Media error with Sony SxS card

[Andy Schocken]

I have a corrupt clip, shot on an EX1 with v1.11 on a Sony branded 8gb SxS card. I don't think I restarted recording with the red access light on, but it's possible. When played back in-camera, I get a media restore error, without the option of repairing it. Cycling power doesn't help.

With Clip Browser, I wasn't able to copy over the clip before (I had CRC on and got a CRC error- didn't check at the time with it off). Now, a couple days later, it copies over with CRC on or off. XDCAM Transfer refuses to convert the clip, giving me the error message: "Import error: condition failure- unexpected error." In the Clip Browser viewer, it plays back properly until a certain frame, where the video freezes (audio continues). A second or two later, the clip resumes playing properly.

Luckily, this turns out to not be a critical clip for the production. This could have been disastrous if it had occurred shortly earlier, during one of the interviews. As it is, my client has been unnerved by the process, and it certainly does me no favors professionally. I'm taking this card out of production until I get it figured out or replaced. Is this a known issue with officially supported, Sony branded SxS cards? I thought I was paying top dollar for these cards in order to avoid the risks associated with SDHC cards.

[Craig Seeman]

Did you try pulling the card out of the camera and back in and seeing if media restore gave you the option to restore? It may not if it's the clip rather than the metadata is damaged.

See if you can copy the mp4 of that clip from the SxS card to hard drive by hand. Then use File Import into ClipBrowser 2.6 and see if the clip plays. That'll confirm whether the damage is to the clip or just the metadata that controls it.

Personally I'm not convinced that SxS as media is that much better than a top rated SDHC card. This is not the first time I've heard of such issues.

[Andy Schocken]

Removing and reinserting the card doesn't help. I tried copying the mp4 over, got an error message that it couldn't complete the operation, but the file does appear on my desktop. It won't import into Clip Browser 2.6.

[Craig Seeman]

Ugh. If ClipBrowser File/Import doesn't work then it doesn't see it as a valid mp4.
These people are experts at recovering XDCAM EX files.
Aero Quartet: Video gets Personal on your Mac
You may need to send them the SxS card and while they're good they are expensive.

Alternately you should contact Sony since this kind of fail shouldn't happen. I've heard Sony may attempt file rescue when there's an issue with an SxS card so you may want to contact them first. I'm concerned that Sony will pronounce they can't do it and just replace the card whereas aeroquartet might be able to save the file.

[Andy Schocken]

Thanks for your help, Craig. I went through a few different Sony offices, and eventually landed at Sony Media Services. Scott Trua was very helpful, he was surprised to hear about the CRC exception, and he's going to run a diagnostic on the card. He mentioned that their office is shutting down in a few weeks, so if people have SxS (or tape) related issues, it's best to take care of them right away as service will probably be disrupted while they transition to a new facility.

[Anthony McErlean]

Andy, do you think this might have been caused be starting to record while the light was red or is there a problem with the card itself.

Glad to hear its a clip you can do without, if this happened during a wedding !!!!

Just as I was about to buy another SxS card.

[Craig Seeman]

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

Andy, do you think this might have been caused be starting to record while the light was red or is there a problem with the card itself.

That should not be an issue with SxS cards which are so much faster and reliable than SDHC (tongue planted in cheek).

Problem could be the card.

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

Problem could be the card.

Don't like the sound of that then Craig.

[Andy Schocken]

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

Andy, do you think this might have been caused be starting to record while the light was red or is there a problem with the card itself.

Now that I look back on the clips, with time of day timecode, I can rule that out. There's 15 seconds between the end of the previous clip and the beginning of the problem clip, and more than a minute between the end of it and the beginning of the next one.

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by Andy Schocken

Now that I look back on the clips, with time of day timecode, I can rule that out. There's 15 seconds between the end of the previous clip and the beginning of the problem clip, and more than a minute between the end of it and the beginning of the next one.

OK Andy thanks.
Wonder what would have happened if you didn't hit stop, just kept on recording. The problem clip would have lasted longer and then probably have some important material in it you would have needed.

Perhaps its just as well you stooped recording when you did.

Did any error message appear on camera when you were recording?
Were you only aware of the problem clip in playback, after all recording was finished?

[Andy Schocken]

No error message while shooting. Only noticed the problem when I tried to dump the card at the end of the day.

[Anthony McErlean]

Any news about the SxS card Andy?