The included DVD with the Content Management Utility for AVCHD Camcorder is for Windows only. I guess I will eventually be able to answer my own question, but if anyone can clue me in quicker, what I am losing not being able to install this on my Mac? I wonder why Sony wouldn't include a Mac version.

What is your editing program on your Mac?

If you have FInal Cut then all you need is to use Log and Transfer.

I have no need for anything else with the FS-100.

Using Premiere Pro CS5 on the Mac.

What is your editing program on your Mac?

If you have FInal Cut then all you need is to use Log and Transfer.

I have no need for anything else with the FS-100.

Hey Jon,
Are you transcoding into ProRes during ingest? If so, how fast is it?

Yes - I transfer into ProRes 422.

its very fast - processes in real time. No problems with the workflow at all - on a new Macbook pro with a G-drive.

Does anyone know how to transfer 50p 1080 footage from the Sony FS100 to Final Cut Pro 7? Using Log and Transfer does not work. The software is able to see 25P and so on, but not 50P. I've been told that I need an updated Sony driver, but I can't find it on the net and it's not supplied with the camcorder.

I've contacted Peter Sykes from Sony UK, and he will put me in contact with a Japanese engineer tomorrow, but if anyone has an answer today, it would be just great.

I'm using Episode Pro to convert the .MTS files to ProRes. You need to set the 'Field Order' section to 'Source is Progressive' in order for it to work.

Whilst sound is recorded in the 1080p50 video, Episode does NOT extract it, so for this temporary solution, shoot with dual sound and ensure you slate your shots both visually and audibly of course.

Getting back to importing files to a MAC (I'm using PP CS5)--p. 102 of the FS100 manual says not to try and open and access files in the PRIVATE folder on the FS100 from a computer or else they could be damaged. That is interesting, hope that doesn't happen to anyone. That seems like something everyone get around to doing sometime.

Also the manual says not to copy files on the recording media from a computer. Operation is not guaranteed. Right now that is how I am getting files into CS5--I am copying the PRIVATE folder and pasting it to the MAC, and then importing the clips into CS5 using ADOBE Bridge. Is there a better way to import the files directly from the camera onto a MAC/CS5?

Thanks for the heads up about not opening files directly from the private folder!

You're talking about "not to copy files on the recording media from a computer". Did you mean TO a computer? Otherwise I don't think you are doing anything wrong. As long as you don't copy files from your computer to the SD card, it should work fine the way you described.

I always use log and transfer directly from the card.

Yes - I transfer into ProRes 422.

its very fast - processes in real time. No problems with the workflow at all - on a new Macbook pro with a G-drive.

Since when is "real time" considered very fast? Transcoding to ProRes is about 6x slower than doing a straight file transfer or ingesting comparable XDCAM footage. That does not fit my definition of real fast.
The workflow for FCP and AVCHD stinks.

After I copy the private folder to the Mac, I drag the private folder to a bin inside of CS5, and the clips are there. I just end up with a PRIVATE folder inside of the Bin, and then have to open that to view the clips. Also get an error message when dragging the PRIVATE folder into CS5 because some of the files in it are not the right type to transfer, I just ignore that message. I just don't think this way is what is intended.

In Premiere Pro CS5.5, are you getting any of the metadata from FS100 shots? User Bits? Exposure info? GPS info?

I'm new to CS5, but clicking around the METADATA tab, I'm not seeing any special stats from the camera like exposure settings, GPS, I see just what I consider standard information.

Doug realize I am also encoding to Prores 422 whereas you are talking about straight file transfer.

Jon, I understand exactly what you were saying. My point is that transcoding slows the ingest down by at least 84% -- even slower than real time. That does not fit my definition of being fast. My comparison to a straight file transfer was just to establish a baseline so we can tell exactly how much transcoding is slowing down the ingest. It is easy to see that transcoding takes 6-7 times longer than a straight transfer.

I guess I'm spoiled by XDCAM where ingest is 7x faster than NXCAM and you don't have to transcode to ProRes and have the joy of file sizes that are suddenly 6 times bigger -- with absolutely no benefit.

That's why we have the F3, I guess - XDCAM-EX: 'good enough'. As time goes on, I just know I'm going to be thinking about the F3 every time I use the FS100.

Does the supplied Windows app from Sony pull out GPS info, User Bits etc?

The Windows app shows the bit rate and GPS info, I dont see any exposure information, and I was using a SONY NEX lens.

I guess I'm spoiled by XDCAM where ingest is 7x faster than NXCAM and you don't have to transcode to ProRes and have the joy of file sizes that are suddenly 6 times bigger -- with absolutely no benefit.

Doug,

Isn't this speed you are talking about ONLY for those who are using laptops
(Macbook Pro) that have the card slot? For people like me who have a
Mac Pro desktop, is there a way other than USB 2 to transfer XDCAM EX
footage to my Mac Pro that fast?

No, I'm not talking about an internal slot in a MacBook Pro. I don't even have an SD slot in any of my MacBook Pros.

I'm using a normal USB stand-alone card reader to a Mac Pro desktop. But that isn't the problem anyway. It's not a hardware issue. I can ingest the card 7x faster than real time if I do a straight file transfer from the card in a USB card reader to my Mac Pro desktop. That is plenty fast enough for me and proves that the hardware is capable of a very fast transfer.

But if I transcode to ProRes (which I must do for FCP) then the transfer is slower than real time -- using the exact same hardware configuration. So the problem is not going to be solved by a faster card or a Firewire 800 card reader. The pipeline is already big enough to handle the load, but the computer can't process the files fast enough. Perhaps a faster computer processor might speed things up a bit, but that is the only hardware change that could make a difference. I have a pretty fast, fully-loaded Mac Pro, but let's say I got a new computer that could transcode twice as fast as my old one. Well, that would still be 3x slower than a straight file transfer and the new ProRes files that are created would still be 6x bigger than the original AVCHD files.

The purpose of my original post was not to complain about the NXCAM workflow (it is what it is), but to take issue with the poster who said it was "fast". It is anything but fast if you are used to working with XDCAM camcorders or devces that record in ProRes natively (NanoFlash, Ki Pro, SideKick, Alexa, etc.)

Doug,

Ok, I understand now. So, if you are to copy the original file over to
the Mac Pro, it is much faster than transcoding to ProRes, while you are
copying the file over. I have done both, as I typically transfer the
contents of the card to an external drive with folder structure intact
for backup, and then transfer to my 'workdrive' which is a 3 TB Raid O
in the Mac Pro. So the 'backup' on external drive is a straight file
transfer. The 'work copy' is a transcode to Pro Res, using Log and
Transfer.

Now I am interested in recording say.....15 minutes with my FS-100
and timing it to see how fast it will transfer using each method, just
for curiosity's sake. I've never timed it before.

Gabe,

I'd be interested to hear your results to see how they compare to mine. Also, just for the hell of it, you might want to compare files sizes of the original files vs. the new ProRes versions.

Hey, Doug, off topic, but do you have a projected date for release of your instructional video for the FS-100.

Hi Galen,

Thanks for asking.

I'm in the final stages of production now, and hope to send it to the replicator by the end of next week if all goes well. That means the DVDs will be shipping before mid-August. About a month later than I would have liked, but the Japanese earthquake really threw off any chance of getting an early camera that wasn't just a prototype. FYI, "Mastering the Sony NEX-FS100 Camcorder" will be three hours long with 18 chapters.

Also, if anyone has a week to spare and really wants to learn the camera in a small 5-10 person workshop, I'll be teaching an F3/FS100 workshop beginning August 7th at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport. Should be a lot of fun. Digital Cinematography with Sony's Super-35mm HD Cameras | Cinematography Workshops | Maine Media (http://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/filmmaking/digital-cinematography-sonys-super-35mm-hd-cameras)

And then later this fall, Vortex Media will be doing one-day FS100 and F3 workshops (each on a separate day) in New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Boston. Vortex Media Workshops for TV/Film Professionals (http://www.vortexmediaworkshops.com/)

I'm hoping to finally meet you either in Atlanta or Miami, Doug.

Doug,

Here are the results from my testing. First, let me describe my setup
totally as it may have had some affect on the results.

Computer: Mac Pro 2.66 Quad Core (hyperthreaded so it adds 'elements' of a
2nd core to each physical core) Nehalam (2009 model) 10 gigs of RAM.

Capturing from a Sony USB 2 card reader to my 'work drive' which is
a 3 TB RAID 0 drive (two 1.5 TB internal drives converted into a RAID 0
using Disk Utility)

Capturing 8 clips which total almost exactly 22 minutes in length.

Here are the results.

First, a straight capture from the card. The size of the 8 clips
was 3.92 gigs and it took 3 minutes and 26 seconds to transfer them to
my workdrive.

Second, transcoding the clips in Log & Transfer in Final Cut Pro.
After transcoding, the size of the 8 clips was 18.67 gigs. (I am
using 'standard' Pro Res 422, NOT Pro Res LT or Pro Res HQ).
It took 9 minutes and 22 seconds to transcode and transfer them to the work
drive.

Definitely faster just doing a file transfer. But 9:22 to transfer
22 minutes of footage isn't bad to those used to working with
tape!!!! It all depends on your perspective I think. Anyways,
hopefully this test will prove useful to someone.

P.S.
Doug, I'm looking to buy your DVD on the FS-100 as well, so
good to hear it will be out before too long!!

Hi Gabe,

Thanks for sharing your results. It sounds like you're getting transcode speeds that are more than twice as fast as real time. Very interesting. I did some further testing of my own just to confirm, and the best speed I can get using a similar setup to yours is 34% faster that real time. It doesn't matter which card I transcode from, or even from a HDD, my speeds are the same so I must have a slower Mac. Time to upgrade. :-)

Hi Dave, it'd be great to meet you when we are on the road.

Doug, will you have your FS100 DVDs for sale at your sessions?

Yes, I believe we will, although it might be better for some people to view the DVD before the class if they are new to this sort of camera. There will be very little overlap between the content of the DVD and the workshop. The purpose of the "advanced" workshop is to go beyond the information that can be covered easily in a DVD. It is expected that workshop attendees will already know the basics of the camera.
Thanks for asking.

Doug,

You ever thought about broadcasting the workshop online? There's no
way I could get to one as it would be $1200 or more in plane tickets, but
if there was a way to attend remotely, I'd be interested.

Yes, I believe we will, although it might be better for some people to view the DVD before the class if they are new to this sort of camera. There will be very little overlap between the content of the DVD and the workshop. The purpose of the "advanced" workshop is to go beyond the information that can be covered easily in a DVD. It is expected that workshop attendees will already know the basics of the camera.
Thanks for asking.

Thanks for the info, Doug. I'm hoping to have a '100 by the time I see you. Your DVD for my EX1 was outstanding and I expect no less from this one! ;)

Doug,

You ever thought about broadcasting the workshop online? There's no
way I could get to one as it would be $1200 or more in plane tickets, but
if there was a way to attend remotely, I'd be interested.

Not a bad idea. We'll have to give that some thought. Thanks.

Dave, thank you for the vote of confidence. Now the pressure is really on!

The reason I posted earlier on log and transfer speed being fast was compared to my older Mac Pro. This was an Octo-Processor, gobs of ram and a 6Tb raid .... BUT....

I am now using a new Macbook Pro i7 and it is super fast!! I am getting just over double transfer speeds with the FS-100 and this is only going to a G-Drive via esata. Whereas my Mac Pro was 1:1 speed at best.

The new Macbook Pro's changed our entire workflow. We got rid of 3 Mac Pros and now edit on location.

Doug, what would have to happen for you to do a workshop in St. Louis, MO--what are your needs to do that?

Hi Galen,
I appreciate your interest, but it would be impossible to schedule any other cities this year. We are maxed out. There are several cities that we would have liked to have included, and St. Louis was one of them. Sorry about that. Maybe next time!

What kind of card reader are you guys using to get the FS100 files onto your Macs? I'm using a basic USB reader and it takes about 15 minutes to get all of the footage from a 15 GB card. Maybe that's normal, but it feels like forever when compared to my EX SXS card reader! Thanks!

In the back of my head, I'm thinking the speed of the SD card is the limiting factor, using USB 2.0 or 3.0, ESATA, or anything else won't help (???), USB 2.0 will always exceed the speed of the card (?????).

What kind of card reader are you guys using to get the FS100 files onto your Macs? I'm using a basic USB reader and it takes about 15 minutes to get all of the footage from a 15 GB card. Maybe that's normal, but it feels like forever when compared to my EX SXS card reader! Thanks!

SD read speeds can vary quite a bit, but I've never come actoss one that's anywhere close to the speed of an SxS-G1a card. Typically (using my Nexto 2500 drive, which has both SxS and SD slots) my SxS cards transfer almost 5x faster than my SD cards.