How to use PC field drives for Mac Edit System

[Ed Kukla]

I think this was answered but this is all very confusing...

If I have a PC laptop can I transfer EX footage to mac formatted hard drives?

I read something about reformatting the drives to ntfs. What if the client already has some footage on that hard drive? Then I can't re-format, correct? SOL?

[Don Greening]

Originally Posted by Ed Kukla

If I have a PC laptop can I transfer EX footage to mac formatted hard drives?

Yes, as long as you have the MacDrive® program installed on your Windows laptop. This will allow you to write to an externally connected hard drive that's already formatted in Mac OS Extended. Some folks here have mentioned that they had problems with their PC reading/writing to the Mac hard drive using MacDrive®. This is their experience, not mine.

However, I do have experience with using Paragon Software's "NTFS for Mac® OS X 7.0" program which allows an NTSF (Windows PC) formatted drive to be used with a Mac computer. It works really well.

Originally Posted by Ed Kukla

What if the client already has some footage on that hard drive? Then I can't re-format, correct? SOL?

Correct. Formatting any hard drive will destroy all information on the drive.

- Don

[Don Greening]

Originally Posted by Mike Chandler

But that was the whole point of my initial question, guys--it is NOT easy if you work in Mac and don't have an Intel laptop, since a non-Intel can't use CB and there's no fail-safe way of shuttling drives between a pc and a mac.

Absolutely. It's tough if you don't have the Intel Laptop. All anyone is saying is that with Clip Browser you have that program's built-in error checking function working for you to make sure everything got copied to the other location without issue.

Then there's this consideration: when you bought your EX you didn't just buy the camera. You also made a conscious decision to buy into the workflow as well. This means that in order to protect the integrity of your video clips you need to use Clip Browser, which also means going out and buying an Intel Laptop. Some would call this the cost of doing business.

An alternative program called "Shotput®" also employs error checking during the copy process. One of its functions is to copy the contents of SxS Pro cards to multiple locations at the same time. It's a Universal Binary app so it'll work on your Power PC laptop. You can find the program here:

ShotPut Pro - Video Offloading for Mac and Windows

- Don

[Joachim Hoge]

I don't want to argue against using the clip browser, I will start using it now, but it seems to me that Sony say you should use it when transferring clips, not the entire BPVA folder. Its a much bigger risk transferring individual clips than the entire folder IMHO.
I checked that my clips were working using the vlc player and it worked for me. But since I have an intel mac I will now start using the clip browser

Ps has anyone had corrupted clips after just dragging the BPVA folder directly to an external hard disk?

[Keith Moreau]

Originally Posted by Joachim Hoge

I don't want to argue against using the clip browser, I will start using it now, but it seems to me that Sony say you should use it when transferring clips, not the entire BPVA folder. Its a much bigger risk transferring individual clips than the entire folder IMHO.
I checked that my clips were working using the vlc player and it worked for me. But since I have an intel mac I will now start using the clip browser

Ps has anyone had corrupted clips after just dragging the BPVA folder directly to an external hard disk?

I used to do the drag and drop of the BPAV files. I never had a problem. However, discussions here on the forum convinced me to use the Clip browser in CRC mode to safely copy all the clips. It takes a lot longer than dragging, but I feel a little safer doing it this way, and I actually like the automatic naming the Clip browser with the current date and unique ID (I rename them later when I have time).

[Ed Kukla]

Originally Posted by Don Greening

Yes, as long as you have the MacDrive® program installed on your Windows laptop. This will allow you to write to an externally connected hard drive that's already formatted in Mac OS Extended. Some folks here have mentioned that they had problems with their PC reading/writing to the Mac hard drive using MacDrive®. This is their experience, not mine.

- Don

Don

Can you offer any suggestions as to why some had issues and you don't? I would like to go the PC route but have the ability to load files to mac drives. So MacDrive 7 sounds good. I got a response from MediaFour. It sounds like they are concerned that Clip Browser will cause conflicts with their MacDrive software.

Are you using Clip Browser with MacDrive to load files to a Mac Formatted drive through a PC?? With no issues at all?

[Don Greening]

Originally Posted by Ed Kukla

Can you offer any suggestions as to why some had issues and you don't?

None whatsoever. I was simply referring to Mr. Chandler's first reply in this thread when he mentioned having trouble with his workflow using MacDrive®. Personally, I don't have any experience with it.

Originally Posted by Ed Kukla

Are you using Clip Browser with MacDrive to load files to a Mac Formatted drive through a PC?? With no issues at all?

No. I go the other way. I'm totally Mac-based but with the program "NTFS for Mac® OS X 7.0" which allows me to read and write to PC-based hard drives. This way I can transfer media common to both platforms on to clients' own PC-based systems.

I've also never tried using Clip Browser to copy BPAV folders to an NTFS volume connected to my Mac because the need hasn't been there yet. Normally when offloading SxS Pro cards in the field I'm all Mac.

- Don