Content Management Utility doesn't work on Mac

[Matt Davis]

That's why we have the F3, I guess - XDCAM-EX: 'good enough'. As time goes on, I just know I'm going to be thinking about the F3 every time I use the FS100.

Does the supplied Windows app from Sony pull out GPS info, User Bits etc?

[Galen Rath]

The Windows app shows the bit rate and GPS info, I dont see any exposure information, and I was using a SONY NEX lens.

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

I guess I'm spoiled by XDCAM where ingest is 7x faster than NXCAM and you don't have to transcode to ProRes and have the joy of file sizes that are suddenly 6 times bigger -- with absolutely no benefit.

Doug,

Isn't this speed you are talking about ONLY for those who are using laptops
(Macbook Pro) that have the card slot? For people like me who have a
Mac Pro desktop, is there a way other than USB 2 to transfer XDCAM EX
footage to my Mac Pro that fast?

[Doug Jensen]

No, I'm not talking about an internal slot in a MacBook Pro. I don't even have an SD slot in any of my MacBook Pros.

I'm using a normal USB stand-alone card reader to a Mac Pro desktop. But that isn't the problem anyway. It's not a hardware issue. I can ingest the card 7x faster than real time if I do a straight file transfer from the card in a USB card reader to my Mac Pro desktop. That is plenty fast enough for me and proves that the hardware is capable of a very fast transfer.

But if I transcode to ProRes (which I must do for FCP) then the transfer is slower than real time -- using the exact same hardware configuration. So the problem is not going to be solved by a faster card or a Firewire 800 card reader. The pipeline is already big enough to handle the load, but the computer can't process the files fast enough. Perhaps a faster computer processor might speed things up a bit, but that is the only hardware change that could make a difference. I have a pretty fast, fully-loaded Mac Pro, but let's say I got a new computer that could transcode twice as fast as my old one. Well, that would still be 3x slower than a straight file transfer and the new ProRes files that are created would still be 6x bigger than the original AVCHD files.

The purpose of my original post was not to complain about the NXCAM workflow (it is what it is), but to take issue with the poster who said it was "fast". It is anything but fast if you are used to working with XDCAM camcorders or devces that record in ProRes natively (NanoFlash, Ki Pro, SideKick, Alexa, etc.)

[Gabe Strong]

Doug,

Ok, I understand now. So, if you are to copy the original file over to
the Mac Pro, it is much faster than transcoding to ProRes, while you are
copying the file over. I have done both, as I typically transfer the
contents of the card to an external drive with folder structure intact
for backup, and then transfer to my 'workdrive' which is a 3 TB Raid O
in the Mac Pro. So the 'backup' on external drive is a straight file
transfer. The 'work copy' is a transcode to Pro Res, using Log and
Transfer.

Now I am interested in recording say.....15 minutes with my FS-100
and timing it to see how fast it will transfer using each method, just
for curiosity's sake. I've never timed it before.

[Doug Jensen]

Gabe,

I'd be interested to hear your results to see how they compare to mine. Also, just for the hell of it, you might want to compare files sizes of the original files vs. the new ProRes versions.

[Galen Rath]

Hey, Doug, off topic, but do you have a projected date for release of your instructional video for the FS-100.

[Doug Jensen]

Hi Galen,

Thanks for asking.

I'm in the final stages of production now, and hope to send it to the replicator by the end of next week if all goes well. That means the DVDs will be shipping before mid-August. About a month later than I would have liked, but the Japanese earthquake really threw off any chance of getting an early camera that wasn't just a prototype. FYI, "Mastering the Sony NEX-FS100 Camcorder" will be three hours long with 18 chapters.

Also, if anyone has a week to spare and really wants to learn the camera in a small 5-10 person workshop, I'll be teaching an F3/FS100 workshop beginning August 7th at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport. Should be a lot of fun. Digital Cinematography with Sony's Super-35mm HD Cameras | Cinematography Workshops | Maine Media

And then later this fall, Vortex Media will be doing one-day FS100 and F3 workshops (each on a separate day) in New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Boston. Vortex Media Workshops for TV/Film Professionals

[Dave Morrison]

I'm hoping to finally meet you either in Atlanta or Miami, Doug.

[Gabe Strong]

Doug,

Here are the results from my testing. First, let me describe my setup
totally as it may have had some affect on the results.

Computer: Mac Pro 2.66 Quad Core (hyperthreaded so it adds 'elements' of a
2nd core to each physical core) Nehalam (2009 model) 10 gigs of RAM.

Capturing from a Sony USB 2 card reader to my 'work drive' which is
a 3 TB RAID 0 drive (two 1.5 TB internal drives converted into a RAID 0
using Disk Utility)

Capturing 8 clips which total almost exactly 22 minutes in length.

Here are the results.

First, a straight capture from the card. The size of the 8 clips
was 3.92 gigs and it took 3 minutes and 26 seconds to transfer them to
my workdrive.

Second, transcoding the clips in Log & Transfer in Final Cut Pro.
After transcoding, the size of the 8 clips was 18.67 gigs. (I am
using 'standard' Pro Res 422, NOT Pro Res LT or Pro Res HQ).
It took 9 minutes and 22 seconds to transcode and transfer them to the work
drive.

Definitely faster just doing a file transfer. But 9:22 to transfer
22 minutes of footage isn't bad to those used to working with
tape!!!! It all depends on your perspective I think. Anyways,
hopefully this test will prove useful to someone.

P.S.
Doug, I'm looking to buy your DVD on the FS-100 as well, so
good to hear it will be out before too long!!

[Doug Jensen]

Hi Gabe,

Thanks for sharing your results. It sounds like you're getting transcode speeds that are more than twice as fast as real time. Very interesting. I did some further testing of my own just to confirm, and the best speed I can get using a similar setup to yours is 34% faster that real time. It doesn't matter which card I transcode from, or even from a HDD, my speeds are the same so I must have a slower Mac. Time to upgrade. :-)

Hi Dave, it'd be great to meet you when we are on the road.

[Dave Morrison]

Doug, will you have your FS100 DVDs for sale at your sessions?

[Doug Jensen]

Yes, I believe we will, although it might be better for some people to view the DVD before the class if they are new to this sort of camera. There will be very little overlap between the content of the DVD and the workshop. The purpose of the "advanced" workshop is to go beyond the information that can be covered easily in a DVD. It is expected that workshop attendees will already know the basics of the camera.
Thanks for asking.

[Gabe Strong]

Doug,

You ever thought about broadcasting the workshop online? There's no
way I could get to one as it would be $1200 or more in plane tickets, but
if there was a way to attend remotely, I'd be interested.

[Dave Morrison]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

Yes, I believe we will, although it might be better for some people to view the DVD before the class if they are new to this sort of camera. There will be very little overlap between the content of the DVD and the workshop. The purpose of the "advanced" workshop is to go beyond the information that can be covered easily in a DVD. It is expected that workshop attendees will already know the basics of the camera.
Thanks for asking.

Thanks for the info, Doug. I'm hoping to have a '100 by the time I see you. Your DVD for my EX1 was outstanding and I expect no less from this one! ;)