What do I need off the Utilities Disc for SONY Vegas?

[Graham Bernard]

Title says all.

The Util disc is offering AVID for plug-in option. What is favourite? Custom Installation and then just the straight "Canon XF Utility"?

Grazie

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

Just the straight Canon Utility option - Vegas does the rest. Forget all the Avid stuff...

[Graham Bernard]

Thanks Robin.

Grazie

[Graham Bernard]

O...K....

Now, when I go into Vegas and locate the files, each and everyone is within it's own, separate "folder".

EITHER I'm doing something wrong (has been known!), OR Vegas doesn't manage the file structure that Canon has provided OR Canon hasn't provided s/w that liberates the MXFs into one folder for "Importing Media" in the Sony Vegas Pro.

I'll elect to go with "I'm doing something wrong" until such time I've explored any options offered here.

LUVIN' this camera!!! Just got with the Waveforms last night - dreamy . . . Always go to know the actual science going on, instead of:"Hmmm, his head looks a bit blobby?" That's proper technical jargon for OverX on the light levels.

So, gang, what's the story here?

Cheers

Grazie

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

Not sure what's happening there.
I just "told" the utility to save my .mxf fies at a certain location (external hard drive 'K') and they just show up there in a folder which has a number eg. 20110803031854.
The first eight figures are the date. If I open the folder, either from Windows Explorer alone or from within Vegas, all the video files are inside ready to go.

[Graham Bernard]

I am definitely doing something wrong here. I can't get the result you are getting.

I see the Clips in the Canon XF Utility > Select All > and either Copy+Paste to new folder OR drag to a new folder I get a mix of info files and a separate MXF in a separate folder - AA0001 (one clip!) and then another folder - AA0002 - with the same mix of files and the other MXF clip.

Hmmm....

Grazie

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

you shouldn't need to drag or copy or paste anything. Under Preferences in the Utility you should be able to select where to save the imported files. They'll automatically turn up there, which is where you look for them from Vegas. You should only see one file for each shot, video & audio all combined...

[Rick Corben]

Originally Posted by Graham Bernard

I am definitely doing something wrong here. I can't get the result you are getting.

I see the Clips in the Canon XF Utility > Select All >

Grazie

After selecting the files you want to copy, use Edit>Export to MXF>.
The MXF files (and only the MXF files) will be copied to the directory you select. Note: the MXF files do not contain all the metadata, but that should not be much of a problem.

[Tim Polster]

Rick (or anybody else), along the same lines, does the export .MXF feature take any longer to transfer than a straight copy from a CF card?

If so, is the utility doing anything like error correcting etc... that would account for the longer transfer time?

I am getting the XF300 this week and am used to just taking Nanoflash files straight off of the CF card into Edius. Does Canon (like Sony) say any reason why the utility is best to use?

Thanks for your input.

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I don't think that it takes any longer.
The Utility also doubles as a viewer for your clips. You can also add marks and othe metadata, select the clips you want to transfer and delete as well. It is a stand-alone item, so you don't have to open up your NLE until you've made your selection.
I find it invaluable and have never had any reason not to use it...

[Graham Bernard]

Again thanks Robin and all . . ..


O...K..

I believe I've got it now . . . .

Using : Tools > User Configuration

1] Selected the FOLDER I wanted to recieve the MXFs. It was called TEST4

2] Selected : Edit > "Export To MXF" and after 4 minutes the MXFs appeared in TEST4. Files of 5mins duration and a tota size of 2gb.

3] In wishing to test the Export speed, I created a NEW FOLDER and changed my User Configuration to go t this New Folder.

4] Hit "Export to MXF" and . .WHAT!?!? It achieved this 2GBs export in less than 4 seconds?!?

5] Thinking that this was somehow linked to some form of "memory", I deleted TEST 4 and NEW FOLDER repeated the process again and I got an export of the 2GBs in less than 5 seconds.

While I am gob-smacked at the speed, why did the first Export take 5 mins and this last Export took only 5 seconds?

More to the point what Export speeds are you used to getting, against GB size?

Grazie

[Rick Corben]

Originally Posted by Graham Bernard

Using : Tools > User Configuration ...


While I am gob-smacked at the speed, why did the first Export take 5 mins and this last Export took only 5 seconds?

More to the point what Export speeds are you used to getting, against GB size?

With V1.1 of the Utility, you do not need to use Tools > User Configuration. The Edit > Export to MXF command asks for the target directory. (If memory serves, you did have to use Tools > User Configuration with v1.0.)

As for the speed, the Utility copies the files from the CF card to memory before writing them to disk. Under some circumstances, it is smart enough to know that it already has a valid copy in memory so it does not need to re-read the CF files. Even so, 5 seconds for 2GB sounds faster than the hard disk on most computers. I would guess that the program is returning control to the user before the disk write actually completes. (Check the disk light on your computer.)

My experience is that the Utility copies the files at about one-third real time (e.g., 20 minutes for 60 minutes of video). Your experience could vary significantly based on the speed of your CF card, the speed of your hard disk, the amount of available RAM on your computer, et al.

[Tim Polster]

Thanks for your replies about the utility. In my experience the Transcend 133x cards I use take about 17-18 minutes for a full 32 GB transfer. So the utility is not that far off.