sony clip browser

[Jim Stamos]

ive been using browser to send mxf to my nle. whats the difference is doing this and taking the mp4s out of the bpav folder and bringin them in directly.
also, one of the files i converted to mxf i should have kept as mp4, since the client wants that. anyway of converting that mxf back to mp4?
i dont have footage on sxs anymore so there is no bpav files to pull mp4 from

[Bill Rankin]

Hey Jim,

I never used the xdcam browser to transfer my footage. I just copy and paste the BPAV folder in my harddrive, then import it into PPro. So far, I've had no problem. I thought you only needed the browser to stitch one SxS card file to another SxS card file. Also, to 'fix' rolling shutter in a flash (photographer) moment.

I'll be interested to see what people say.

[Dave Morrison]

Originally Posted by Bill Rankin

Hey Jim,

I never used the xdcam browser to transfer my footage. I just copy and paste the BPAV folder in my harddrive, then import it into PPro. So far, I've had no problem. I thought you only needed the browser to stitch one SxS card file to another SxS card file. Also, to 'fix' rolling shutter in a flash (photographer) moment.

I'll be interested to see what people say.

Many of us use the Browser for our file transfers so that we can enable the CRC data verification checking during the transfers.

[Bill Rankin]

Thanks for the info. Here's more on the subject of CRC's
Cyclic redundancy check - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Doug Jensen]

I always archive all of my BPAV folders. Those are the equivalent of the camera's digital negatives and I would not want to throw them away.
This thread is a good example of why that is important.

[John DuMontelle]

Hi Doug,

I have to ask...you say you prefer to archive all of your BPAV folders...and I'm not sure why you prefer to do that. Is it because it offers a wider set of options to a wider variety of edit programs?

You mentioned in a November 8, 2011 note... "I no longer use the two older programs called "XDCAM Transfer" and "XDCAM EX Clip Browser". And "XDCAM Browser" was your preference now.

Forever, I've been trying to figure out which is best. To save the BPAV files or to just use XDCAM Browser, XDCAM Transfer or...whatever program they keep coming up with.

I want to do what is "best" but am left confused.

Are BPAV files "better" as archive rather than the .mov files from XDCAM Transfer?

Can I get rid of my old XDCAM EX Clip Browser program and just use XDCAM Browser?

Any chance you could help me understand, in quick general terms, why one and not the other(s)?

I promise, this is not me beating a dead horse.

Thanks man! ;)

[Doug Jensen]

Hi John,

I don’t have much time to respond today, but I’m happy to try to answer your questions as best I can.

First let me say that there is no perfect workflow for XDCAM that everyone should follow. It depends on how efficient you want to be, how safe ou want to keep your footage, which NLE you use, whether or not you want to future-proof your footage, etc. I don’t even follow the same workflow all the time. It depends on what the footage is and the specific needs of the production I’m working on.

However, with that said, normally it is very important for me to archive my BPAV raw footage folders. Like I said, I treat those as if they are my negatives. They are camera-originals and allow me maximum flexibility today and in the future. Who knows what the future holds???? Therefore I want to archive the best pristine, untouched, unmodified, files that I have.

For example, right now I am still editing on FCP7 but the writing is on the wall that I’ll be moving to Avid or Premier soon. FCPX might have some good things about it, but there are too many shortcomings for me to even consider staying with FCP. I’m damn glad now that I have all my old footage archived as BPAV folders from the last 4.5 years instead of having only MOV copies.

Also, as Jim (who started this thread) has found, not saving those BPAVs can bite you in the ass if you need to share footage with a client or someone else. It’s so easy to archive the BPAV’s that I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t do it. Why not?? Hard drives are cheaper than dirt these days.

Also, if I don’t save the BPAV folders then I lose access to all my metadata and I can’t preview and organize my clips with the same ease that I can with Sony’s utility software.

When I use “XDCAM Browser” to archive my BPAVs I usually toss away a few clips that I know I will never need again; I combine clips from multiple cards into one folder; I add clips to older BAPV folders from the same project, etc. There are lots of things that you can do with the browser software that can’t be done any other way. Dragging and dropping the BPAV in the Finder to copy it is okay sometimes if I am in a hurry, but that is not my preferred way of managing my files.

It is true that I no longer use “XDCAM Transfer” and “XDCAM EX Clip Browser” anymore. The newer “XDCAM Browser 2.0” software is superior in many ways, and I can do everything I need to do with the one program.

When “XDCAM Browser 1.0” first came out in 2010 it sucked and I refused to use it. I made my views known publicly then and I also sent a 8 page review to Sony USA detailing the problems. It turns out they agreed with most of it and were already trying to get Sony Japan to fix the mess they had made. Finally in the fall of 2011 version 2.0 solved most of those problems and there’s just a couple of annoying things about it that I have learned to work around until they get around to fixing them someday. I’d say I’m 98% happy with 2.0.

It turns out that now I have no choice but to use the new software anyway. After the latest firmware update on my F3, most clips are no longer visible in the old “XDCAM EX Clip Browser” software. So I’m really glad Sony got the new 2.0 software up to speed before that happened. I suspect the same thing may happen for EX1R/EX3 users soon.

To answer your questions:

1) Technically the MP4 files in the BPAV folder are not better quality than MOV copies, but they allow me much more flexibility in how they can be used, shared, previewed, etc. To me, that makes them better.

2) Yes, you can and should stop using the two old utility programs and move to “XDCAM Browser 2.0”. It is better in most ways, and everyone is going to have to switch sooner or later anyway.

I hope that sheds some light on the workflow.

http://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD1.html

Doug

[John DuMontelle]

Thank you Mr. J for once again, being a trusted source of information.

It is extremely appreciated!

[Jim Stamos]

thanks dave for the info.there are more steps to getting the mp4 files to the bin than clip browser unless im not aware of something. you open bpav, go to clpr folder then to each folder for each clip and then take that mp4 to bin. is there not a faster way?
this is why ive been using browser, i just highlight mxf files and xport to nle folder and im done,

[Alain Van Haecke]

hi, I usually Mark In (I) and Mark Out (O) all my clips to choose the good part in it (more clean and remove extra lenght) and then I create New clip using In/Out selection and after that I delete the original.
As this is a really fast step, I suppose there is NO re-encoding but only shortening ? I don't understand how the software can cut into the clip without re-rendering, is it specific to Sony's XDCAM Browser ?
This allows me to gain space on my HDD source files and the clips becomes much pleasant to ingest in the timeline of Premiere because I only see great shots in the bin.
Do you proceed somehing like this too ? thanks, Alain

+ I noticed that empty folders of deleted clips were leaving in the BPAV structure. To clean this at the end of the "derush" step, I move all the final clips to a new folder in XDCAM Browser : it re-create a complete new/clean BPAV structure, so I can delete the old one. Hope that could help someone...