I shot some EX-1, F3 and Canon DSLR footage for a client who only has a PC ( new one ).
I converted the SxS to quicktime MOV files and gave him everything on a Mac OS hard drive.

He downloaded Macdrive for the PC and has Quicktime and MPEG Streamclip.

The PC will read the drive and both quicktime and MPEG streamclip will play the Canon footage but neither will play the Sony footage. PC says it doesn't have the codec although it has a recent version of Quicktime.

What's the problem here?

Will VLC help?

VLC is trial and error. Apple re-wraps XDCAM into a new FourCC code that Windows will flat out not recognize. Once you re-wrap XDCAM to MOV, it can pretty much only be read on computers with the FCP Pro Codecs installed.

You could try Calibrated QXD to see if that helps. It's not free unfortunately. http://www.calibratedsoftware.com/qxd.asp

If you have the original camera files, that's the ideal way to go. The MP4 files from the original card are guaranteed to be played on VLC. It's also compatible with Premiere Pro and Vegas.

PLEASE treat your SxS card contents as your original files. (or film negatives) If you don't, and you just convert to MOV and delete the card contents, these issues will occur and they're VERY hard to solve.

Thanks,

I always keep the original BAVC files and gave those to the client along with the converted MOV files . I figured the MOV would be easier to deal with.
So will VLC read from the BAVC folders?

Can they also just download Sony XDCAM Browser for windows?

Yes, inside the BPAV folders, under the CLPR folders, inside each take's folder, the MP4 file is playable in VLC.

Content Browser allows you to see thumbnails and it can playback spanned files seamlessly.

You may find that VLC will actually play the files properly. I had audio problems with previous VLC versions, but the current version (2.0.5) does a good job on my pc's of playing final cut MOV's, as well as NanoFlash files that have been recorded at 100Mbps in Final Cut MOV format.

The MP4s from the BPAV folders are what I know are guaranteed to work. At the same time, I've just tested 100Mbps MOV nanoFlash footage on VLC and it only plays 1 channel at a time, same with MXF footage. For some reason, VLC does not like drop frame MXFs in NTSC. There are still audio issues with those MXFs. 24p MXFs however play fine in VLC.

yes, the single selected audio channel aspect can be a PITA.
I guess my clients that request the MOVs are always non-drop, since I never noticed the drop-frame issue.
And of course when just dealing with the SxS or XDcam data I'll usually simply use XDcam Browser (or the old PDZ-VX10 XDcam Viewer, which is my favorite for MXF files)