SxS via Firewire... Again !

[Erwan Tossen]

Hi everybody !

Am I the only one to find the USB port very badly positioned?

The Firewire port is however very accessible! USB being as fast as Firewire but much less stable in transfer, is it possible to mount SxS cards directly via Firewire (I've already tried that with many Sony's drivers without result...)? Or rather, do you know a driver able to do that?

Thanks !

Erwan T.

[Dave Morrison]

You're absolutely right. I tried to mount the SxS cards (in the camera) via the FW port and never was able to connect. I hope this might be something that could be added via a firmware update, but I'm not hopeful.

[Patrick Williams]

You can use firewire with the EX1 for any clips recorded in 1080i SP mode. It's basically HDV. HQ mode is a different animal with a higher bit rate and can be transferred through USB, or you can put the SXS cards into an Express Card reader or laptop with an Express Card slot for really high speed transfers.

[Erwan Tossen]

I know that...

So, there is no Express Card reader on Mac Pro (only on MBP). Do you know a good external Firewire 800 or 400 Express Card reader on the market ? I didn't find anything !

Thanks,
Erwan

[Serena Steuart]

Originally Posted by Erwan Tossen

I know that...

So, there is no Express Card reader on Mac Pro (only on MBP). Do you know a good external Firewire 800 or 400 Express Card reader on the market ? I didn't find anything !

Thanks,
Erwan

Isn't the Sony SBAC-US10 compatible with Mac Pro?

[George Kroonder]

Originally Posted by Serena Steuart

Isn't the Sony SBAC-US10 compatible with Mac Pro?

It is. So is the EX-30 deck; although a bit overkill if you just want to access SxS cards.

George/

[Alex Gutterson]

I went with the cheap USB one made by Sony and it works like a charm.

It's probably the US-10. A neat feature about it is you can loop the DC with the battery charger that comes with the camera, making it so that you only need 1 power outlet for the 2 devices.

[Craig Seeman]

Some of us would prefer an Express Card PCIe reader to get much faster transfer times than provided by USB2.

Originally Posted by Serena Steuart

Isn't the Sony SBAC-US10 compatible with Mac Pro?

[Andy Nickless]

I bought the SBAC-US10 SxS reader and although it's over-priced for what it is, I've found it invaluable.

Just slip the card(s) out of the EX1 and straight into the SBAC and you're downloading in seconds.

For the money, I think Sony might have added a second card slot but it's not a problem if you capture any footage that bridges both cards as individual clips.

I fear the protective cover on the EX1 won't stand much opening and closing (it seems a very cheap, flimsy affair) but by using the SBAC reader, I got over that problem, the cover just stays closed now.

An added bonus is that the camera spends more time safe in my KATA bag, rather than teetering precariously on the edge of my desk while I download footage. (With my habit of putting my feet up on the desk this has extra significance).

[Mike Williams]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

Some of us would prefer an Express Card PCIe reader to get much faster transfer times than provided by USB2.

AMEN brother!

I still only get about 2x real time going from the USB on the cam to mac octo E2008 pro. Not what I had anticipated from the early reports. After backing up etc, it's way more work than shooting tape.

I know I've said this before but I want people to know the truth. This workflow as it stands right now out of the box is not faster than just shooting tape, and is significantly more of a PITA.

So much so that I am seriously considering selling my EX and all the stuff I needed to buy in order to play at this level. Please someone make it better! Start with a better transfer option like Craig mentioned..... please.

[Andy Nickless]

Originally Posted by Mike Williams

This workflow as it stands right now out of the box is not faster than just shooting tape, and is significantly more of a PITA.

Are you serious?
I think you have a very short memory.

I wouldn't go back to tape for all the tea in China.

[Paul Kellett]

I get about 5-6 times speed rewrapping to mxf, this is from the card reader,through the computer, onto an external hard-drive.
Once all the clips are on the 1st external drive in then go to that drive, select all the mxf clips, right click and then copy them to the 2nd (back up) external drive. I just go and make myself a coffee or whatever while this is happening.
This is better than sitting hour after hour capturing tapes.

Paul.

[Mike Williams]

I guess my brand new Early 2008 Mac pro with a striped raid would be much slower than that. I am not in love with tape. Don't get me wrong, BUT as I mentioned, as it stands right now the out of the box solution it not good enough. You are forced to buy MORE stuff and even then pray it works right.

Add to the batteries, the cards, the new filters and new lens adapters, matte boxes etc etc. the new workflow, raid array, back up regimen, and the fear of formatting a card before you absolutely make sure ALL of the clips are in.

You still need to develop a good filing system in order to not get all those BPAV folders mixed up. With tape you shoot, then import, then save the project files to optical or whatever. Yes hour after hour to load but, the tape sits there like a good soldier waiting to serve you.

I need to look into shot put to see if that will help, as well a a card reader because the usb port on the cam is rediculous. Oh just another few hundred, no problem :)

[Andy Nickless]

I shot 54 minutes of video with the EX1 this morning.

I came into the office and transferred the footage using XDCAM Transfer and my SBAC-US10 (USB2) card reader.

Now I don't think there's a soul on this earth who'd claim that logging footage is quicker with tape but even so, each clip had transferred before I'd logged the next - on some occasions 9 subclips from one main, sometimes, the whole main clip.

In all there were 84 clips - 6.5 GB in total.
These took 2.5 minutes to backup from my G-Tech G-Raid to my LaCie Big Disk 500.
(I didn't have time to make any coffee)!

Do I have any problems with SxS?

Not me!
In my opinion, it's rock solid reliable, quick and simple to use.

My only complaint is that I have yet to master XDCAM Transfer's bizarre clip numbering system (but there have to be some challenges in life)!

[Alister Chapman]

I get 5x real time over USB from the camera. I've just been through my whole workflow looking at how long it takes and it is much more efficient than tape.

I use ShotPut to ingest the material, shot put verifies the copy and copies to my internal raid array on my MacPro and a Firewire drive at the same time. Then I plug the firewire drive into an old laptop via USB (the drive has both) and use that to make backups to DL-DVD. I don't sit watching the backups happen, while the backups are cooking I get on with the edit or something else.

So for 25 minutes of footage it takes me 5 to 6 minutes to import, then I spend about 4 minutes getting the backup going. Next I use the transfer tool to select and import the clips I want, at the most that takes a further 5 minutes. After 15 minutes I am editing.