Fam XDCAM tool. Any update? at DVinfo.net

Simon Denny · February 9th, 2010, 02:56 AM

I'm looking for the Fam software for my Sony F350 for Snow Leopard and have found out Sony have no fix for this. I know I'm a bit late with this but I have just got a new Mac and Snow Leopard. I also have discovered that my new Mac Pro has no firewire port.

How do I get around capturing footage from my Sony F350?

I still have my MBP with Leopard on it so I'll go this route until Sony get their Fam tool up and running.

Simon Wyndham · February 9th, 2010, 04:25 AM

It should have a FW800 port on it, so you just need an adaptor. But that doesn't solve the problem of using FAM with Snow Leopard. They haven't updated it yet. Your situation is the main reason I am becoming impatient. Many have said to not upgrade to Snow Leopard, but for people who are buying new Macs this isn't an option.

The good news is that we are approaching the projected time for the FAM update to be released. Hopefully won't be long now.

Luc De Wandel · February 9th, 2010, 06:31 AM

I'm also impatiently waiting for this update too. Could this be it:Sony : Final Cut Pro/XDCAM Transfer V2.11.0 : Other ?

I'd like to write clips back to disks in my PDW-U1 recorder.

Simon Wyndham · February 9th, 2010, 06:38 AM

I have 2.11 and while it sorts out the thumbnails issue, the actual FAM drivers have yet to be updated AFAIK.

Simon Denny · February 9th, 2010, 01:16 PM

I read somewhere that the update should be around March, hope this comes true.

Hey Simon, I have a firewire to 800 cable and this should work when the software comes out.
I was about to update my MBP with SL and the new FCS, glad I have held off.

Cheers

I have tried that link from Luc De Wandel and I cant seem to get this update

Luc De Wandel · February 9th, 2010, 02:56 PM

Hi Simon,

I downloaded it from the page that opens when you follow the link and it works perfectly. But indeed not for the FAM-driver to record on XDCAM-disk, apparently.

I hate myself for installing SL: not only did it create this problem, but my Mac pro is also slower in some circumstances and I had to buy some extra updates for older applications. Lesson learnt, the hard way: next time I'll wait at least a year before upgrading the operating system.

Andy Mees · February 12th, 2010, 06:37 AM

You just need to install the FAM driver from an earlier release, works just fine in Snow Leopard for me. Grab the 2.7.1 installer or similar and do a custom install. Simples.

Luc De Wandel · February 13th, 2010, 03:02 AM

Hi Andy,
does this allow you to write back to XDCAM-disk also? It doesn't seem to work for me...

Andy Mees · February 13th, 2010, 08:45 AM

Will double check that for you tomorrow Luc, it's been a while since I had to write back to disc ... it certainly works just fine for import via FAM.

Andy Mees · February 14th, 2010, 01:03 AM

ok, just checked write back to disc (XDCAM HD 1080i50 exported to PDW-F70) and it worked perfectly (OS X 10.6.2, FCP 7.0.1, XDT 2.11.0, FAM driver from earlier XDT install)

Luc De Wandel · February 14th, 2010, 04:33 AM

Thanks very much for checking, Andy. When I try to export a sequence to an XDCAM disk in my PDW-U1, I get the message "Read only - check REC INHIBIT on front panel". The disk is not write protected and there's no such thing as a front panel on the U1, except for the eject-button. Is this a Snow-Leopard related problem or is there something else I'm overlooking? I hope it's the latter...

There's one other thing that puzzles me: on page 29 of the operation manual of the PDW-U1 it says "The results of editing (on a Mac) cannot be written back to the disc loaded in the PDW-U1 using the PDZK-P1 XDCAM Transfer". But you can, obviously.

Peter Beeh · February 14th, 2010, 05:39 AM

The U1 Utility software has a record inhibit option under the Setup/User Options menu. Perhaps this is switched on in your case...

Andy Mees · February 14th, 2010, 06:02 AM

Hey Luc,

Way back when the PDW-U1 was introduced unfortunately the write back didn't work on the Mac side, but support was eventually in March 2009, so thats been fixed for nearly a year now ... then again, looking around it seems the Snow Leopard / FAM compatibility issue is specifically one with the U1 rather than the FAM driver per se (as evidenced above). Note that my test was using an F70.

I'd dearly love to have a U1 in the rack to test for you, but sadly not.

Best
Andy

Luc De Wandel · February 14th, 2010, 06:23 AM

Peter, I checked and the 'write inhibit' is not on in the setup menu.
Andy, thanks for clearing this up. I guess it's a U1-Snow-Leopard problem. I can just hope Sony will correct this asap. Not that I write back movies to disk every day, but it comes in handy when I want to archive an edited sequence on something more reliable than a hard disk...

Guess I'll have to write my archives to 'normal' blurays for the time being.

February 9th, 2010, 02:56 AM	#1
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Fam XDCAM tool. Any update? I'm looking for the Fam software for my Sony F350 for Snow Leopard and have found out Sony have no fix for this. I know I'm a bit late with this but I have just got a new Mac and Snow Leopard. I also have discovered that my new Mac Pro has no firewire port. How do I get around capturing footage from my Sony F350? I still have my MBP with Leopard on it so I'll go this route until Sony get their Fam tool up and running.

February 13th, 2010, 08:45 AM	#9
Andy Mees Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 645	Will double check that for you tomorrow Luc, it's been a while since I had to write back to disc ... it certainly works just fine for import via FAM. Last edited by Andy Mees; February 14th, 2010 at 01:02 AM.

February 14th, 2010, 05:39 AM	#12
Peter Beeh Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 52	The U1 Utility software has a record inhibit option under the Setup/User Options menu. Perhaps this is switched on in your case... __________________ Peter Beeh, Lighting Camera/DOP www.peterbeeh.com.au Last edited by Peter Beeh; February 14th, 2010 at 05:40 AM. Reason: grammar...

February 9th, 2010, 04:25 AM	#2
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	It should have a FW800 port on it, so you just need an adaptor. But that doesn't solve the problem of using FAM with Snow Leopard. They haven't updated it yet. Your situation is the main reason I am becoming impatient. Many have said to not upgrade to Snow Leopard, but for people who are buying new Macs this isn't an option. The good news is that we are approaching the projected time for the FAM update to be released. Hopefully won't be long now.

February 9th, 2010, 06:31 AM	#3
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	I'm also impatiently waiting for this update too. Could this be it:Sony : Final Cut Pro/XDCAM Transfer V2.11.0 : Other ? I'd like to write clips back to disks in my PDW-U1 recorder.

February 9th, 2010, 06:38 AM	#4
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	I have 2.11 and while it sorts out the thumbnails issue, the actual FAM drivers have yet to be updated AFAIK.

February 9th, 2010, 01:16 PM	#5
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	I read somewhere that the update should be around March, hope this comes true. Hey Simon, I have a firewire to 800 cable and this should work when the software comes out. I was about to update my MBP with SL and the new FCS, glad I have held off. Cheers I have tried that link from Luc De Wandel and I cant seem to get this update

February 9th, 2010, 02:56 PM	#6
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	Hi Simon, I downloaded it from the page that opens when you follow the link and it works perfectly. But indeed not for the FAM-driver to record on XDCAM-disk, apparently. I hate myself for installing SL: not only did it create this problem, but my Mac pro is also slower in some circumstances and I had to buy some extra updates for older applications. Lesson learnt, the hard way: next time I'll wait at least a year before upgrading the operating system.

February 12th, 2010, 06:37 AM	#7
Andy Mees Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 645	You just need to install the FAM driver from an earlier release, works just fine in Snow Leopard for me. Grab the 2.7.1 installer or similar and do a custom install. Simples.

February 13th, 2010, 03:02 AM	#8
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	Hi Andy, does this allow you to write back to XDCAM-disk also? It doesn't seem to work for me...

February 14th, 2010, 01:03 AM	#10
Andy Mees Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 645	ok, just checked write back to disc (XDCAM HD 1080i50 exported to PDW-F70) and it worked perfectly (OS X 10.6.2, FCP 7.0.1, XDT 2.11.0, FAM driver from earlier XDT install)

February 14th, 2010, 04:33 AM	#11
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	Thanks very much for checking, Andy. When I try to export a sequence to an XDCAM disk in my PDW-U1, I get the message "Read only - check REC INHIBIT on front panel". The disk is not write protected and there's no such thing as a front panel on the U1, except for the eject-button. Is this a Snow-Leopard related problem or is there something else I'm overlooking? I hope it's the latter... There's one other thing that puzzles me: on page 29 of the operation manual of the PDW-U1 it says "The results of editing (on a Mac) cannot be written back to the disc loaded in the PDW-U1 using the PDZK-P1 XDCAM Transfer". But you can, obviously.

February 14th, 2010, 06:02 AM	#13
Andy Mees Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 645	Hey Luc, Way back when the PDW-U1 was introduced unfortunately the write back didn't work on the Mac side, but support was eventually in March 2009, so thats been fixed for nearly a year now ... then again, looking around it seems the Snow Leopard / FAM compatibility issue is specifically one with the U1 rather than the FAM driver per se (as evidenced above). Note that my test was using an F70. I'd dearly love to have a U1 in the rack to test for you, but sadly not. Best Andy

February 14th, 2010, 06:23 AM	#14
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	Peter, I checked and the 'write inhibit' is not on in the setup menu. Andy, thanks for clearing this up. I guess it's a U1-Snow-Leopard problem. I can just hope Sony will correct this asap. Not that I write back movies to disk every day, but it comes in handy when I want to archive an edited sequence on something more reliable than a hard disk... Guess I'll have to write my archives to 'normal' blurays for the time being.