XF305 workflow problems?

[Denny Kyser]

Shot my first wedding with the XF305 and although I had shot some footage with it before the wedding and was not my only cam covering the wedding I have found some issues I hope I can get help with.

Editing with Mac OS X 10.6.7 and Adobe Premier CS5, SanDisk FW 800 card reader.

First off, my Canon XF Utility software is not working, it will not recognize any clips either from a CF card, or even if I put the Content folder in the root directory of any hard drives.

So I just open the content folder and get the mxf file to import, I found that with larger runs, there is not just one mxf file, but several even though I did not stop the recording. This is a pain to import.

Audio, I use a shotgun and a lav mic and can not adjust each channel independently in post unless I first break out each clips audio to mono, and then create 2 new mono audio tracks to put them in. This is why the many mxf files is such a pain.

I am hoping most of these issues is me being new to the Canon XF305 and its workflow, as I never had an issue with the EX1, or EX1r's.

Possibly getting the Canon XF Utility Software to work will solve all this.

[Larry Becker]

Well, I don't know how much help I can offer - I'm using a pc with Adobe Premier Pro 5.5... but the Canon software should be the same, no?

FIRST you create a Virtual Media, which you can name what you want. Then you go to the card in the card reader (I use a Delkin USB 3 reader) USING THE CANON SOFTWARE, select ALL the clips, and drag/copy them to the newly created Virtual Media. That way the file structure and so on is retained. It takes me 8 minutes to do a full 32 gb card initially with USB 3.

I also do a backup of the card, just to be sure.

I only have 2 32 g cards, so I dumped them each night on the 3 day shoot, both to my 3 TB USB 3 drive and Sony laptop's drive.

I THINK you'd want to use the Canon software to bring in the files.. Premier Pro 5.5 does a nice job of reading the files natively, and I haven't had any drama.

Doesn't the Mac version of the Canon software work about the same?

Larry

[Denny Kyser]

From what I have read, the Canon Software should recognize the files when you insert the CF card, or have the files in a ROOT directory of a Hard Drive. This does not happen, and I have yet to find a way to navigate to select the Content files from Canon XF Utility. Seems if it does not recognize the CF card, they you are out of luck.

when you import to CS5, is it several clips or one long one?

I did find a way to manage the L and R channel. independently

[Larry Becker]

I had thought, also, that when I put the cf card in the reader that the program would start up. The best I can get is it offering to open a directory. Fine... But when I start the Canon software I DOES show the card in the options in the window on the left side of the screen in the Canon software. When I select it I get access to the files. Then I can highlight the files and drag them into the already created Virtual Media folder. The program copies all the files and directory structure into the new folder.

It may have done it the first time I used the software-seems like it did - but after I had multiple Virtual Media folders, it didn't.

Have you upgraded your Canon software to the latest version? Some HUGE issues were fixed with the new version. Also there was a firmware upgrade last week for the XF 305/300's... (make sure you safe the menus/CP's on your SD Card before you upgrade the firmware, or you'll end up losing your button assignments and menu options).

When I read the files in the Canon Software the clip plays as a continuous file. I don't know yer what CS 5.5 does with that. I will check that when I get back to my office tonight or tomorrow (I haven't gotten that far in my editing of the shoot yet).

[John Gibbins]

I too am having the same problems with my XF300. If I follow the directions using the white paper found online I can import one at a time but then have to extract each vid file individually. Major pain in the behind.
I would be forever grateful if someone could post a step by step for CS5.

[Roger Averdahl]

Originally Posted by John Gibbins

I would be forever grateful if someone could post a step by step for CS5.

@ John:
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xf...ml#post1657988

@Denny:
- Spanned clips has been solved and works in CS5.5.
- The audio issue is "solved" in CS5.5 but if you use Source Channel Mappings you can map the audio to Mono in CS5 and thus have one (1) track for the shotgun and one (1) for the lav so you can adjust them independently. No need to copy and paste audio clips IOW. (CS5.5 imports all XF footage as Mono so the Source Channel Mapping happens on the fly.)
- XF Utility works for me on Windows 7. I have saved the cards like this: X:\Project Name\Media\Card_01\CONTENTS
I do never ever save the cards to the root of any drive, but AFAIK you should be able to see it from the CF card reader.

It is much easier to use/manage XF footage in CS5.5 since it has some workflow enhancements over CS5, especially when importing spanned clips from longer takes. Media Browser ignores all spanned clips but one (1) and thats really good since importing one is all you need. It is less confusing with only one clip. :)

[Denny Kyser]

Thanks Roger, when I updated to XF Utility 1.1 it solved the problem of not seeing the CF card.

I will try some of these updates tonight.