View Full Version : EX1 bottle neck for USB transfer to PC
Simon Denny January 9th, 2009, 08:49 AM I’m trying to give a client 43 mins of footage shoot on the EX1 and they use Sony Vegas.
The problem is that when we go to transfer the file onto their PC system via USB out of the EX1 the transfer is taking as much time as the recorded footage.
I thought USB was faster.
I cant give them QuickTime as Vegas needs an MXF,file.
How can I overcome this bottle neck in the transfer?
Simon
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 09:06 AM Why aren't you using the expresscard in a machine? Give them the mp4 file inside the file structure.
BPAV > CLPR > XXX_XXXX_XX > *.mp4
Opens right up in Vegas.
Simon Denny January 9th, 2009, 09:33 AM What do you mean Perrone? I dont follow what your saying.
Regards
Buba Kastorski January 9th, 2009, 09:47 AM ...
Opens right up in Vegas.
what Vegas do you use :)
Andrew Hollister January 9th, 2009, 09:53 AM remove the SxS card from the camera
insert it into a computer with a PCxpress card slot
and transfer that way.
Simon Denny January 9th, 2009, 09:56 AM Well i'm now dumping from the EX1 via USB using the clip browser. I have 43mins of footage and it's now been 1hr 20mins and it's just at 63% in the clip browser.
Something is wrong with this.
Buba Kastorski January 9th, 2009, 10:01 AM Are you just copying or MXF converting, are you shure you connect to USB2 port, not all USB ports have USB enhanced driver by default
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 10:07 AM thank god someone else is having this problem, its driving me crazy.
I tried the BPAV file, but it wont open in vegas, and I dont have an express card slot, I can get one for my desktop, but not for my lap top, and the lap top is the one that would need it because its used when I am shooting news in the field. I dont want to wait 3 hours for an hours worth of video I shot.
I called sony, and they had no idea what to do.
i have tried it on 3 different computers, its all the same, either real time, or longer.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 10:16 AM what Vegas do you use :)
8.0c and 8.1. The mp4 opens up just fine in both.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 10:17 AM Does your laptop have an SD card slot?
thank god someone else is having this problem, its driving me crazy.
I tried the BPAV file, but it wont open in vegas, and I dont have an express card slot, I can get one for my desktop, but not for my lap top, and the lap top is the one that would need it because its used when I am shooting news in the field. I dont want to wait 3 hours for an hours worth of video I shot.
I called sony, and they had no idea what to do.
i have tried it on 3 different computers, its all the same, either real time, or longer.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 10:22 AM Does your laptop have an SD card slot?
yeah, it does, and since I am using the kensington adapter method, I took the SDHC card and plugged that straight in, but it wouldnt let me transfer the files for some reason.
my laptop is still running clipbrowser 1, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 10:23 AM 8.0c and 8.1. The mp4 opens up just fine in both.
do open up the file, and copy the mp4 into vegas? thats what I was trying and it said it couldnt be opened.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 10:28 AM do open up the file, and copy the mp4 into vegas? thats what I was trying and it said it couldnt be opened.
Weird. Maybe you're missing a codec or something but it should work. It's just mpeg2 wrapped in an mp4 wrapper. In fact, I take that mp4 file and batch encode to Avid DNxHD now so even the freebie ffmpeg on my machines understands the file.
Maybe the clipbrowser software adds a codec for it or something.
Buba Kastorski January 9th, 2009, 10:29 AM my laptop is still running clipbrowser 1, so maybe that had something to do with it.
no, i use both , works the same way, except for the missing features from the V2.0
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 10:34 AM i'll try it again and see what I can get
Paul Kellett January 9th, 2009, 11:05 AM 8.0c and 8.1. The mp4 opens up just fine in both.
Are you saying that you can open the native mp4 file in vegas, without rewrapping to mxf ?
I just tried and vegas can't open the files, i have to rewrap to mxf first.
Paul.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 11:25 AM Are you saying that you can open the native mp4 file in vegas, without rewrapping to mxf ?
I just tried and vegas can't open the files, i have to rewrap to mxf first.
Paul.
You know what? I just tested this to be sure. You're right. I cannot. My transition to using the .mp4 files came at the same time as my transition to another editing codec. The transcoder can read those files just fine, but Vegas cannot.
I am sorry for the confusion.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 11:53 AM whew, I thought it was ALL my equipment screwing up!
are you still using clip browser to re wrap then?
Buba Kastorski January 9th, 2009, 12:06 PM The transcoder can read those files just fine, but Vegas cannot.
I am sorry for the confusion.
Oh, thought that's the "user" problem :)
but anyways it's redicules, no problem with native EX1 mp4 in Adobe, and sony does not understand sony
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 12:38 PM i've updated the laptops clip browser to v.2 and can now pull the files off the SDHC card, but its still slow...what am I missing? is it possible its camera related?
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 01:13 PM i've updated the laptops clip browser to v.2 and can now pull the files off the SDHC card, but its still slow...what am I missing? is it possible its camera related?
No, USB is slow. That's why the cards come out and can be placed in a machine. It's also that slow USB interface that is responsible for us not being able to do overcranking on SDHC. No way around it unless you want to take the card out and transfer directly.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 01:15 PM are you still using clip browser to re wrap then?
No, I don't.
There is a utility that converts mp4 files to Avid's DNxHD codec directly, in batch. So I just point it at all my source material, and let it do it's thing. When it's done, I have lovely editable files. Overnight, I do the same thing, but let it encode to higher quality files (if necessary).
Bruce Rawlings January 9th, 2009, 01:33 PM Peronne, out of interest what utility are you using?
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 02:09 PM Peronne, out of interest what utility are you using?
A small utility called XDCAMEX_to_Avid. It's a GUI shell wrapped around ffmpeg. Takes mp4 files as input, kicks out DNxHD .mov files. Simple and highly effective.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 02:24 PM No way around it unless you want to take the card out and transfer directly.
thats what I did this time, and I stopped the transfer at 12 minutes in to a 7 min file.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 02:56 PM thats what I did this time, and I stopped the transfer at 12 minutes in to a 7 min file.
I just tried copying my BPAV folder from my expresscard to my laptop drive. 7.03GB took about 2 minutes 20 seconds.
-P
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 03:13 PM I just tried copying my BPAV folder from my expresscard to my laptop drive. 7.03GB took about 2 minutes 20 seconds.
-P
now you are just showing off! haha.
that was with the express card plugged right into the computer? did the drive come with the computer? or did you buy it aftwords?
I am gonna go try my gear with a mac, just to rule out the camera, and go from there.
EDIT-
just noticed you said laptop, so I am assuming its a newer one with the built in express card slot huh? I need to find an adapter for my PCexpress card slot, so I can try using the SxS cards.
Alister Chapman January 9th, 2009, 03:18 PM Many of the SD card slots on laptops do not support SDHC cards without a firmware update. I had this problem on a Vaio. Found I got much faster transfers from SDHC cards by using a USB to SDHC adapter.
Perrone Ford January 9th, 2009, 03:20 PM now you are just showing off! haha.
that was with the express card plugged right into the computer? did the drive come with the computer? or did you buy it aftwords?
I am gonna go try my gear with a mac, just to rule out the camera, and go from there.
EDIT-
just noticed you said laptop, so I am assuming its a newer one with the built in express card slot huh? I need to find an adapter for my PCexpress card slot, so I can try using the SxS cards.
Yes, I bought the new laptop in anticipation of working with the EX1. Ordered within a week of each other. Honestly, if you are going to get into this level of the game, the workflow has to be solid end to end.
I'm specing out a new desktop as I type this. Hopefully a dual quad-core. One of those times I WISH Vegas would use a GPU. But I am building this one to handle 2k and 4k. I don't want to be here again in 2 years crying about my slow machine.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 03:25 PM Yes, I bought the new laptop in anticipation of working with the EX1. Ordered within a week of each other. Honestly, if you are going to get into this level of the game, the workflow has to be solid end to end.
I'm specing out a new desktop as I type this. Hopefully a dual quad-core. One of those times I WISH Vegas would use a GPU. But I am building this one to handle 2k and 4k. I don't want to be here again in 2 years crying about my slow machine.
yeah, my laptop is the weak link, but the desktop shouldnt be, its all brand new, built specifically to handle the ex3.
back to the BPAV subject, how do you re wrap using clip browser? I put the folder on the desktop as a test, and cant find it using clip browser.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 03:26 PM Many of the SD card slots on laptops do not support SDHC cards without a firmware update. I had this problem on a Vaio. Found I got much faster transfers from SDHC cards by using a USB to SDHC adapter.
thanks for the heads up.
you are talking about one of the cheap card readers?
Alister Chapman January 9th, 2009, 03:36 PM When I got my Scandisk Ultra II cards they came with a free USB to SDHC adapter and that works really well.
Simon Denny January 9th, 2009, 03:43 PM Well transfering from the EX via USB toclip browser for Sony Vegas PC is slower than realtime, 43mins of footage ended up taking 1hr 40mins.
If I buy a card reader this still has to use USB.
What are my options to quicken this up?
Regards
Alister Chapman January 9th, 2009, 03:55 PM Are you sure your USB port is USB 2? It should be faster than that. I would give a card reader a try, they don't cost much and bypass the bottleneck that slows down SD cards in the EX.
Simon Denny January 9th, 2009, 03:58 PM Thanks,
Yeah, all USB ports are USB 2.
Any brands of card readers that you might suggest Alister?
Simon
Bob Grant January 9th, 2009, 04:14 PM Vegas 8.0 cannot read the mp4 wrapper. You have to use the Clipbrowser to rewrap into MXF. It does take a long time.
Be aware also that Vegas cannot join the files. You must use the Clipbrowser to do this, if you don't you'll get a glitch at the join.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 04:50 PM ok, now I am really confused. I did on continuous file (7 minutes worth) it took 44 seconds to transfer. sweet. then I tried multiple clips totaling 7 minutes, and I am back to the slower than real time transfer. the copy check is not on, clip browser is set to processing speed over data protection.
is anyone with a PC, vegas, who is using clip browser to transfer the files, not BPAV's seeing faster times?
should I be looking into the sony SxS card reader?
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 04:52 PM Well transfering from the EX via USB toclip browser for Sony Vegas PC is slower than realtime, 43mins of footage ended up taking 1hr 40mins.
If I buy a card reader this still has to use USB.
What are my options to quicken this up?
Regards
are you using the SxS cards, or SDHC?
Bob Grant January 9th, 2009, 06:07 PM ok, now I am really confused. I did on continuous file (7 minutes worth) it took 44 seconds to transfer. sweet. then I tried multiple clips totaling 7 minutes, and I am back to the slower than real time transfer. the copy check is not on, clip browser is set to processing speed over data protection.
is anyone with a PC, vegas, who is using clip browser to transfer the files, not BPAV's seeing faster times?
should I be looking into the sony SxS card reader?
I use my EX1 with Vegas 8.
I'm not certain exactly what you're doing when you say "transfer the files"?
If you're rewrapping to MXF then I'm not surprised at your outcome as the Clipbrowser is probably doing more than just reading one data file so the USB data rate would really slow things down.
I always copy the entire card(s) and it's structure to a folder on my HDDs. Then I use the clipbrowser to do the rewrap to MXF. The rewrap to MXF is slow, around 25% RT. The old version of the Clipbrowser was much faster.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 06:16 PM I use my EX1 with Vegas 8.
I'm not certain exactly what you're doing when you say "transfer the files"?
If you're rewrapping to MXF then I'm not surprised at your outcome as the Clipbrowser is probably doing more than just reading one data file so the USB data rate would really slow things down. yeah, thats what I am doing, I plug in the camera, open clip browser, select the clips, and select "export mxf".
I always copy the entire card(s) and it's structure to a folder on my HDDs. Then I use the clipbrowser to do the rewrap to MXF. The rewrap to MXF is slow, around 25% RT. The old version of the Clipbrowser was much faster.
for some reason I wasnt understanding that, I get it now, once the files are on the computer, its faster to rewrap than doing it while pulling them off the camera huh?
what I dont get is how to rewrap, once the BPAV file is on the computer, I cant find it in clip browser, and it wont let me drag it in either. sorry for being so dense on this, I have been going in 8 different directions trying to figure it out, I am frazzled.
Ian Planchon January 9th, 2009, 06:26 PM wait! I got it! hahaha, for some reason clip browser didnt find them the first time, but I got it sorted. 7 min file in 5 minutes. thats better than 15.
Im happy again!
curious if that sony SxS card reader allows faster transfer speeds straight from the card to MXF via clip browser.
thanks for all the help everyone.
Simon Denny January 11th, 2009, 09:44 PM Sorry I have been away for a few days and unable to responed.
What's the solution then with giving a client footage shot on these cards.
I'm also searching for a cheap card reader to do the transfer but as it's still going in via USB the transfer times will be large?
Regards
Ian Planchon January 11th, 2009, 10:52 PM you should be able to transfer the BPAV file to the computer, then open clipbrowser, locate the clips, and convert them to MXF. that solved the slow transfer time for me.
Simon Denny January 11th, 2009, 11:36 PM Thanks Ian,
Yeah that's what I have done. The BPAV transfer from camera to PC took a little less than 43 mins and then the MXF transfer was very quick but still this a slow work around if the client wants this after the shoot as it means 1hr footage will take around and hour to download to their PC.
Cheers
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