Why so many files

[Brian Barkley]

I am new to the no-tape world of shooting on memory cards. My new EX-3 records 5 files in each folder, which represents each shot. Why are there 5 files in the folder?
MP4, SMI, PPN, XML, BIM

[Craig Seeman]

A fun homework assignment.

Open them up in a text editor and see what they say. It's practically plain English (select favorite native language here) and you'll see what they refer to.

My favorite is the reference to Record Cache set to an off state.

MP4 is actual media clip. SMI becomes the "proxy" for split/spanned clips.

[Mitchell Lewis]

Here is our workflow Brian. We use Apple Final Cut Pro.

1) Plug camera into computer via USB (or use Express Card adaptor if you have one)
2) Plug in your portable hard drive for archiving
3) Launch XDCAM EX Clip Browser
4) In the Clip Browser software, set up two windows; one window shows your SxS card contents, the other window shows the root level of your portable hard drive
5) In the Clip Browser software, create a new folder on your hard drive and label it appropriately
6) In the Clip Browser software, select all your clips and drag them from your SxS card window into your newly created folder on your portable hard drive.
7) Eject your SxS card and insert another one if necessary, then repeat step 6, dragging all the additional clips into the same folder on your portable hard drive. This will also automatically link any clips that have spanned two SxS cards.
8) Launch the XDCAM Transfer Software
9) Click the Add button at the bottom and navigate to the folder you created in step 5
10) Thumbnails of all your clips should now appear
11) One by one, select each clip (or a group of clips) and name them. You do this by clicking on the Information tab, and then naming them within the Clip window (not the Source window). You can name one clip at a time or select a group of clips and name them all the same thing. If you choose the latter, a consecutive number will be assigned at the end of each name.
12) You can also mark and IN/OUT for a clip, shortening it's length. This creates a Subclip and can sae you storage space if you don't need to import an entire clip (you only need part of it).
13) (This is the part I think is poorly designed) Go to the XDCAM Transfer Preferences and click on the Import tab.
14) Under "Import Location" click the Browse button and navigate where you want your clips to be stored (like on a RAID or other fast hard drive....not your portable drive, it's probably not fast enough)
15) Finally, select all your clips (command+A) and click on Import button at the bottom right of the screen.
16) After a few minutes all your clips will be converted into proper MOV clips ready to edit in Final Cut Pro or another Apple based editing program. (iMovie, Premiere, etc...)

[Brian Luce]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

A fun homework assignment.

Open them up in a text editor and see what they say. It's practically plain English (select favorite native language here) and you'll see what they refer to.

My favorite is the reference to Record Cache set to an off state.

MP4 is actual media clip. SMI becomes the "proxy" for split/spanned clips.

I'm new to final cut and xdcam so am also interested in what the purpose/definition of all these files are and have no idea what a "Text editor" is or "Record cache".

Anyone want to take a stab at quick definitions and why there are so many file types?

[Craig Seeman]

Text editor is any utility that can read ASCII text.
On the Mac it would be TextEdit but there are others available.
On Windows it might be WordPad.

Record Cache is a running buffer of video recording while the camera is in standby. For example, the new JVC HM XDCAM EX cameras have a 2.9 second (NTSC frame rate) record cache. When enabled the camera will record the previous 2.9 seconds. Great if your just a second late on hitting record for that home run swing, bridal bouquet toss, the first words of a press conference, etc.

[Mitchell Lewis]

I can answer your other questions but not the last one. :)

1) A Text Editor is any type of program that can open text files (Microsoft Word, Type Pad, Apple TextEdit, etc...) Craig obviously opened all these files and looked at the text contained with in them.

2) The reason he points out the thing about finding the words "Record Cache" amoungst the other text found in these documents, is that we're all hoping that some day Sony will update the EX1/EX3 with a new "Record Cache" capability. This would all the cameras to record a constant loop of approximately 15 seconds. Then when you hit the record button, you'll actually start recording 15 second BEFORE you hit the record button. This is especially important for wildlife videography when you want to get the shot of a bird taking off from it's nest. It prevents you from being two late pressing the record button. Make sense?

Craig is the man when it comes to this stuff. (I visualize him in a make shift lab of sorts, culling through the multitude of files created by the Sony camera. hehehehe)

EDIT: Looks like Craig answered your questions at the exact same time I did! hehehe

[Craig Seeman]

CUEUP.XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<cueupinfo xmlns="urn:schemas-professionalDisc:cueupinfo" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:schemas-professionalDisc:cueupinfo cueupinfo.xsd">

<history/>

</cueupinfo>

[Craig Seeman]

MEDIAPRO.XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<MediaProfile createdAt="2008-07-16T01:03:03-05:00" version="1.10" xmlns="http://xmlns.sony.net/pro/metadata/mediaprofile">

<Properties>
<System systemId="001D4FFFFE484A04" systemKind="XDZ-1 ver.2.000"/>
<Attached mediaId="2A4003F100D58701001D4FFFFE484A04" mediaKind="ProfessionalMemoryCard" mediaName=""/>
</Properties>

<Contents>
<Material aspectRatio="16:9" ch="2" dur="2904" fps="29.97p" offset="0" status="none" type="PD-EDL" umid="060A2B340101010501010D4313000000E1186100094605DC0800460202280F15" uri="./CLPR/3PV_0242_01/3PV_0242_01.SMI">
<Component aspectRatio="16:9" audioType="LPCM16" ch="2" dur="2904" fps="29.97p" offset="0" type="MP4" uri="./CLPR/3PV_0242_01/3PV_0242_01.MP4" videoType="MPEG2HD35_1920_1080_MP@HL"/>
<RelevantInfo type="XML" uri="./CLPR/3PV_0242_01/3PV_0242_01M01.XML"/>
<RelevantInfo type="BiM" uri="./CLPR/3PV_0242_01/3PV_0242_01R01.BIM"/>
<RelevantInfo type="PPN" uri="./CLPR/3PV_0242_01/3PV_0242_01I01.PPN"/>
</Material>
</Contents>


</MediaProfile>

[Craig Seeman]

3PV_0242_01M01.XML


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<NonRealTimeMeta lastUpdate="2008-07-16T01:03:19-05:00" xmlns="urn:schemas-professionalDisc:nonRealTimeMeta:ver.1.20" xmlns:lib="urn:schemas-professionalDisc:lib:ver.1.20" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

<TargetMaterial umidRef="060A2B340101010501010D4313000000E1186100094605DC0800460202280F15"/>

<Duration value="2904"/>

<LtcChangeTable halfStep="false" tcFps="30">
<LtcChange frameCount="0" status="increment" value="54214618"/>
<LtcChange frameCount="2903" status="end" value="49584718"/>
</LtcChangeTable>

<CreationDate value="2008-05-22T20:02:08-05:00"/>

<LastUpdate value="2008-07-16T01:03:03-05:00"/>

<TypicalUbit value="0000000000000000"/>

<BodyUmidBasicChangeTable>
<BodyUmidBasicChange frameCount="0" status="start" value="060A2B340101010501010D4313000000E1186100094605DC0800460202280F15"/>
</BodyUmidBasicChangeTable>

<VideoFormat>
<VideoRecPort port="DIRECT"/>
<VideoFrame captureFps="29.97p" formatFps="29.97p" recFps="29.97" videoCodec="MPEG2HD35_1920_1080_MP@HL"/>
<VideoLayout aspectRatio="16:9" numOfVerticalLine="1080" pixel="1920"/>
</VideoFormat>

<AudioFormat numOfChannel="2">
<AudioRecPort audioCodec="LPCM16" port="OTHERS" trackDst="CH1"/>
<AudioRecPort audioCodec="LPCM16" port="OTHERS" trackDst="CH2"/>
</AudioFormat>

<Creator name=""/>

<Title usAscii="">
<lib:Alias xml:lang="en">3PV_0242_01</lib:Alias>
</Title>

<Description></Description>

<RecordingMode cacheRec="false" type="intervalRec"/>

</NonRealTimeMeta>

[Brian Luce]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

Text editor is any utility that can read ASCII text.
On the Mac it would be TextEdit but there are others available.
On Windows it might be WordPad.

Record Cache is a running buffer of video recording while the camera is in standby. For example, the new JVC HM XDCAM EX cameras have a 2.9 second (NTSC frame rate) record cache. When enabled the camera will record the previous 2.9 seconds. Great if your just a second late on hitting record for that home run swing, bridal bouquet toss, the first words of a press conference, etc.

Thanks, I'm new to FCP and Mac, even the simplest things trip me up. Like "Finder". Huh? What's that! There's no "Finder" in Windowese. I keep trying to right click and find the "Start" button. And my screen is very lonely looking without all the Adware popping up trying to sell me stuff.

[Brian Barkley]

Well, it'll be easier to just work with the MP4 file, and delete the others when working in Premiere Pro and CS3. I'll soon be in CS4, which will be the same for the purposes stated here.

I backup everything on an external drive, of course.

I want to thank everyone for your help. I go way back to the film days where getting your splices to go thru a projector was the primary task of the day. The learning curve on some of this software is way above my head, and often makes me feel dumb. Thanx again . . .

[Mitchell Lewis]

Following the steps listed above doesn't re-compress your footage, it unwraps it. MP4 is simply a container with the XDCAM EX footage inside it. Buy using the steps above, the MP4 is unwrapped and repackaged into an MOV container which works better with Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Premiere, etc...

But it sounds like your happy with your "work flow". I mean, why bother following the manufactures recommended process when yours works much better for you. :)