Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?

Ricky Sharp · June 4th, 2015, 06:47 AM

Hmm... multiple recording formats don't work?

I did a quick test after updating to firmware 2.0. First, completely initialized my two SD cards (SDXC U3, 128 GB) Recorded a total of 5 clips with simultaneous recording. All were XAVC-L 50 Mbps. First clip at 30p, next two at 24p and last two at 60p.

In FCP X's import window, only the first clip contains both video and audio. The remaining clips only provide me audio and thumbnails.

Dragging the five .MXF files to my hard-drive results in FCP X only being able to import audio from those files. So there's definitely a requirement to only import media from Sony's file/folder structure.

Later today will re-initialize the cards and only record one format. Perhaps one cannot mix 24p, 30p, 60p on the same card? That would really be messed up.

Ricky Sharp · June 4th, 2015, 07:02 AM

Well this stinks. Did a second test. Reformatted both SD cards. Recorded three separate clips in XAVC-L 50 Mbps at 60p.

Only the first clip can be imported directly into FCP X. Latter two show audio and thumbnail data only.

Will update my bug report with Apple with this new information.

Anyone else experiencing this issue where only the first clip works?

Back to EditReady for me... thankfully, it can directly work with the .MXF files (doesn't need to be in Sony's folder structure). Transcoded these new firmware 2.0 recorded clips a-ok.

FWIW, my workflow...

Copy the individual .MXF files to my hard-drive (I am opting to not copy the entire folder structure). These files are part of my backups.

Transcode to ProRes 422 with EditReady. These files are on my "scratch" drive and not backed up.

In FCP X, I import the ProRes clips while leaving them in place (no copy made since this is the transcoded material). And of course, no optimized media created since I have ProRes already as my "original source".

David Dixon · June 4th, 2015, 02:14 PM

Ricky - I'm not seeing that. I just recorded three clips, and all three show up in the import window. If I just choose the top three clips with the movie icon they come in flawlessly with audio.

Ricky Sharp · June 4th, 2015, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Dixon

Ricky - I'm not seeing that. I just recorded three clips, and all three show up in the import window. If I just choose the top three clips with the movie icon they come in flawlessly with audio.

Glad it's working for you, David. I'll have to continue troubleshooting to see why it's messed up on my end. Here are some extra details; perhaps something is different in our setups:

* OS X 10.10.3
* FCP X 10.2.1 with the most recent Pro Video formats update
* At one point, I had the Sony Plug-in installed, but had completely uninstalled it a while back (since it didn't work anyhow, and the more recent FCP X updates claimed it was no longer needed).

David Dixon · June 4th, 2015, 08:26 PM

Ricky, not sure what's going on. I also have the latest OS and FCPX and the memory card was reformatted in the firmware-updated camera. I shot @ 1080p60 on all three clips, XAVC of course.

I'm curious - your screen shot shows the XDROOT folder inside the PRIVATE folder. Mine is exactly as shown - FCPX does not see the XDROOT but just the PRIVATE folder and a "private" folder. This may be a clue to the difference but darned if I know what to make of that.

Mike Griffiths · June 4th, 2015, 08:50 PM

I get the same as you David. Any idea why the audio track repeats? It comes through on the main track so why is it repeated? Mac OS, FCPX 10.2 only but working fine

Ricky Sharp · June 5th, 2015, 05:53 AM

TL;DR : It appears the name of the SD card volume is causing the issue. My SD cards are named 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'. Going to see how I can change that. Full details below.

The mystery continues...

Yesterday I re-installed the Sony plugin (PDZK-LT2_1.2.1.dmg). No change.

This morning, I made a copy of my SDXC card to my Mac (copied the entire PRIVATE folder structure).

I then attempted again to import from the card of the connected cam. But I no longer see the nested XDROOT folder in FCP X's import window (see first screenshot). But only the first clip contains video and audio. So basically the same issue as yesterday's tests. FCP X along with the Sony plugin must be doing something magical to create a logical folder structure. What I mean by that is that the real file structure does have an XDROOT inside PRIVATE. There are then XML files that describe where the clips and thumbnails are.

But here's where it gets really interesting...

If I import from my local copy on the Mac hard drive, it works! See second screenshot. I can switch between the two sources and see the problem come and go. So I may need to first copy the card's contents to my Mac (no big deal there; I want the original footage and will back that up anyhow).

By the way, If I attempt to import from the second SDXC card (named 'Untitled 1'), same issue as with the primary card ('Untitled').

Additional tests...

Copied the PRIVATE folder to the root of an empty drive partition named 'Empty'. Import works.

Renamed 'Empty' drive partition to 'Untitled'. Issue returned! Only first clip shows up correctly.

Renamed 'Untitled' back to 'Empty' and import works again!

So for others here... what is the name of the volumes that are mounted on your Mac that represents your SD cards? Are they 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'? I suppose if I name those cards somehow, this problem will go away?

Very baffling that the name of the volume is preventing FCP X from doing the right thing.

Later today I will completely uninstall the Sony plugin, reboot, etc. and repeat these tests. Want to see if that plugin has anything to do with this strangeness.

Yesterday though (prior to reinstalling the Sony plugin), attempting to import from the mounted 'Untitled' volume still had the issue. Although as seen in my earlier post screenshots, FCP X decided to display the XDROOT nested folder in the import window.

David Dixon · June 5th, 2015, 07:27 AM

For what it's worth, I do not have the Sony plugin installed - I don't know if it causes problems but is definitely not needed.

I've only tried importing from the camera card placed into a card reader, not from the hard drive.

The volume of the card shows up as Untitled.

So it does not have to be on a hard drive, and being named Untitled is not the issue. I'm betting it's that Sony plugin.

Hope this helps.

Ricky Sharp · June 5th, 2015, 07:59 AM

No luck. As I mentioned, I had the issue before re-installing the Sony Plugin. I've since unisntalled that plugin again, and the problem remains.

Interestinly, when I renamed my hard-drive partition back to 'Untitled', it now works there. So the Sony plugin seemed to alter a bit how that hard-drive partition was treated.

Thanks for confirming that your cards are mounting as 'Untitled'. So the name of the volume itself isn't the issue.

The only difference I do see in the cards vs. hard drive is that the cards are mounted as Read-Only. Perhaps when creating the logical structure, FCP X attempts to write a file to that volume? The mds process appears to want to do something with that volume. Although that's just the metadata service for the sake of creating data for Spotlight. I don't see anything in Console regarding issues with the 'Untitled' volumes outside of that.

If you do a Get Info on your Mac on the 'Untitled' SD card volumes, does it say 'You can only read' under the 'Sharing & Permissions:' section?

Ricky Sharp · June 5th, 2015, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Dixon

I've only tried importing from the camera card placed into a card reader, not from the hard drive.

Didn't catch this at first. I've been trying to import directly from the cam itself (connected to my Mac via its supplied USB cable). I do not have an SD card reader.

Paul Hardy · June 5th, 2015, 08:34 AM

Ricky, to cut a long story short - go out now & buy an SD card reader.

Just did a test & if you plug the camera directly into the mac it mounts 3 drives.....

1 is called 'PMHOME' & seems to contain license data that may be related to the 4k upgrade.
The 2 other drives are called 'untitled' & 'untitled 1' and only show the first XAVC video file on the card.

So basically I have the same problem. HOWEVER........ If I use an SD card reader - everything works fine & as it should with multiple files!

David Dixon · June 5th, 2015, 08:53 AM

Probably doesn't matter, but my SDXC card has read and write permissions.

Yes, get a card reader - USB 3 is going to be miles faster than the camera anyway I think.

Craig Seeman · June 5th, 2015, 09:30 AM

For those having success with a card reader have any tried using the built in card slot on a Mac laptop?
Somewhere else someone posted they used the card slot and had to manually move the XDROOT folder to the same root level as PRIVATE and then it worked.

Ricky Sharp · June 5th, 2015, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Hardy

Ricky, to cut a long story short - go out now & buy an SD card reader.

Just did a test & if you plug the camera directly into the mac it mounts 3 drives.....

1 is called 'PMHOME' & seems to contain license data that may be related to the 4k upgrade.
The 2 other drives are called 'untitled' & 'untitled 1' and only show the first XAVC video file on the card.

So basically I have the same problem. HOWEVER........ If I use an SD card reader - everything works fine & as it should with multiple files!

Thank you for the test, Paul! And thanks again David for all your info as well.

For now, I will just copy the contents of the mounted cards to my hard drive. But will invest in an SD card reader.

Thanks again.

David Dixon · June 5th, 2015, 09:47 AM

Interestingly, I see different things if I use a card reader versus plugging into the SD slot on the back of my iMac - but both ways work.

Card Reader - In the FCPX import window I see a PRIVATE folder and a private folder. The PRIVATE folder has three files per clip - 1 is a movie icon, 2 is an audio icon, 3 is a still image icon. Importing just the movie file brings in the audio and video flawlessly. The private folder is empty, but viewing it in the Finder it is the top level directory of the card, and encloses all the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. items.

SD slot on back of iMac - I just see the PRIVATE folder, and it only includes 2 files per clip - the movie file and the still image file - no audio file. But again, the movie file is all that is needed for import. In the Finder all I see is the PRIVATE folder which encloses the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. - no separate private folder.

June 4th, 2015, 06:47 AM	#91
Ricky Sharp Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 180	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Hmm... multiple recording formats don't work? I did a quick test after updating to firmware 2.0. First, completely initialized my two SD cards (SDXC U3, 128 GB) Recorded a total of 5 clips with simultaneous recording. All were XAVC-L 50 Mbps. First clip at 30p, next two at 24p and last two at 60p. In FCP X's import window, only the first clip contains both video and audio. The remaining clips only provide me audio and thumbnails. Dragging the five .MXF files to my hard-drive results in FCP X only being able to import audio from those files. So there's definitely a requirement to only import media from Sony's file/folder structure. Later today will re-initialize the cards and only record one format. Perhaps one cannot mix 24p, 30p, 60p on the same card? That would really be messed up. Attached Thumbnails

June 4th, 2015, 07:02 AM	#92
Ricky Sharp Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 180	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Well this stinks. Did a second test. Reformatted both SD cards. Recorded three separate clips in XAVC-L 50 Mbps at 60p. Only the first clip can be imported directly into FCP X. Latter two show audio and thumbnail data only. Will update my bug report with Apple with this new information. Anyone else experiencing this issue where only the first clip works? Back to EditReady for me... thankfully, it can directly work with the .MXF files (doesn't need to be in Sony's folder structure). Transcoded these new firmware 2.0 recorded clips a-ok. FWIW, my workflow... Copy the individual .MXF files to my hard-drive (I am opting to not copy the entire folder structure). These files are part of my backups. Transcode to ProRes 422 with EditReady. These files are on my "scratch" drive and not backed up. In FCP X, I import the ProRes clips while leaving them in place (no copy made since this is the transcoded material). And of course, no optimized media created since I have ProRes already as my "original source". Attached Thumbnails

June 4th, 2015, 02:14 PM	#93
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Ricky - I'm not seeing that. I just recorded three clips, and all three show up in the import window. If I just choose the top three clips with the movie icon they come in flawlessly with audio. Attached Thumbnails

June 4th, 2015, 08:26 PM	#95
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Ricky, not sure what's going on. I also have the latest OS and FCPX and the memory card was reformatted in the firmware-updated camera. I shot @ 1080p60 on all three clips, XAVC of course. I'm curious - your screen shot shows the XDROOT folder inside the PRIVATE folder. Mine is exactly as shown - FCPX does not see the XDROOT but just the PRIVATE folder and a "private" folder. This may be a clue to the difference but darned if I know what to make of that.

June 4th, 2015, 08:50 PM	#96
Mike Griffiths Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Chiang Mai Thailand Posts: 152	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? I get the same as you David. Any idea why the audio track repeats? It comes through on the main track so why is it repeated? Mac OS, FCPX 10.2 only but working fine __________________ Mike

June 5th, 2015, 05:53 AM	#97
Ricky Sharp Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 180	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? TL;DR : It appears the name of the SD card volume is causing the issue. My SD cards are named 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'. Going to see how I can change that. Full details below. The mystery continues... Yesterday I re-installed the Sony plugin (PDZK-LT2_1.2.1.dmg). No change. This morning, I made a copy of my SDXC card to my Mac (copied the entire PRIVATE folder structure). I then attempted again to import from the card of the connected cam. But I no longer see the nested XDROOT folder in FCP X's import window (see first screenshot). But only the first clip contains video and audio. So basically the same issue as yesterday's tests. FCP X along with the Sony plugin must be doing something magical to create a logical folder structure. What I mean by that is that the real file structure does have an XDROOT inside PRIVATE. There are then XML files that describe where the clips and thumbnails are. But here's where it gets really interesting... If I import from my local copy on the Mac hard drive, it works! See second screenshot. I can switch between the two sources and see the problem come and go. So I may need to first copy the card's contents to my Mac (no big deal there; I want the original footage and will back that up anyhow). By the way, If I attempt to import from the second SDXC card (named 'Untitled 1'), same issue as with the primary card ('Untitled'). Additional tests... Copied the PRIVATE folder to the root of an empty drive partition named 'Empty'. Import works. Renamed 'Empty' drive partition to 'Untitled'. Issue returned! Only first clip shows up correctly. Renamed 'Untitled' back to 'Empty' and import works again! So for others here... what is the name of the volumes that are mounted on your Mac that represents your SD cards? Are they 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'? I suppose if I name those cards somehow, this problem will go away? Very baffling that the name of the volume is preventing FCP X from doing the right thing. Later today I will completely uninstall the Sony plugin, reboot, etc. and repeat these tests. Want to see if that plugin has anything to do with this strangeness. Yesterday though (prior to reinstalling the Sony plugin), attempting to import from the mounted 'Untitled' volume still had the issue. Although as seen in my earlier post screenshots, FCP X decided to display the XDROOT nested folder in the import window. Attached Thumbnails

June 5th, 2015, 07:27 AM	#98
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? For what it's worth, I do not have the Sony plugin installed - I don't know if it causes problems but is definitely not needed. I've only tried importing from the camera card placed into a card reader, not from the hard drive. The volume of the card shows up as Untitled. So it does not have to be on a hard drive, and being named Untitled is not the issue. I'm betting it's that Sony plugin. Hope this helps.

June 5th, 2015, 07:59 AM	#99
Ricky Sharp Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Chicago, IL USA Posts: 180	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? No luck. As I mentioned, I had the issue before re-installing the Sony Plugin. I've since unisntalled that plugin again, and the problem remains. Interestinly, when I renamed my hard-drive partition back to 'Untitled', it now works there. So the Sony plugin seemed to alter a bit how that hard-drive partition was treated. Thanks for confirming that your cards are mounting as 'Untitled'. So the name of the volume itself isn't the issue. The only difference I do see in the cards vs. hard drive is that the cards are mounted as Read-Only. Perhaps when creating the logical structure, FCP X attempts to write a file to that volume? The mds process appears to want to do something with that volume. Although that's just the metadata service for the sake of creating data for Spotlight. I don't see anything in Console regarding issues with the 'Untitled' volumes outside of that. If you do a Get Info on your Mac on the 'Untitled' SD card volumes, does it say 'You can only read' under the 'Sharing & Permissions:' section?

June 5th, 2015, 08:34 AM	#101
Paul Hardy Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Lincoln, UK Posts: 99	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Ricky, to cut a long story short - go out now & buy an SD card reader. Just did a test & if you plug the camera directly into the mac it mounts 3 drives..... 1 is called 'PMHOME' & seems to contain license data that may be related to the 4k upgrade. The 2 other drives are called 'untitled' & 'untitled 1' and only show the first XAVC video file on the card. So basically I have the same problem. HOWEVER........ If I use an SD card reader - everything works fine & as it should with multiple files!

June 5th, 2015, 08:53 AM	#102
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Probably doesn't matter, but my SDXC card has read and write permissions. Yes, get a card reader - USB 3 is going to be miles faster than the camera anyway I think.

June 5th, 2015, 09:30 AM	#103
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? For those having success with a card reader have any tried using the built in card slot on a Mac laptop? Somewhere else someone posted they used the card slot and had to manually move the XDROOT folder to the same root level as PRIVATE and then it worked.

June 5th, 2015, 09:47 AM	#105
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X? Interestingly, I see different things if I use a card reader versus plugging into the SD slot on the back of my iMac - but both ways work. Card Reader - In the FCPX import window I see a PRIVATE folder and a private folder. The PRIVATE folder has three files per clip - 1 is a movie icon, 2 is an audio icon, 3 is a still image icon. Importing just the movie file brings in the audio and video flawlessly. The private folder is empty, but viewing it in the Finder it is the top level directory of the card, and encloses all the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. items. SD slot on back of iMac - I just see the PRIVATE folder, and it only includes 2 files per clip - the movie file and the still image file - no audio file. But again, the movie file is all that is needed for import. In the Finder all I see is the PRIVATE folder which encloses the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. - no separate private folder.