Is it OK to just xfr FMU files to PC or must you use the supplied NX5 Software

[Francis Lee]

I thought I read that you shouldn't connect the usb from the cams Flash Memory Unit directly to your PC and simply copy files... But instead you should install the Sony software to transfer the files. Is this true? Can you actually damage the camera or the flash drive unit by simply "copying" files from it to your PC ??

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Abraham Texidor Sr.]

I always play it save and use the camera software to transfer footage. This is specially true when it come to relay recording.

You can transfer footage without the software just be sure to set your file settings to show hidden files. This way you can be sure you transferred everything. This will not harm your cam or flash unit.

[Daniel Paquin]

OK I am a MAC user and the Sony Software only works on PC. Then, if what you are saying was true there would be a lot of people being in trouble.

If you look carefully on the FMU there are two ports, one being the USB and the other one (I beleive) being the connection for the camera. Then I do not see why you would damage the camera or the connector. The software is then not an absolute necessity.

I always transferred the data to my MAC using the USB port. However, I find this being VERY slow. Copying the AVCHD structure correctly via the USB should not cause you any problems. I always been able to log and transfer video files on my MAC to perform post video editing.

[Francis Lee]

The FMU Instructions section titled "Connecting to Other Devices" says...

"~ movies can be copied to your computer using the the software provided ~"
then later...
"~ Do not use the computer to copy files on the memory media of the unit~"

and there are a lot of other "Do Nots..." relative to using the FMU with the computer.

I'm a PC user so I'm not sure what to do... and I see no instructions for theMac user.

This is all very confusing.

Are any of you just plugging the FMU into the PC USB Port then using Windows Explorer to drag the video files onto the PC? Or are all of you restricting yourself to using the Sony provided software?

Thanks again for any help.

PS - Abraham... what is "relay recording" Is this when the cam switches from one memory card to the other automatically? If so, how do you get those "two" files back together again... or does the Sony software do that for you?

[Ron Evans]

I plug my FMU into the PC USB port and use the Sony software to transfer the files. This is important for me as all my projects are long ( around 1 hour for each theatre Act so longer than a FAT 32 file). The Sony software joins these FAT 32 files together into the clip as defined by the start and stop on the camcorder.

If you are on a PC I would use the Sony software as there are so many advantages to doing this. Clips are transferred as clips not FAT32 files, all metadata is transferred and logged in the history file. The software can be setup to only transfer clips it has not already transferred making the transfer quick if old files have not yet been removed etc etc.

If you also have the consumer MBS it can register the files and search for face recognition as well!!!!

Ron Evans

[Alec Moreno]

I'm on a Mac using Final Cut Pro and I simply plug the flash unit into the computer via USB. I copy the entire file structure to the computer (onto two separate hard drives and then burn a third copy on Blu-ray) and that's it. It works well for me, but I would caution everyone to do some trial runs on their particular systems before trusting their workflow on an important job.


I never delete anything from the flash unit while connected to the computer though. All reformatting is done in-camera. I suspect that if any damage is to be done to the flash unit, it would most likely be caused by an accidental renaming of a folder/file or some other mixup while trying to delete older items via computer.

Alec Moreno
Wedding Art Films - Southern California - Los Angeles - Orange County - Video

[Francis Lee]

Below you say "Clips are transfered as clips not FATf32 files."

1 - Does that mean they are not regular video files?
2 - Does that mean I can't simply drag them into my editor (Sony Vegas Pro) ?
3 - What is a Clip vs a (FAT32 file) ?? (or NTSF for that mater?)

Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

I plug my FMU into the PC USB port and use the Sony software to transfer the files. This is important for me as all my projects are long ( around 1 hour for each theatre Act so longer than a FAT 32 file). The Sony software joins these FAT 32 files together into the clip as defined by the start and stop on the camcorder.

If you are on a PC I would use the Sony software as there are so many advantages to doing this. Clips are transferred as clips not FAT32 files, all metadata is transferred and logged in the history file. The software can be setup to only transfer clips it has not already transferred making the transfer quick if old files have not yet been removed etc etc.

If you also have the consumer MBS it can register the files and search for face recognition as well!!!!

Ron Evans

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Francis Lee

Below you say "Clips are transfered as clips not FATf32 files."

1 - Does that mean they are not regular video files?
2 - Does that mean I can't simply drag them into my editor (Sony Vegas Pro) ?
3 - What is a Clip vs a (FAT32 file) ?? (or NTSF for that mater?)

Thanks for the help.

1- A clip to me is the video file between start and stop on the camcorder however long that happens to be. The video is stored in all the AVCHD camcorders in the FAT 32 file format which has a file size limit of 4G or about 30 mins of AVCHD depending on data rate. So any continuous recording over 30 mins will be more than one file on the card or hard drive in an AVCHD camcorder. The Sony software for the Pro or consumer camcorders joins these FAT 32 files and creates a file on a PC ( NTFS) that is a single video file in AVCHD format with correct sync for audio and video.

2 Yes, you can just drag the files if you want to but if they need to be joined together from a continuous clip over 30 mins as I mentioned above then there is the possibility of audio glitches or sync issue. Why would you do this when there is software provided that will not only avoid this but provides so much more as well.

3- As mentioned before a clip to me is the video file between start and stop of the camcorder. FAT 32 is the file format used to store these files on a camcorder and NTSF is the file format used on modern Win PC. File size limit of FAT 32 is 4G the files size limit for NTFS is effectively 16TB.

Ron Evans

[Arkady Bolotin]

Originally Posted by Francis Lee

I thought I read that you shouldn't connect the usb from the cams Flash Memory Unit directly to your PC and simply copy files... But instead you should install the Sony software to transfer the files. Is this true? Can you actually damage the camera or the flash drive unit by simply "copying" files from it to your PC ??

Thanks in advance for any help.

Francis:

Copying files (video clips) from an AVCHD camcorder to a computer can be performed with or without proprietary software.

The file organization on solid-state AVCHD camcorders is rather complex (here you have the folder BDMV with the subfolder STREAM, which actually contains video clips, in addition to directories AVCHDTN, DCIM, MISC, etc.).

However, video clip extensions .m2ts, .mts, and .m2t are registered out of the box by Windows 7 operating system, and Windows Explorer recognizes these files, creates thumbnails etc. Moreover, if the camera is certified by Device Stage, transferring files to the PC will be super easy even without any supporting program.

So, apart from the risk of accidental deleting some part of the complex AVCHD directory system during clip transferring, there is no other danger to copy video clips directly, i.e. without Content Management Utility.

Just to avoid such risk, Sony and other AVCHD camcorder manufactures recommend to use proprietary software.