Fdr-ax53

[Ron Cooper]

Not sure if I'm the right spot for this question, but I cannot find the 4K files on the PC when I try to look at the card files. - Where do they hide them & what is their ext. format. I have just returned from o'seas & all I could do was to download the complete card - (Eg - F Drv), to the PC as I did not know what files to look for.

I did notice that every video file in XAVC S HD has a separate file after it which appears to be a still frame image.
This to me is a real pain as for video only you need to select every alternate file. - Weird. Surely there has to be a better way to do this.

Curiously, on this cam you cannot play back 4K material if you have the camera record settings on XAVC S HD, - the files are greyed out. Likewise, you cannot playback XAVC video if the recording is set to 4K.

Also, I'm somewhat disappointed with the 4K, as you can only record in 25P with noticeably jerky results even with people just walking ! - However the high bit rate XAVC setting allows you to record at 50P which is excellent. Hence I have recorded very little in 4k. To me it is simply unacceptable. - Why don't Sony allow a higher frame rate for 4K ?

I have Vegas PRO 14 so I hope it will be able to handle the files from this camera.

Does anyone have experience with this otherwise great little camera. The floating lens steady shot, & powerful zoom are amazing. Also, the ability to lock the focus & still have the exposure assigned to the front ring.

Thanks,

Ron C.

[Rob Cantwell]

I think the best way to ingest the footage is to use Sony's PlayMemories software. (Ridiculous name for software!)

[Ron Evans]

Ingest with PlayMemories or Catalyst Browse, they will transfer all the necessary files. If the holiday is really important I would just save the cards in a nice box. Cards are cheap. They are a lot less than the cost of the camera and certainly the holiday !!! I agree that UHD slow frame rates are not good for my eyes and I shoot all in HD 60P with my AX53 or AX100. I do have an FDR-AX1 and GH5 that shoot UHD in 60P though and that is nice. UHD 60p or 50P takes a lot of processing so not something that I think Sony want to do in a lower cost camera as the only ones in the current line up are my old FDR-AX1 or PXW Z100 and then it is the FS7 which ends up almost 10 times the cost of an AX53.

[Alan Craven]

I second the use of the free Catalyst Browse for injesting the files.

In some circumstances you do need all the files on the card - e.g. spanned clips, and it is better to make sure by employing the appropriate software.

The use of SD cards may preclude the higher frame rates. The AX1 and Z100 mentioned here use the faster and much more expensive XQD cards - my AX1 is limited to AVCHD on its SD card. The fastest modern SD cards should cope with the necessary higher data ratres with 4K @ 50/60p, but Sony in their wisdom, seem not to allow this.

I certainly will not buy more than the four XQD cards that I have - I shall use the facility to transfer the files to a USB drive direct from the camera - with no computer needed. Even a Samsung T3 comes a lot cheaper than Sony XQD cards.

[Ron Evans]

The GH5 shoots at the same data rate of 150 Mbps as my AX1 but uses SD cards ( I use 128GB Lexar 1000x cards they are the faster SDXC 11 cards thought ) so this is a Sony issue.

[Steve Game]

Surely it's just another case of Sony market segmentation.
It's the same as when the EX1 was released, Sony expected everybody to use SxS cards which were ridiculously expensive. Then several SxS-SD card adaptors were introduced and Sony had to give up on that cash cow.
What will they do when the GH5 upgrade to 400Mb/s recording comes, - all on SD cards of course! If they want to stay in the market, they'll have to climb down,- will it take XQD-SD card adaptors maybe?

[Ron Evans]

I do not think it is just the cards as the camera itself has to have enough processing power to encode at 150Mbps 50/60P UHD and also record to whatever card is there. Most cameras have a fan in them to do this including some of the Panasonics. The GH5 is likely the only one without a fan that can encode and record at these rates. My FDR-AX1 recording UHD 60P gets hot and consumes a 970 battery in less than an hour. In contrast recording HD 1920x1080 again XAVC-S to XQD stays cool and uses about the same battery as my NX5 lasting several hours. Sony clearly does not want to put this sort of technology into lower priced products. Their loss as I am sure they have the technology to do this. I would have bought a Sony equivalent to the Panasonic UX180 to replace my FDR-AX1 but I ended up buying the GH5.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Ron Cooper

Not sure if I'm the right spot for this question, but I cannot find the 4K files on the PC when I try to look at the card files. - Where do they hide them & what is their ext. format. I have just returned from o'seas & all I could do was to download the complete card - (Eg - F Drv), to the PC as I did not know what files to look for.

I did notice that every video file in XAVC S HD has a separate file after it which appears to be a still frame image.
This to me is a real pain as for video only you need to select every alternate file. - Weird. Surely there has to be a better way to do this.


Ron C.

People seem to keep giving you incorrect information, and you apparently are not familiar with using Windows.

The 4K XAVC S files are just MP4 files. First, search (you know how to search in Windows?) on *.MP4 to find them on your card or in the folder you copied the card to.

Second, just sort the files list by type (click on the tab for "type") in the folder containing the MP4 files and the others. Then all the *.MP4 files will be listed together. You just need these; just copy them to wherever you want (you know how to batch copy?).

Vegas Pro 14 will read the XAVC S files just fine, just tell Vegas Pro where the MP4 files are.

[Rob Cantwell]

I think he was answered correctly in the first two replys!

Page 35 on the manual states how to import movies/images to a computer.

There are lots of other ways to do it too, but using the supplied software is probably the easiest.


R

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Rob Cantwell

I think he was answered correctly in the first two replys!

Page 35 on the manual states how to import movies/images to a computer.

There are lots of other ways to do it too, but using the supplied software is probably the easiest.


R

I agree too. As I mentioned the Playmemories software also will use the metadata for things like GPS info that some cameras have and use this data for its sorting. Very useful if one is keeping family video in a directory as one can then look up activity by calendar. With my ski videos I can also superimpose speed location etc. Not possible if one just drags over the mp4 files.

[Lou Bruno]

I agree with Mark.

Also.....There is a folder that will contain your files on the SD Card. Select all...import...bingo.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Rob Cantwell

I think he was answered correctly in the first two replys!


There are lots of other ways to do it too, but using the supplied software is probably the easiest.


R

Balderdash, you "think" wrong. Have you used an AX53 or any Sony 4K camcorder? Used Play Memories?

The easiest method is to use the copy command in Windows. There is absolutely no need to use any third-party software to simply transfer the 4K XAVC S image files from an sd card. No additional software to install and learn.

If one is interested in the trick of using GPS info to create embedded GPS videos Play Memories Home will be necessary, but it is not necessary even in that case to copy the files to a directory using Play Memories Home. Play Memories Home can do its thing reading the camera files from any directory you have copied your original clips to - any directory. The program does not need to have been used to transfer the files. Again, no third party software is needed to merely take 4K XAVC S files off the sd card no matter what use you have in mind for those clips.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

I agree too. As I mentioned the Playmemories software also will use the metadata for things like GPS info that some cameras have and use this data for its sorting. Very useful if one is keeping family video in a directory as one can then look up activity by calendar. With my ski videos I can also superimpose speed location etc. Not possible if one just drags over the mp4 files.

Simply false. Play Memories Home can do whatever you want it to do with the clips wherever they are located and however they were transferred. Just open the program and direct it to where the clips are located. Using the Windows copy command to transfer files from the sd card does not magically remove any metadata and does not prevent PMH from doing its special tricks. Again, I am talking about the 4K XAVC S clips of the OP (not AVCHD clips). And I have used PMH to make videos using GPS metadata from 4K XAVC S clips shot on my Sony X3000 and I have never bothered using PMH to just copy files.

[Ron Evans]

I have an AX53, AX100, AX1, NX30U, NX5U , other older Sony's and I think the easiest way to transfer files from these camcorders is using the supplied Sony software with no problems whether the files are split or not or whether they are HD or UHD. Yes there are always other ways to do things. If you want consistency and future lookup for family videos etc then Playmemories is the way to go as it will achieve all that you need consistently and you can see the clips you may want to transfer or not. If you always use Playmemories it will only transfer the files not already transfered etc. Unlike AVCHD , XAVC-S files are just numeric file names and if you keep formatting the card you will get lots of 000xx.mov files. It is nice to have them automatically stored in a directory by date and then logged. Yes of course you can do this yourself, create the directory, select the files on the card copy and paste. Does that sound a lot easier than selecting the files in Playmemories and letting the program do all that for you ?

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

I have an AX53, AX100, AX1, NX30U, NX5U , other older Sony's and I think the easiest way to transfer files from these camcorders is using the supplied Sony software with no problems whether the files are split or not or whether they are HD or UHD. Yes there are always other ways to do things. If you want consistency and future lookup for family videos etc then Playmemories is the way to go as it will achieve all that you need consistently and you can see the clips you may want to transfer or not. If you always use Playmemories it will only transfer the files not already transfered etc. Unlike AVCHD , XAVC-S files are just numeric file names and if you keep formatting the card you will get lots of 000xx.mov files. It is nice to have them automatically stored in a directory by date and then logged. Yes of course you can do this yourself, create the directory, select the files on the card copy and paste. Does that sound a lot easier than selecting the files in Playmemories and letting the program do all that for you ?

No, it is easier to copy and paste or drag and drop in Windows, since you do not need to install, load a program or learn how that extra program works - a program that will not be used for anything else. PMH is a baby editor that is only useful for GPS gimmicks (I have used it for that).

The OP uses Magix Vegas Pro 14 to edit his 4K videos; he will not be using PMH to do anything. None of the 4K clips are ever split. He thus does not need to install, load, learn and use another software package to merely copy files from the sd card to another drive. It is now seems easier *to you* to use PMH because you have installed it and learned how to use it, and you seem to know less about the capabilities of Windows.

You can see (sizeable thumbnails) and/or play the clips you want to transfer in Windows and sort them by date or size; you do not need PlayMemories to do that. The clips are dated; their metadata is kept. And the XAVC S files are not MOV files, they are MP4 files.

There may be some added advantages for storing in PMH (but Sony Catalysts Browse is even better), but for just copying files off an sd card, you do not need PMH and it adds very little to what one can do without it for storage.

The OP just simply asked how to find the 4K files and how to copy them - he didn't ask about the best library/storage program (or even if he needed one).