USB transfer speeds? at DVinfo.net

Craig Seeman · December 20th, 2007, 12:59 PM

I had several one to two minute clips in the camera (8GB card). I used the USB cable and FCP 6.0.2 with Sony Transfer Utility 2.1. It was to a G5 PowerMac and the USB port is definitely USB2. The transfer speed seemed to about 1.3 to 1.4x real time. I was expecting closer to 3x with USB. I'm not sure if I'm getting typical speeds or maybe something I'm not thinking of is slowing the transfer.

What speeds are you seeing when coming from the Camera's USB to your computer (and what computer)?

Chris Forbes · December 20th, 2007, 01:43 PM

Using a MacPro Quad 2.6 with 4GB ram and dumping to internal drives I average about 2x real time. I haven't ever seen it hit 3x with usb. But on a Macbook Pro I have seen 9x real time using the expresscard slot.

Craig Seeman · December 20th, 2007, 02:13 PM

Thanks Chris for the info. I thought someone had mentioned 3x or even 5x with USB but given my results (and yours). Maybe I misinterpreted those comments.

I believe others have reported speeds around 9x on laptops with Expresscard slots

Now wouldn't it be great if someone came out with PCI card with an Expresscard interface. Why should laptops have all the fun (speed)?

Craig Seeman · December 26th, 2007, 09:19 AM

On another forum one person posted to me they're getting 4x on a six year old PC with USB2 port.

I'm wondering if there's a Mac specific USB issue relating to OS or driver or inherent issue with Mac USB2 ports.

Can others report their transfer speeds via USB port?

Craig Seeman · December 26th, 2007, 08:10 PM

I'm using the XDCAM Transfer Software 2.1.
As I mentioned I got about 1.3x on my G5
On my Intel Mac Mini (not my edit box obviously) I got about 1.8x
Using the Sony Clip Browser 1.1 software on my 1 year old Dell 2.8Ghhz Dual it wasn't much faster than real time either from MP4 to MXF.

G5 dragging BPAV folder with 2:04 minute clip to desktop - 53 seconds - 2.3x
Intel Mini doing same as above - 30 seconds - 4x

Based on my Intel Mini drag and drop I'm getting 4x but I was timing import into FCP (to MOV) on Mac and Clip Browser to MXF on PC.

This means straight Drag and Drop BPAV from SxS card to hard drive is fastest.

WARNING
It also means your data wrangler/assistant has to be real careful they don't overwrite one BPAV with another.

Phil Bloom · December 27th, 2007, 12:40 AM

with the usb reader i get around 2.2x with mac pro quad. Quite disappointing really! No faster than the professional discs.

Seems silly that I have to use my Macbook pro to get proper solid state transfer speeds.

Sebastien Thomas · December 27th, 2007, 04:13 AM

My solution is to unload the card from my MacBook pro to an external hard drive attached by Firewire 800.
Then plug the drive to the editing box (which is a dual 2GHz G5 for me).

I saw some drives having firewire 800 plus e-sata, so you could use it full speed with your MacPro (or G5) if you have a such card.

Christopher Witz · December 27th, 2007, 08:40 AM

create a shared folder on the mbpro to copy files to and use airport extreme to transfer files to your desktop.

Craig Seeman · December 27th, 2007, 09:30 AM

I'd REALLY want to add an Express port slot to a Mac desktop (Windows folks will want this too I'm sure). I don't want to be forced to use USB at all.

BTW I wonder what the speed is xfering from Laptop to Desktop through Gigabit Ethernet.

Phil Bloom · December 27th, 2007, 07:24 PM

thats the problem. USB is really slow and i own a mac pro so i shouldnt have to use my macbook pro to transfer footage of the camera.

Thierry Humeau · December 28th, 2007, 06:25 PM

I am surprised transfers are that slow using a USB connection. Sony recently released a standalone USB-2 XDCAM drive (PDW-U1) which yields 4X speed with 25mbps XDCAM footage and 3X with 35 mbps. I would expect the SxS memory card to do quite better than the optical XDCAM discs for data transfer via USB2. May be the USB SxS driver is not fully optimized yet?

Tom Vaughan · December 28th, 2007, 08:22 PM

You can buy ExpressCard adapters for desktop PCs...

SIIG PCIe to ExpressCard Adapter Model JJ-000072-S1 $37.99

SYBA ExpressCard to PCI-Express Conversion Card Model SD-PEX-EXPC $19.99

StarTech PCI-Express to ExpressCard Adapter Model PEX2EC $37.99

SIIG JJ-000082-S1 PCIe to ExpressCard Bay $49.99

Prices are from Newegg. All of the above indicate support for Windows only.

Thierry Humeau · December 28th, 2007, 10:11 PM

Tom,

Great suggestions. I see that some of these cards even come with wiring and a front pannel assembly so the card reader fits neatly in one of the 3.5" bay in front of a PC. I suppose these adaptors will allow data transfers that are as fast as those seen on laptops with built-in Express slots?

Bernard Racelis · January 5th, 2008, 10:38 PM

I just exported a full 8GB card (about 27 minutes of HQ video) into MXF files to a hard drive in exactly 5 minutes using the Sony USB card reader/writer and the EX Clip Browser -- this translates to about 5X or about 220 Mb/sec,

Code:

8GB x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 x 8 bits/byte
-------------------------------------- = 229,064,922 bits / sec
    5 minutes x 60 sec

which is close to the specs of the drive which is 240 Mb/s (Read).
This is on a PC running Vista.

Ironically, on my notebook PC running XP which has a built-in ExpressCard slot and 7200rpm drive, it's slower (about 2X).

Thierry Humeau · January 6th, 2008, 12:03 PM

Glad to see the 5X speed with Sony's USB reader. Weird to see that your notebook Express reader is slower though....

December 20th, 2007, 12:59 PM	#1
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	USB transfer speeds? I had several one to two minute clips in the camera (8GB card). I used the USB cable and FCP 6.0.2 with Sony Transfer Utility 2.1. It was to a G5 PowerMac and the USB port is definitely USB2. The transfer speed seemed to about 1.3 to 1.4x real time. I was expecting closer to 3x with USB. I'm not sure if I'm getting typical speeds or maybe something I'm not thinking of is slowing the transfer. What speeds are you seeing when coming from the Camera's USB to your computer (and what computer)?

December 26th, 2007, 08:10 PM	#5
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Updated USB Xfer I'm using the XDCAM Transfer Software 2.1. As I mentioned I got about 1.3x on my G5 On my Intel Mac Mini (not my edit box obviously) I got about 1.8x Using the Sony Clip Browser 1.1 software on my 1 year old Dell 2.8Ghhz Dual it wasn't much faster than real time either from MP4 to MXF. G5 dragging BPAV folder with 2:04 minute clip to desktop - 53 seconds - 2.3x Intel Mini doing same as above - 30 seconds - 4x Based on my Intel Mini drag and drop I'm getting 4x but I was timing import into FCP (to MOV) on Mac and Clip Browser to MXF on PC. This means straight Drag and Drop BPAV from SxS card to hard drive is fastest. WARNING It also means your data wrangler/assistant has to be real careful they don't overwrite one BPAV with another.

December 27th, 2007, 12:40 AM	#6
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	with the usb reader i get around 2.2x with mac pro quad. Quite disappointing really! No faster than the professional discs. Seems silly that I have to use my Macbook pro to get proper solid state transfer speeds. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

December 27th, 2007, 07:24 PM	#10
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	thats the problem. USB is really slow and i own a mac pro so i shouldnt have to use my macbook pro to transfer footage of the camera. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

December 28th, 2007, 06:25 PM	#11
Thierry Humeau Telecam Films Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Washington DC Posts: 723	I am surprised transfers are that slow using a USB connection. Sony recently released a standalone USB-2 XDCAM drive (PDW-U1) which yields 4X speed with 25mbps XDCAM footage and 3X with 35 mbps. I would expect the SxS memory card to do quite better than the optical XDCAM discs for data transfer via USB2. May be the USB SxS driver is not fully optimized yet? __________________ Thierry Humeau, DoP Télécam Films www.telecamfilms.com

December 20th, 2007, 01:43 PM	#2
Chris Forbes Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Salt Lake City, Ut Posts: 155	Using a MacPro Quad 2.6 with 4GB ram and dumping to internal drives I average about 2x real time. I haven't ever seen it hit 3x with usb. But on a Macbook Pro I have seen 9x real time using the expresscard slot.

December 20th, 2007, 02:13 PM	#3
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Thanks Chris for the info. I thought someone had mentioned 3x or even 5x with USB but given my results (and yours). Maybe I misinterpreted those comments. I believe others have reported speeds around 9x on laptops with Expresscard slots Now wouldn't it be great if someone came out with PCI card with an Expresscard interface. Why should laptops have all the fun (speed)?

December 26th, 2007, 09:19 AM	#4
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	On another forum one person posted to me they're getting 4x on a six year old PC with USB2 port. I'm wondering if there's a Mac specific USB issue relating to OS or driver or inherent issue with Mac USB2 ports. Can others report their transfer speeds via USB port?

December 27th, 2007, 04:13 AM	#7
Sebastien Thomas Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Paris, France Posts: 210	My solution is to unload the card from my MacBook pro to an external hard drive attached by Firewire 800. Then plug the drive to the editing box (which is a dual 2GHz G5 for me). I saw some drives having firewire 800 plus e-sata, so you could use it full speed with your MacPro (or G5) if you have a such card.

December 27th, 2007, 08:40 AM	#8
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	create a shared folder on the mbpro to copy files to and use airport extreme to transfer files to your desktop.

December 27th, 2007, 09:30 AM	#9
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	I'd REALLY want to add an Express port slot to a Mac desktop (Windows folks will want this too I'm sure). I don't want to be forced to use USB at all. BTW I wonder what the speed is xfering from Laptop to Desktop through Gigabit Ethernet.

December 28th, 2007, 08:22 PM	#12
Tom Vaughan Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Los Gatos, CA Posts: 70	You can buy ExpressCard adapters for desktop PCs... SIIG PCIe to ExpressCard Adapter Model JJ-000072-S1 $37.99 SYBA ExpressCard to PCI-Express Conversion Card Model SD-PEX-EXPC $19.99 StarTech PCI-Express to ExpressCard Adapter Model PEX2EC $37.99 SIIG JJ-000082-S1 PCIe to ExpressCard Bay $49.99 Prices are from Newegg. All of the above indicate support for Windows only.

December 28th, 2007, 10:11 PM	#13
Thierry Humeau Telecam Films Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Washington DC Posts: 723	Tom, Great suggestions. I see that some of these cards even come with wiring and a front pannel assembly so the card reader fits neatly in one of the 3.5" bay in front of a PC. I suppose these adaptors will allow data transfers that are as fast as those seen on laptops with built-in Express slots? __________________ Thierry Humeau, DoP Télécam Films www.telecamfilms.com

January 5th, 2008, 10:38 PM	#14
Bernard Racelis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: New York City Posts: 82	I just exported a full 8GB card (about 27 minutes of HQ video) into MXF files to a hard drive in exactly 5 minutes using the Sony USB card reader/writer and the EX Clip Browser -- this translates to about 5X or about 220 Mb/sec, Code: 8GB x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 x 8 bits/byte -------------------------------------- = 229,064,922 bits / sec 5 minutes x 60 sec which is close to the specs of the drive which is 240 Mb/s (Read). This is on a PC running Vista. Ironically, on my notebook PC running XP which has a built-in ExpressCard slot and 7200rpm drive, it's slower (about 2X).

January 6th, 2008, 12:03 PM	#15
Thierry Humeau Telecam Films Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Washington DC Posts: 723	Glad to see the 5X speed with Sony's USB reader. Weird to see that your notebook Express reader is slower though.... __________________ Thierry Humeau, DoP Télécam Films www.telecamfilms.com