nanoFlash on a XDCAM Disc

[Andy Shipsides]

Dan and Mike allowed me to test out the beta firmware on the nanoFlash and I had some great results. I was able to transfer nanoFlash MXF files (in 50 Mbps LongGOP) to a 23GB ProDisc via U1 drive and then play them back in a PDWF800. Read my blog about my process here -

How to put nanoFlash video on a XDCAM Disc | CineTechnica

[Dave Chalmers]

Hi Andy - this is great. Thanks for posting such a detailed blog post on this.

Couple of questions:

- Did you try modifying any metadata, e.g. IN/OUT points, clip names etc? Do these carry through to the exported clips on the XDCAM HD disc?

- Can we assume that you have FCP installed to get the XDCAM HD codecs? Have you tried running XDCAM Transfer utility using 3rd party codecs like the Calibrated Q ones?

I for one am looking forward to trying this out myself once the firmware is released.

Cheers.

Dave C

[Alister Chapman]

Once you write the MXF's to an XDCAM device the XDCAM device (U1, camera etc) will build the Proxy files and associated metadata XML files so you should be able to add all the metadata you want.

[Dave Chalmers]

Thanks Alister - I'm sure that's true, but I was just wanting to confirm that if you modify the metadata on the way through, as it were, whether that 'sticks' when it gets to the XDCAM HD disc. i.e. if you change something in the XDCAM transfer app, does it stay there on the final XDCAM disc?

You would think the answer would be 'yes' as it should modify the MXF with the new data during the export from the transfer SW but it would be nice to have that confirmed.

I didn't realise that the proxies would be re-built - that's an interesting one.

Regards

Dave

[Andy Shipsides]

Dave

It does build the proxies when it copies and data can be modified at that point. They become full fledged XDCAM clips really.

Andy

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

With our next firmware, one can load our 50 Mbps Long-GOP MXF footage onto a Sony Optical disk and it can then be played back properly.


While not obvious, any of our other footage, other bit rates, etc, can be stored on the Sony Optical disk, but, of course, they can not be played back. They can be used for archiving or transfer purposes.

[Dave Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Andy Shipsides

Dave

It does build the proxies when it copies and data can be modified at that point. They become full fledged XDCAM clips really.

Andy

OK I did some tests with the sample clip posted here and got some interesting results.

I used the Sony XDCAM transfer tool, along with the Calibrated Q XD decode plugin demo and found that sure enough the transfer tool sees the NanoFlash MXF file and you can browse it etc. (it doesn't see current firmware clips at all)

Following the original workflow of 'export clip to file...' lets you export whole clips, but not selected subclips marked with in and out.
If you do an 'import' and re-wrap the clip into a .mov file then it DOES modify the clip name, trim to in and outs etc. but you would then have to use the CD MOV to MXF converter tool to re-wrap the clips into MXF again to save onto the XDCAM disc.
I didn't get a chance to try this last bit.

Nonetheless this promises to give a very usable review, select and archive workflow where you clone onto a laptop, review and select clips in XDCAM transfer, then archive onto XDCAM HD disc.

Our U1 XDCAM HD disc reader arrives next week so I'm hoping to play with this a lot more.

Regards

Dave C

[Alister Chapman]

I am assuming you do not have FCP installed if you are using XD-Decode. You should not install XD-Decode if you do have FCP as this will cause all kinds of errors.

[Dave Chalmers]

Yes, that's right Alister - we don't have FCP on this Macbook - it's for cloning rushes only.
Our U1 reader should arrive tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to trying out the final step.

Regards

Dave C

[Alister Chapman]

I wonder if your inability to be able to export partial clips from the transfer tool is because you only have a decode codec and no encode codec? You may need the encode codec to trim files with in and out points.

[Paul Cronin]

This sounds like it could work out to be a very safe archive for all footage shot on the Nano. Beats using Raid 1 drives.

[Dennis Dillon]

Yesterday we shot for CBS 60 Minutes. A segment that will air Dec 6. A three camera shoot. One 800, one 700, and an EX 3/Nano Flash. I transfered the EX/Nano files to optical and the AP at 60 Minutes has just informed me that everything worked out just great. The editor loved it. Easy, safe and secure. Thanks to Chris Tsai at Sony and Dan and Michael at CD, for taking my idea and making it happen so fast. No more Hard drive copying and worries of HD failure. A permanent archive.

[Paul Cronin]

Dennis that is great news.

Now where to find the best deals on the disk?

[Dave Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

I wonder if your inability to be able to export partial clips from the transfer tool is because you only have a decode codec and no encode codec? You may need the encode codec to trim files with in and out points.

You could well be right Alister - I'll need to look into that.

Good suggestion.

Thanks

Dave C

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Dennis,

Thank you for posting the good news!