XDCAM Transfer software and PDW-U1 at DVinfo.net

Tim Allison · January 31st, 2008, 10:54 AM

In our shop, we have six producers and three edit systems. I DO NOT want producers to use the edit systems to log tapes....er....disks. Therefore, we will have a couple of PDW-U1 drive units available so producers can log at their work desks.

Let's say I access all of my proxy clips on my Mac laptop, choose which shots I want to use, set some in/out points, and make some notes on these shots. How do I move this work over to the Mac Pro that I will actually use for editing with Final Cut Pro? I just read some release notes that said you cannot write back edits to the PDW-U1. Is there no way to save this work?

Greg Boston · January 31st, 2008, 11:15 AM

Yes, I was one of the guinea pigs and there are issues under Leopard. 2.1 works great under Tiger but with Leopard there is some issues with the ProDisc driver. It won't prevent you from using it altogether, but it's not the best and it messed up my disc library as I'll explain below. You won't get an icon for the ProDisc on the desktop either.

When you first connect the camera/deck you get an icon with a volume label of 'untitled' and the first thing I do is give the disc a volume label and then eject the disc and reload it.

Under Leopard, existing volume labels aren't recognized and are replaced with something like the UMID. This messed up my importing of additional material from a disc that I had imported earlier.

I am set up to have imported material go like this.

Movies --> Sony XDCAM Transfer --->(folder, labeled with disc volume label)--> Ciip Title.

So Leopard gave the same disc a new volume label and created an unnecessary folder.

Also, anything I had imported under Tiger does not display properly in the proxy viewer. The thumbnail is correct, but the clip playback is stretched when it doesn't need to be. I supposed I could re-import all the proxies and get them to work, but I still have the disc naming issue.

-gb-

Phil Bloom · January 31st, 2008, 01:55 PM

the U1 isn't writable at all...in any way.

A firmware upgrade is needed, which is being worked on. The U1 has no chip to create proxies so software is being written to create those proxies. Until that is done it is read only device.

Scot Olson · January 31st, 2008, 02:36 PM

Our environment has 4 Editing systems and 11 producer workstations. Over the last year nearly all of our producers have in effect become there own offline editors.

Our workflow includes an XSAN and works like this. We come back from a shoot and ingest the entire XDCAM Disk using the Sony XDCAM Transfer software onto a local drive of our ingest system. Those files are then copied to a media folder on the Xsan. If that Disk is for a new project we immediately create a new Final Cut project and import that media into the project and then save the Final Cut file into the producers folder on the Xsan. The producer can now open that Final Cut Project and begin logging and rough cutting.

If you don't have a network that allows for sharing media I would probably suggest using a firewire drive. Have the producer create a Final Cut project to ingest clips into using the PDW-U1, or have them ingest the complete disk and then start logging. When the producer is done logging and adding notes they save their work as a Final Cut project. You can then unplug the drive and plug it into one of your editing systems. The editor opens the file that the producer created and continues with the editing process

Greg Boston · February 7th, 2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Also, anything I had imported under Tiger does not display properly in the proxy viewer. The thumbnail is correct, but the clip playback is stretched when it doesn't need to be. I supposed I could re-import all the proxies and get them to work, but I still have the disc naming issue.

I am happy to report that the QT 7.4.1 update has resolved the image stretching issue. All proxies both pre and post Leopard now playback properly in the viewer and export correctly to MP4 as viewed with QT player.

-gb-

January 31st, 2008, 10:54 AM	#1
Tim Allison Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Starkville, MS Posts: 96	XDCAM Transfer software and PDW-U1 In our shop, we have six producers and three edit systems. I DO NOT want producers to use the edit systems to log tapes....er....disks. Therefore, we will have a couple of PDW-U1 drive units available so producers can log at their work desks. Let's say I access all of my proxy clips on my Mac laptop, choose which shots I want to use, set some in/out points, and make some notes on these shots. How do I move this work over to the Mac Pro that I will actually use for editing with Final Cut Pro? I just read some release notes that said you cannot write back edits to the PDW-U1. Is there no way to save this work? Last edited by Tim Allison; January 31st, 2008 at 11:11 AM. Reason: correct mistakes

January 31st, 2008, 01:55 PM	#3
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	the U1 isn't writable at all...in any way. A firmware upgrade is needed, which is being worked on. The U1 has no chip to create proxies so software is being written to create those proxies. Until that is done it is read only device. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

January 31st, 2008, 11:15 AM	#2
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	Yes, I was one of the guinea pigs and there are issues under Leopard. 2.1 works great under Tiger but with Leopard there is some issues with the ProDisc driver. It won't prevent you from using it altogether, but it's not the best and it messed up my disc library as I'll explain below. You won't get an icon for the ProDisc on the desktop either. When you first connect the camera/deck you get an icon with a volume label of 'untitled' and the first thing I do is give the disc a volume label and then eject the disc and reload it. Under Leopard, existing volume labels aren't recognized and are replaced with something like the UMID. This messed up my importing of additional material from a disc that I had imported earlier. I am set up to have imported material go like this. Movies --> Sony XDCAM Transfer --->(folder, labeled with disc volume label)--> Ciip Title. So Leopard gave the same disc a new volume label and created an unnecessary folder. Also, anything I had imported under Tiger does not display properly in the proxy viewer. The thumbnail is correct, but the clip playback is stretched when it doesn't need to be. I supposed I could re-import all the proxies and get them to work, but I still have the disc naming issue. -gb-

January 31st, 2008, 02:36 PM	#4
Scot Olson Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 25	Our environment has 4 Editing systems and 11 producer workstations. Over the last year nearly all of our producers have in effect become there own offline editors. Our workflow includes an XSAN and works like this. We come back from a shoot and ingest the entire XDCAM Disk using the Sony XDCAM Transfer software onto a local drive of our ingest system. Those files are then copied to a media folder on the Xsan. If that Disk is for a new project we immediately create a new Final Cut project and import that media into the project and then save the Final Cut file into the producers folder on the Xsan. The producer can now open that Final Cut Project and begin logging and rough cutting. If you don't have a network that allows for sharing media I would probably suggest using a firewire drive. Have the producer create a Final Cut project to ingest clips into using the PDW-U1, or have them ingest the complete disk and then start logging. When the producer is done logging and adding notes they save their work as a Final Cut project. You can then unplug the drive and plug it into one of your editing systems. The editor opens the file that the producer created and continues with the editing process