I need to give a client footage from my EX1 so he can do his own edit,but i'm a pc man so i'm clueless about the mac workflow,can some one explain it to me in simple terms so i can tell him how to import into FCP.

Here's the scenario,i'm filming at his office,which is where the mac is,so with my pc laptop i can rewrap and transfer the footage to my portable hard-drive,then run upstairs to the mac,then what do i do ?

What i'd like is someone to give me step by step instructions,which i can print out and give to the client.

Thanks,Paul.

Paul,

If he's on a Macbook Pro and has a slot on the side of his laptop, I'd say that just plugging the card in to his machine is the easiest thing.

If not (if it's a mac pro desktop or a G5) why not just import the footage directly to his machine via the USB cable?

If you plug the camera directly into his computer (or plug the SxS cards into the express slot) your card(s) will show up as external drive. You can then pull the BPAV folder right off the SxS card. Or you can use the transfer tool on his machine to pull the footage off.

Bottom line, sounds like using your computer at all is superfluous.

Hope this helps.

What i'd like is someone to give me step by step instructions,which i can print out and give to the client.
If your client has FCP installed on his laptop, then have him/her download the latest version of the Sony Transfer Software (http://www.sony.ca/xdcamex/software.htm) and set the prefs. Then, as you shoot, you simply insert the SxS cards into his MacBook Pro and he copies & converts the files onto his drive.

This assumes two things: 1) He has FCP installed with all the correct codecs for the EX1 (the transfer software requires the FCP codecs to be installed), and 2) he has a MacBook Pro (which comes with an Express 34 slot).

If it's not a MacBook, but a Mac Pro tower, then you need to have a SxS card reader, and all the software installed.

Make sure he has Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 on his computer. That will give him the EX1 codec. It MUST be 6.0.2 and not 6.0 or 6.0.1. The update is a free download if he has FCP6.

Make sure he installs the SxS Driver
Make sure he installs Sony Clip Browser if it's an Intel Mac (It doesn't run on PPC Mac)
Make sure he installs Sony XDCAM Transfer Tool 2.5.1 (it fixes issues with 2.1 but 2.5.1 is still NOT on the USA Sony site!). This works on both PPC and Intel.

If he has MacBookPro
Install SxS card in Express port.
Use Sony Clip Browser to copy to hard drive.
Use Sony XDCAM Transfer Tool to rewrap the files as .MOV for FCP.

If he has Intel Mac that does not have Express Port (only MacBookPro)
Connect camera to computer via USB port.
Use Sony Clip Browser to copy to hard drive.
Use Sony XDCAM Transfer Tool to rewrap the files as .MOV for FCP.

If he has PPC Mac (G4 or G5)
Connect camera to computer via USB port.
Use Sony XDCAM Transfer Tool to rewrap the files as .MOV for FCP.

The Intel Mac Sony Clip Browser is similar to the Windows version EXCEPT that it does NOT rewrap to .MXF. It only performs copies and splitting cards if needed.

Sony XDCAM Transfer Tool is specific to Mac and works with both Disc and SxS based XDCAM sources. You need to make sure it's pointing to an appropriate folder to copy the files to in preferences.

The Sony Mac XDCAM Transfer Tool can work as a desktop app independent of FCP. I believe it can still rewrap the clips if he does not have FCP 6.0.2 BUT he will NOT be able to actually SEE the clips. I believe there is a preference setting to use clips even though the EX codec is not installed.

Thanks guys.
Yes it's a desktop mac,yes it has the xdcam transfer tool on it.
So,i have the sxs card reader,so he can get the driver from the website,i'm not sure which type of mac he's got.It's not really practical to plug cam in so it's gonna have to be th card reader route.
What if one day we're not near the mac pc,only out with my laptop,card reader,etc,could i not just transfer all the BAPV unwrapped to a portable hard-drive then let him plug that into his mac hard-drive?
I'll try and find out which type of mac it is,it is a desktop.

Thans again guys.
Paul.

Use Sony Clip Browser to copy to hard drive.


A question about this procedure as I´m still waiting for my camera;
Can´t one just copy the content of the sxs card via drag and drop to any folder on any volume connected the "olde mac way"? Do you have to use the clip browser?? My dealer will barely give me enough time to unbox my camera before I have to rush to Singapore with it for a week and a half of shooting, my battle plan was/is to stick the cards in the MacBook and just dump the footage to an external disk while in the field, preferably via drag and drop.
Guess I can play around with it while airbound...

Magnus,

Yes you can. As long as you have the SxS drivers installed, the card shows up like any other drive on the Mac.

Make sure your Express card slot is working right. Many, including myself, have a broken mechanism in their MBP's that prevents the card from staying in, and makes it difficult to use. Bring the USB cable so you can tether the camera as a backup.

Magnus, yes you can certainly drag and drop as others state BUT
if you're using 8GB cards you should then burn to DL-DVD. That'll save against the risk of crashing hard drive or overwriting on BPAV with another.

The advantage of the Clip Browser is that it can split a 16GB card into two 8GB folders so you can burn each to DL-DVD.

You may have seen elsewhere on this forum how easy it is to accidently erase your master. DL-DVD is your friend. You can always have it burn and verify while you continue to shoot.

Eric, Craig, good advice, thanks! However, I do refuse to deal with optical media :-) In our still photography business, (where I live most of the time), while on the road this is the workflow;
Shooting onto 8GB CF-cards, when full dragged from card via MacBook to 2 raided LaCie "rugged" 2,5" 160GB discs, back in hotel room this gets backed up to third hard disc, going home I carry 1 disc, assistant carry 1, and the last one gets Fed-exed back to the studio (if we are overseas). Back home 1 disc goes into a vault, the raided ones go onto a raid 5 system for storage, the raided small discs get erased, we buy one new and the whole thing starts all over again. Now, I am a newbie when it comes to moving images, but I held out for the EX1 to be able to use the same workflow for taking care of the raw material. I just realized it seems like I hijacked this thread, I do apologize, it was not my intention.
Magnus

Magnus, whatever works for you.

I've been using computers for about 25 years (or more). I can still read data from CD-Rs that are 15 years old. I can't say that about some hard drives though. There certainly can be good and bad optical media but I've found good optical media is good. Good hard drives can develop problems or even compatibility issues (where can I find that SCSI interface?).

It's OK to back up to multiple hard drives. I just think over many years (if you keep the data that long) there are greater risks.

For me (maybe NOT for YOU), giving a client a hard drive is just "asking" for that phone call, "why is it blank?" or, "where's file x?" Hard drive are erasable. Sure read only optical disks can be damaged but I simply burn them another and send it off.

If a client only needs about an hour of material (16GB) I wouldn't send them a hard drive, that's for sure.

The initial question was about what to hand to a client which may be very different then how one handles a controlled internal work flow.

Dear Craig, I certainly didn´t mean to disrespect anyone´s workflow in any way! Furthermore I agree with everything you say, my choice to go with hard-disc drives is totally motivated by time, or rather the lack thereof.
It is way cheaper for me to just buy more hard discs and keep archiving and backing this archive up, then to spend time burning dvd:s, next year things may be different... In the good/bad old days of shooting film, I had 1 set of negatives, should the house burn down, it would all have been lost, still, I slept better at nights then...

Ok,the client has got an intel based mac pro,2.66qx.
When importing the footage from my EX1 (1080/50i),the aspect ratio is appearing all wrong in FCP,the footage is appearing as 1900x2600.
Can someone please advise me quickly.
Any updates for xdcam transfer which should be installed,for FCP etc.
A job for me depends on this.

Thanks,Paul.

It's hard to make suggestions without software version numbers.
XDCAM Xfer tool should be 2.5.1
OS should be 10.4.11 (Sony does not yet recommend 10.5.2)
Final Cut Pro should be 6.0.2
He should use the FCP Easy Setup for XDCAM EX 1080/50i

Nothing about Sony Clip Browser or XDCAM Xfer changes aspect ratio so it's likely his FCP setup.

Craig,thanks for the quick reply.
I shot the footage a couple of days ago,left it on the pc for him,he's got the rewrapped mxf files and the complete BAPV.
I just copied the complete BAPV from my portable hard-drive to the mac,via usb.
Was this workflow wrong ? It seems that the mac workflow is not like my pc workflow.

I take it you use EX1 and a mac.
If you were at the guys mac right now,what would your workflow be ? I have the sony card reader.

Thanks,Paul.

BPAV are on his Mac, each inside it's own folder.

Make sure he has all the correct version numbers as I mentioned below. IF he's on OX 10.5.2 things should work but he might bump into issues.

Open Xfer tool from the desktop.

Set Preferences to point to the folder he wants to copy the video to.

I might suggest turning off the pref to open clips in FCP. I'd do that manually afterwards. You can open FCP first and use Xfer tool as an import plugin but there were issues with Tool 2.1 doing that so I don't trust that workflow yet.

Use the Add button and point it to each folder containing a BPAV. Do NOT point it at the BPAV folder though.

Then select clips and import.

Open FCP, create project, make sure Easy Setup is set to XDCAM EX 1080/50i and import the MOV files the XFER tool created.

Ok the footage is in FCP but the aspect ratio isall wrong,i recorded in 1080/50 hq but it's appearing as being stretched fromm 1900 to 2600 pixels.
When the footage is just played on the mac,it's correct,it'sonly wrong when in FCP.

Thanks,Paul.

You must use the appropriate Easy Setup for EX 1080/50i in FCP.

Ok the footage is in FCP but the aspect ratio isall wrong,i recorded in 1080/50 hq but it's appearing as being stretched fromm 1900 to 2600 pixels.
When the footage is just played on the mac,it's correct,it'sonly wrong when in FCP.

Thanks,Paul.

Thanks Craig,the client is watching this thread on this forum so hopefully he can sort it,i don't know my way around a mac at all.
Thanks,Paul.

No good,still having problems.
Cannot get FCP to work with EX1 files.
Surely it's got to something simple,so many people using FCP an EX1.

Paul.

Hard to know what's going on unless you provide step by step. Make sure you're choosing XDCAM EX 1080i50 and NOT XDCAM HD 1080i50

Close FCP and open a source MOV wrapped file in Quicktime. Use Quicktime Window/Show Movie Inspector and it should show the file as 1920x1080 (1888x1062) next to Format. You should also see Normal Size and Current Size and 1920x1080.

I'm in NTSC land but this QT Inspector should show you what the file pixel dimensions should be.

FCP Easy Setup XDCAM EX (NOT HD)

Thanks guys.
All this is alien to me because i'm a pc user,however,i've told the client about this forum and he's watching it,this thread in particular,so hopefully he can understand it a bit more.He has joined DVINFO today but cannot post for 1 day for some reason,hopefully he'll be on here soon asking questions.
Many thanks for all your help.
Paul.

I'm hoping the screen shots will help.
If he can import into FCP but he's seeing the wrong aspect ratio it's must likely due to using the wrong EasySetup.

Craig,am i right in thinking it's just something minor wrong with FCP,just a small setting which needs changing ?
I hope so,a job could depend on it.
Thanks for being so helpful.
Paul.

Yes, that's what I'm trying to say. I think he's just selected the wrong Easy Setup. That's why I included the screen shot showing which one for EX 1080/50i.

I included the Quicktime screen shot just in case there was something that happened odd to the files themselves. This way he can check that they're 1920x1080.

Craig,am i right in thinking it's just something minor wrong with FCP,just a small setting which needs changing ?
I hope so,a job could depend on it.
Thanks for being so helpful.
Paul.

Craig.
The client is only getting the apple xdcam HD setting,apparently xdcam EX isn't there ! Do you have any suggestions ?

Thanks,Paul.

Your client MUST update to FCP 6.0.2. That's the ONLY way to get the EX codec. It's a free download from 6.0 and 6.0.1

He reckons he's got FCP 6.0.2 , transfer tool 2.5.1,sxs drivers, and os 10.4.11.
I gave him the BAPV folder on my portable hard-drive which he then transfered to his mac.
I don't know what else to suggest,i just hope he can sort it out.
Oh well,it looks like i've lost the job but if it gets sorted i'll post on here.
Thanks again Craig.

Paul.

If he does not have the EX easy setups as per my pic then he does not have 6.0.2. He should download and install. If he does have 6.0.2 then he's got an issue with the install and needs to uninstall FCP (not easy since each of its many components must be removed by hand) and then reinstall.

I recently installed the drivers for xdcam transfer, clip browser and the sxs drivers. I currently do not have the fcp 6, but plan to get it. I installed the transfer 1.01, not the current 2.5.1 (since it opens on import in fcp), so I could at least check out the clips in QT on my laptop. When I put the card into the express slot, it appears on the desktop, then I open xdcam transfer, and it finds the card, but then no media shows up in the clip browser. But, I can play those clips and hear the audio in the xdcam clip browser program and with a VLC player. So what is it that I am not doing correctly for the same media not to show up in xdcam transfer. I have downloaded the sxs driver twice, trashing and re-installing, as well as with the xdcam transfer, using the early version, 1.0.1 or whatever came prior to 2.5.1. thanks for your help...

jerry

Jerry, I think you have your utilities confused.

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/xdcamEXdownloads.shtml


Card Driver is 1.0
Clip Browser is 1.1
Transfer Tool is 2.5.1

Transfer tool needs the EX codec installed with FCP 6.0.2.
Clip Browser probably can work without out it. I can't tell for sure since FCP 6.0.2 is installed on every system I use.

VLC can play the MP4 files directly.

Craig, I guess what I am confused about, is that the first xdcam transfer software that was out, allowed one to rewrap the clip files into qt without FCP being open. When I downloaded that first version, and inserted the sxs card, xdcam transfer recognized the card, but I only got a grey screen showing where a clip image should be showing. I know there is media on these clips because it plays through the xe1 browser clip software and the VLC player. I have fcp6 ordered and on the way, but was hoping to do some experimenting with camera settings and with the xdcam transfer I could actually look at the clips and see what looks good.
Any ideas why the clip's image doesn't come up, but only a grey space looks like off-line media? thanks...

jerry

Craig, I should have mentioned, I am operating 10.4.11, and when the grey area appears where a clip image should be, the import button is not "live" so I can not import the clips, thereby rewrapping them. If you use the transfer, one shouldn't have to have fcp open to use it, correct? You can rewrap the clips into a qt format before launching fcp? So I am just trying to get the xdcam transfer working....

jerry
sioux city, iowa

The Transfer Software won't show video without the EX codec which is in FCP 6.0.2. It can be used on the desktop without opening FCP.

There's a pref setting so it won't try to open FCP. It says: Open imported files with (choices on my system: Final Cut Pro, Finder, QuickTime Player). Probably best for you to set it to Finder.

There's a pref setting that I allows it to work without the codec.
It says: Import clips with no installed codec. If the appropriate codecs are not installed you will still be able to import but not view or edit the imported movies on this computer.

I believe the software can rewrap to MOV even without FCP 6.0.2 but you won't be able to see the video.

I think the Clip Browser allows you to see the clips without FCP but it only moves the files, not rewrap. The Clip Browser works on Intel Macs but not at all on PPC Macs. On Windows it can rewrap to MXF.

I have FCP on both my PPC and Intel systems so I can't confirm what happens when FCP 6.0.2 is not installed unfortunately.

Craig, Thank you. That was the missing piece of the puzzle I was trying to figure out. Not being the sharpest pixel in the pack when it comes to software related stuff, I was trying to figure out how a codec in fcp could allow another software, xdcam transfer, to work if it wasn't open. thanks again, so now I will be patient until fcp6 arrives...

jerry
sioux city, iowa

Please tell me EX transfer 2.5 works with PPC macs...

Please...any of you who have PPC macs and FCP 6 and a XDCAM EX...please tell me I don't have to go out and get and intel mac...

The EX codec isn't showing up in FCP...does anyone know where I can get it?

:(

XDCAM Transfer 2.5.1 works just fine on my PPC G5 Dual 2.3GHz Mac. You MUST have FCP 6.0.2 (6 or 6.0.1 do NOT have the EX codec). I've already mentioned it several times in the thread

FCP 6.0.2 NOT FCP 6 or 6.0.1

Please tell me EX transfer 2.5 works with PPC macs...

Please...any of you who have PPC macs and FCP 6 and a XDCAM EX...please tell me I don't have to go out and get and intel mac...

The EX codec isn't showing up in FCP...does anyone know where I can get it?

:(

XDCAM Transfer 2.5.1 works just fine on my PPC G5 Dual 2.3GHz Mac. You MUST have FCP 6.0.2 (6 or 6.0.1 do NOT have the EX codec). I've already mentioned it several times in the thread

FCP 6.0.2 NOT FCP 6 or 6.0.1

Yayyy! I got it working...thanks to you Craig:) I thought since the clip browser worked for only intel based macs that transfer 2.5 was the same...Here's to not not having to buy a new computer when I don't have the money...Hip hip hooray!

:D

Hello,
i'm planing to buy a EX1 soon and i'm wondering if it's possible to edit easily with a powermac G5 2*2,5 (4 Go RAM).
No money to buy the EX1 and a Macpro in the same time.
Thanks

See above. Yes G5 will work fine.

Hi guys,i have a quick question.
I might have the opportunity of working with another cam operator,who edits with FCP 5,will FCP 5 work with EX1 MXF files ?
I'm a pc user,not mac,so i'm not sure what issue of FCP is the latest,is it 6 ?
If FCP 5 will work,will he need the transfer software aswell ?

Thanks,Paul.

For The EX1, FCP works with QuickTimes using the XDCAM codec.

Only the latest version of FCP will work this way - version 6.02.

Transfer software is required, yes.

Regarding MXF files, I don't know if FCP will work with them, nor how to go about converting the EX1 files to MXF on a Mac.