Need Help: Transfering EX3 SxS files to a Hard Drive

[William Griffin]

Hello all...

Next month I do the travel thing with a client to several cities...but when I am in town and shoot with my Ex3, I usually hand off the cards to the client, who will transfer the files to his computer and get them back the next day.

But when I travel, I will have to do this myself as I am not a tech person and have never done this , as all I want to do is copy or transfer off the camera files to a hard drive to free up space on my 2 16 gb SxS cards, so I can use them the next day......

so please tell me "what do I do"? use clip browser ? or just copy from one to the other?
as I am needing help....


I am looking at the Toshiba 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Dive HDDR500E04XL (Liquid Blue)
as the target hard drive to copy to...
Toshiba 500GB Portable External Hard Drive (Liquid Blue) - Toshiba

TIA....

[John Hedgecoe]

Yes, use clip browser. I assume your laptop has an ExpressCard slot.

[William Griffin]

OK, but I don't want to "convert' the files...I just move them from the SxS cards to a hard drive....

[Brian Barkley]

No, you don't need Clip Browser for that .... you just need 3 things (1) your EX3 camera 3(2) a laptop computer, or any other computer (3) an external hard drive, such as one of the below:

(I believe Seagates are the best)

seagate hard drive

[Ned Soltz]

HI, Bill!

You cannot just transfer files from camera to hard drive.

I strongly recommend the Nexto 2500 (NextoDI). Just insert your SxS (or SDHC) card and it will copy to the internal drive of the Nexto. Then, when you have computer access, transfer the Nexto contents by interfacing Nexto to computer and copying to whatever drive you like. Granted, it has a street price around $2000, but for field work where you just need to offload your cards, it is the most compact option.

A second option would be a computer with the appropriate slot (Express34 for SxS or the ability to connect USB adapter).

One of the selling points of using the SDHC card adapters is that you can purchase many SDHC cards for the price of one SxS card. Thus you may not even need to offload while you are shooting.

Ned Soltz

[William Griffin]

OK...I have a Sony Vaio that I will use , not the camera.....as I just want to transfer the media....With all the talk of SDHC card failures , and since I will be out of town, and this is a very big client...I dont want to do SDHC, as that that would be a last resort.

[Devin Termini]

Hi William,

The process to archive your media is as follows.

1. Connect camera to computer via USB / insert card into card reader.
2. Use the free Clip Browser software to drag and drop clips to your hard drive. (Latest version is 2.5)
3. Done.

[William Griffin]

OK ..all.... I am a novice to all of this......so how do you do it, step by step?

I know what I need, but I lack the skills.....

[Andrew Hollister]

Do what Devin says (with my additions to make it an easier read :)

Originally Posted by Devin Termini

1. Insert card into your Vaio's card reader.
2. Use the free Clip Browser software
in the bottom window select the SxS card, in the top select your drive.
3. drag and drop clips from SxS window (bottom) to your hard drive (top)
4. Done.

When you do it this way, the correct way, if you have files that span 2 or more cards (eg a 200 minute clip) Clip Browser will automatically stitch the files together. So instead of doing it manually and having two folders, each with a 16gb file, you'd have one 32gb file.

When all else fails, seek out and ask Craig Seeman, without hesitation he'll tell you to use Clip Browser. That's what he tells everyone.

[Jon Braeley]

I am often on location in remote areas for weeks at a time, so offloading to HD is a must and I do this each night after the days shoot and sometimes during the shoot!

I strongly suggest getting a laptop with a card slot or a reader for your SxS - if you are nervous about downloading direct from the camera. Off-loading away from the camera is a better workflow, especially if you only have 2 cards.

I use a Macbook and 8 small WD passports for storage - gives me 3TB of portable storage. I just drag and drop from the SxS cards on to the passports. I have been doing this for a year now and not one problem so far.

[Bruce Rawlings]

I would shoot one card at a time to keep things simple.

[William Griffin]

Originally Posted by Bruce Rawlings

I would shoot one card at a time to keep things simple.

Ok thanks...but this is transfer issue.........

[William Griffin]

OK guys...this is where I am at:

1/2 of you say "use the clip browser"

the other half says " use drag and drop"....so my questions is:

who is right? as I am getting confused.....

thanks

[Devin Termini]

William,

Within the Clip Browser tool, the action you perform to offload the clips is a drag and drop motion.

Please know that using this tool is different than simply copying the folders off the card (using windows explorer) onto your hard drive. The Clip Browser software has CRC checking to ensure the transferred files are identical to those on the card.

[David Issko]

Originally Posted by William Griffin

OK guys...this is where I am at:

1/2 of you say "use the clip browser"

the other half says " use drag and drop"....so my questions is:

who is right? as I am getting confused.....

thanks

There have been a number of posts from users stating they lost clips from the D&D method. The Sony suggested method is to use Clip Browser with CRC checked on (in preferences). Transfer the entire BPAV folder(s) with all contents over to two backup hard drives and spot check the copies back before trashing content on SxS cards.