Menu > Clip > Update... what does this actually do?

[Rob Perry]

In an XDCAM EX menu, under the Clip sub-menu is the "Update" function. According to the manual it "Updates the management files on the media in the selected slot", but I don't understand what that actually means or why it is necessary. My guess is that the "management file" it's referring to is the MEDIAPRO.xml file, and that this feature corrects that data in the event it becomes corrupt and the card is unreadable... is that true?

I always wished that this function would actually rename all of the clips, since that is otherwise an impossible thing to do with the XDCAM EX file system currently.

[Leonard Levy]

Damn good question - I've wondered about this for years

[Dave Gosley]

Might be worth cleaning a card of any project footage and shooting a few clips and then hitting that menu selection and see what happens.

Could then do the same with an empty card and see what the result is...

Could also read the manual! ....

You notice how I'm not volunteering to do this to one of my own....! ;-)

[Kevin Spahr]

One thing it is used for is if you load a video on a card from your computer (and it meets all the required format, size, etc.) you will need to use this function in order for the video to be recognized by the camera. This function will update or create the addition files that are needed for making it a valid video file for the camera's file system.

[Leonard Levy]

That is interesting - I had no idea. Now why would you want to load a clip back onto the camera?

1- Its one way to play it back on a real monitor since you have SDI

2 - Could you use it to playback an edited show on a monitor or a projector ? (It would need to be output into XDCAM EX format though.)


Any other ideas?

[Kevin Spahr]

3 - You enjoy tedious and nearly impossible tasks.

[Doug Jensen]

I put edited projects onto SxS cards several times a year from FCP7 for various reasons, and it is not tedious or impossible. Two menu clicks and it is done. Works like a charm.

[Dave Sperling]

Can also do it from Vegas.

[Leonard Levy]

Doug,
What's your process for doing that. Do you use "Menu > Clip > Update" ?

[Kevin Spahr]

After a day of struggling to export an edited clip to an SxS card, I wrote the process up and posted it here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...-sxs-card.html

There are a lot of odd little things that will cause it to fail (like exporting the audio track as dual mono not stereo).

Yes, it is easy to do once you have the process figured out, but it is a bit more than two clicks IMO.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Leonard Levy

Doug,
What's your process for doing that. Do you use "Menu > Clip > Update" ?

No, it has nothing to do with the camera. It's all done from FCP while a card is in the reader/writer.

As Kevin says, first you need to make sure the audio is set for Dual Mono. Then you use the File > Export > Sony XDCAM menu . . . choose a location for the temporary file . . . and execute. That's pretty much it. Two clicks in my IMHO.