the Picture Profile settings are good and all I need to do is play around with the Gain and Iris settings, then let me know. This is the only obstacle before me!
Once again thank you very much for all your help.
Matt,
those settings on the PP with the Matrix set to ‘off’ and the Gamma set to STD4 completely got rid of the noise. I’ve been setting the Gain at 6db and the Iris at F2.4
This all works fine for night shooting in low light but I need to know how to dial down the reds
thanks,
Nick Dallas
lordofunionsquare@yahoo.com
Nick, it sounds like you just need to tweak the red levels down a touch under the matrix. Down past the presets you should see those controls. Just set up a simple scene with some color in it and spend a few minutes playing with the custom matrix controls till you get the desired effect. Sounds like you’ve got everything else under control! :-)
-Matt Jeppsen
Matt,
I’m finally good to go,thanks to all the help from you with picture profile recipes for night and low light shooting. Reds have been dialed down, there is zero noise, and the video is as natural as can be.
I think it would be very helpful indeed if someone, somewhere posted a few Picture Profile recipes for the EX1. They could be titled ‘Sunny’ or ‘Indoors’ or maybe ‘Low light’. I cant even begin to tell you how helpful that would be. This camera is already flying off the shelves and not everyone who is buying it is a Steven Spielberg or a Matt Jeppsen!
The thing is that there are a lot of beginners like myself that buy such a camera only because we’ve heard so much about it before it came out. Features and specs like ‘1080P’ ,’1920 X 1080 Native Progressive, ‘Solid State Recording’ and ‘under $10,000′ are but a few examples of why newcomers to video might buy such a camera.
The problem is that such a pro-level camcorder is not set to go straight out of the box.Even the Standard Picture Profile presets had their fair share of noise (even in daylight shooting).Of course an expert like yourself would have no trouble tweaking it in seconds.
I personally stumbled upon your website quite by accident, and if it were not for your kindness in answering my questions about Picture Profile settings, I wouldn’t have known what to do!
Nick Dallas
lordofunionsquare@yahoo.com
That’s a good point, Nick. Most of these cameras need to be tweaked to get best results. Perhaps we’ll look into creating a repository for picture profiles and other camera-specific info…
Thanks for the kind words!
-Matt Jeppsen
Hi When do you delete/format the card?
If Im in the midle of a shoot and want to use the card for recording emediately after transfere withhout having to format the card in the camera?
-is there a format function in the transfere tool.
-will clip names be ok ordered if I manualy delte the whole card on finder?
By the way, transfere is fast and was”no problem” from SxS card with a MBpro 2,4ghz
Thanx fr great writings.
thom
Thom, I don’t remember testing if you could format a card in Finder. I am doubtful this is a recommended practice, as the EX1 camcorder creates a specific folder structure when it formats the card. Beyond “Delete Clip,” there appears to be no method of formatting the media in the Sony Transfer Software (that I could find anyway).
How fast are your transfers for a full 8GB card on the MB Pro?
-Matt Jeppsen
Thank You Matt
-I cant find a way to use even the “delte clip” function in transfere Sw.. the function is always inactive.
-Seems I was wrong about the speed of import o my card slot:
a full 8gb card(=7,5gb material) took 8 min to import through the transfere tool launched from FCP.
My drive was almost full and I browsed on nett and downloded a qt clip at the same time, but I guess it wouldnt be a lot faster if I didnt?
Guess I was just impressed anyway when comparing to tape transfere:)
Maybe someone can write a third party software to do this similar to P2 software Anders Holck wrote for P2. “Copy, Erase, and Verify Data.”
That would be sweet…
-MJ
Matt,
I just bought an EX1 recently and I also noted someone else in this thread mention the Picture Profiles. Straight out the box this camera is not ‘good to go’ as the factory settings just cannot help with night shooting. I just keep getting so much noise. I was wondering if we will ever see a few sample Picture Profile presets for different shooting conditions. That would be EXTREMELY helpful to many owners on this camera. Maybe one for ‘overcast sky’ and another for ‘night’ and ’sunny’
I did an outdoor shoot with a friend of mine and it came out great except there was noise all over his black jacket or anything that was in the shadows. This camera also has some other major problems. If you move it even slightly everything gets blurred. Sometimes even if the subject moves the images get a bit blurred. I don’t know why Sony gave it the ‘Cine Alta’ badge, but it certainly doesn’t live up to the name. I had a lot of problems with the buttons being randomly placed. One button, the ‘Push Autofocus’ button was located in such an ‘off the beaten track’ that I just couldn’t understand if they had someone in the Sony camp deliberately trying to sabotage things. Overall I think this camera has severe limitations. But nevertheless I’m going to make the best of it. If you have any suggestions for Picture Profile settings or if you can tell me if there is any change i need to make, that will be really cool.
Thanks,
Cody.
Hi: I’m just getting comfortable with off loading the SxS cards and testing things. After mounting the SxS card to a Mac (MacPro 2008 or old G4 laptop), I get two Untitled disks. The larger one obviously has the files, but what’s on the smaller one, less than a gig? Is this necessary to keep?
Also, for an in field workflow, is everyone just copying the BPAV files to hard disk and trusting that they will import just fine later on? Any problems with this? An old G4 laptop won’t load FCP 6 so the transfer software won’t work in the field. “Field” is mountain terrain, fast off loading. Thanks!
Kristin, I am not sure what the second disk is mounting for. Haven’t seen that. Might try reformatting the card in the camera.
Copying BPAV to disk is what many people are doing, yes. If you want something a little more robust and verification-friendly, take a look at Shotput Express. http://imagineproducts.com/ShotPut_EXpress.html
-Matt Jeppsen
Thanks, Matt. I will try both. Shotput looks like a good idea.
Another question, can you see a limitation to using the old G4 PowerBook, without an Express Card Slot, maybe using the SxS Reader instead? Other than speed of copying through the USB port, that is. The G4 is an 867mgz. Thank you for your help.
I think that the speed of copying would be your only real limitation, unless you wanted to preview the footage on the laptop at full-rez and framerate.
-MJ
Recently I recorded HD footage with the Sony EX1. I didnt have Final Cut Studio 2 yet, so I downloaded the previewer from the sony site. All the footage looked and worked fine. When I downloaded Final Cut Studio 2 and the transfer plug-in, all of the footage was fine except about nine clips that obviously had different settings than the rest. Upon looking at the settings of the footage, it says its in VBR 35 bpms. The transfer plug-in can’t recognize the VBR 35 bpms format it seems. I can see it in the viewer, but can’t import it to FInal Cut. Does anyone know what I can do to get the footage into FInal Cut?
Sony EX1 - FCP Final Cut Pro - Macbook pro 2.4
Hi. I have finally decided to go for a EX1 instead of a Z7 (and try to start leaving HDV). I have a couple of questions about what hardware system is necesary to manipulate 35Mb/s XDCAM EX footage.
I have a 15″ macbook pro 2.4, 2Gb RAM, 256MB Gforce video, 7200 RPM Harddisk and FCP 6.
I understand that my macbook will be useful to work on the field, transfering the footage from the cards, but:
Is it possible to EDIT (that is just: cut, fade, color correct) on a 1 hour timeline of 35Mbit/s video with its audio, running on a macbook pro?
Can I PLAYBACK fullscreen 35Mb/s XDCAM EX Video on the macbook display (256MB videoboard) from inside FCP?
Can I RECORD the edited material to SD PAL/NTSC throughout firewire + the camera ? (output XDCAM sequence to the camera, use it to downconvert to PAL/NTSC in realtime and record video on BETACAM SP through the MiniD Component video output)
Will be the 7200 RPM hard disk enough fast to deliver video at 35Mb/s?
Thank you so much !!!!
Your system specs should be more than sufficient for solid editing of XDCAM material. I believe that simple edits on that system should play back in realtime and record off to the camera again.
-MJ