I like the file naming system which uses the date and time which ensures each clip has a different file name but after I format a card in camera the new files I shoot are once again named C0001.mp4, C0002,mp4, C0003.mp4 and so on. Well I have many more files of the same name and this is going to be a big problem forsure. How does one avoid this issue please and thank you
Bruce

this issue is with xavc files only

The simplest method is to use Folders for each event, then it doesn't matter if you have 2 files of the same name. If you have duplicate file names of a single event, then you can use Sub-folders like Card1, Card2...
Or Camera-A, Camera-B...

The next method might be to use any number of programs (FastStone?) that allow Bulk Renaming, so you can rename your files and give them some contextual name: SmithWedding001, SmithWedding002...
Or in your case, you can use the Time Stamp of the file as part of its name: 2014-11-12 10;30.mp4

This is an issue I'm having with the ax100
In theSetup Menu there is an item called "File Number" which has two options "Series" or "Reset"
Trouble is the "Series" option behaves in the same exact manner as the "Reset" option. You can't have a bunch of files on a computer all with the same name even if they are in different directories because sooner or later some will get overwritten. I have sent an email to Sony Support several days ago and have not received a response as yet
Do other ax100 users experience the same issue? or is it just my camera?
BTW this problem of the file numbers reseting every time only exists when shooting xavc-s

Jep. Got the same thing.

I just make a new folder on my drive for each shoot. Premiere can handle clips with the same name in the same bin, but the OS cannot have two files with the exact same name in the same folder, as you say.

I agree that the lack of proper naming for the XAVC files is very lame.
I would hope that this can be fixed with a firmware update.
To me this is just another example of how this codec, in the case of the X70, has been released with very little collateral technology or infrastructure, making it inconvenient and annoying to use at present.

Don't you use batch rename? In Windows all I do once the files are imported is to do a batch rename using the Shift / Select method selecting the the whole batch of clips, let's say clips 0001 to 0100. While all clips are selected and highlighted I rename the first clip, for example let's say 'World Series Cam #1 Card #1.' All selected clips will will now have this name but with a numeral after it such as:

World Series Cam #1 Card #1 (1)
World Series Cam #1 Card #1 (2)
World Series Cam #1 Card #1 (3)
etc. etc.

Of course the naming convention you use is entirely up to you and your requirements and imagination.

Very often I will batch rename using shot descriptions such as 'Joe Bloggs Interview CU' for all the close up shots and 'Joe Bloggs Interview MCU' for all the medium close up shots.

This way I am assured that there are never two shots in the system with the same name unless it's through my own stupidity. I have been doing this with XDCam disc footage with great success ever since we left tape behind in 2007.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

There are work-around methods as pointed out. However can also possibly lead to a major screw up especially if one is dealing with hundreds of clips per day.
Changing the names of files right out of the cameras is fraught with risk and sooner or later will end in a crisis and an overwriting error could be a disaster of major proportions.
Sony Canada have still not even responded to my email to support on the issue. Is it normal for Sony Support to avoid this type of email?

Well I am five eps into a major doco series that has over 3000 hours of archive footage and hundred and sixty hours of XDCam disc interview footage shot over a seven year period where every disc starts with C0001.MXF to whatever number clips there are on the disc and I can assure you that with good housekeeping you can be pretty safe and okay with batch renaming. An XL spreadsheet for each disc contains all the original file names / numbers and all the batch file renames so always possible to tie them together. Not lost or overwritten a clip in seven years on this job... so far... touch wood!

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

You are no doubt correctly handling those files and I'll just have to stop being lax with directory structure.
Another thing I don't understand is whether you guys down under have to flip all your footage 180 to view it in the northern hemisphere? lolol

My hat is off to you for having a good system and having the discipline to make it bulletproof.
However, I am spoiled by the AVCHD naming that includes the date as well as a unique number.
For me it's a great starting point because it's automatic, and it's not necessary to do anything further unless I want to.
I don't know why it would be any more difficult for Sony to provide that for XAVC than it is for AVCHD.
Hopefully they will get around to it eventually.

Well it happened I inadvertently loaded files into a folder already containing video with the same name from a different card
I use Playmemories Home as the file management/browser and to its credit automatically renamed the incoming files by adding a (1), (2) etc to the file names so no harm done except for the momentary heart attack

I just ran into this issue this morning with FCP X. Loaded video off of two separate cards, and was seeing CLIP 58 as two separate files in my project and they were not showing up in the order they were shot. The newer clips were placed "back in time" just under the older clips with the same clip number, and not chronologically like the display preferences for the project media was set to. Annoying with a lot of clips.....yes.

Paul

Adobe Bridge will batch re-name video clips, will also replay them (XAVCs) on a suitable machine. You can include a number of fields to suite your needs.

I tried using the new Sony Catalyst, but as far as I can make out, you can only re-name one clip at a time:(

Cheers,
Rob

For any Mac-users, the Automator.app program can make batch renaming of any files quite easy.

I batch rename (takes all of several seconds to do) all clips from a camera and do this for four cameras each wedding. I've been doing it for years. I use windows.

It is really the only sane way to keep track of clips, IMO. I name them SmithCam1 (001) Smith Cam1 (002), etc. I do it on the card before downloading.

This way you know what you are dealing with at all times and will avoid any and all issues.

Of course if you use FCP or a program that needs the file structure it might be trickier. Happily for me I use Vegas which only needs the raw clips, which is all I download from the card.

on the Sony PMW 200 theres a wonderful option where you can define the names of files prior to shoots etc. For some of my other cams I also use Play Memories Home to ingest and manage files, it's not the greatest program i've ever used but does the job, if i have a big number of files, I import them into a named folder which PMH allows you to do and then i use a program called 'Better File Rename' to manage them in the folde rand give them descriptive names, I've noticed that once PMH has imported the files into the computer it marks them with the date/time they were created in the PC and not the date/time they were shot.

For any Mac-users, the Automator.app program can make batch renaming of any files quite easy.

OS X Yosemite has file rename built in, so you don't need third party software. Select the files in Finder, right click, and select Rename. The 'Format' option is probably the best.

Yes I agree that there are ways of managing file naming with good housekeeping but seems silly that Sony have a very good naming process for AVCHD with their transfer software but seem incapable of transferring this to XAVC(S) I think the issue maybe data code which still is not working for XAVC and I suspect this is used in some way by PMB , Playmemories or Content Management Utility. The newer Sony Pro transfer software do not have this feature and in fact Content Browser will not join AVCHD files together either hardly a replacement for Content Management Utility !!!

Ron Evans

Bumping an old thread here, but it's relatable. Is there a way to change the file naming convention? I have 2 Sony's which use the 0000, 0001, 0002 etc clip naming. Gets awkward in Premiere having 2 clips of the same name. Is there a workaround for this?

Otherwise does anyone typically batch rename in Premiere or Windows? Or do you just edit as-is with 2 clips of the same name. (I know Premiere CAN edit them as seperate files, it's just annoying occasionally going back to the clip & unsure which one it is).

quick and dirty method using Windows Explorer (windows file manager):

put in the same folder the files you want to rename.
open that folder as 'detail view'.
click the top bar of the columns to sort the files the way you like.
select all the files you want to rename.
right-click the first file and select 'rename' (check that all the files are still selected)
type the base-name you like (e.g. Gino and Lucia Wedding) and press enter.
Windows Explorer renames all the selected files as "base-name-you-like + a number
Gino and Lucia Wedding (1); Gino and Lucia Wedding (2).....

hope it helps

Thanks, it should. I suppose I'll call cam 1 footage a...; cam 2 b etc.

Thanks much, it worked on some old footage I was done with, so I see what you mean.

My experience is (with Sony X70 XAVCHD): Clips which are batch-renamed in Windows cannot be linked to media (and therefore cannot be transcoded). When trying to link to media, a message says "The media is unsupported".

I use a small program "XAVCREN", developed by a group of german videographers, which allows to set a preset (e.g. the date yymmdd) in front of the clip Name. By this way the clips will be batch-renamed to yymmddClip0001, yymmddClip0002, etc.