Sony Z90 clip names question at DVinfo.net

Simon Denny · October 13th, 2018, 11:04 PM

Hi guys, I'm on tour on a 30 day shoot and forgot my manual for the Z90 and internet is limited at times.
Question, Every time I format my card it reverts back to naming clips from 0001.

How do I keep the clip names increasing as I format my media rather than reverting back to 0001, can someone advise me please.

I can't download the manual, I'm in really poor reception.

Cheers, Simon

Doug Jensen · October 14th, 2018, 04:45 AM

Sorry to give you the bad news, it's not possible to stop the clip naming from resetting when you format a card on that camera.

Leslie Wand · October 14th, 2018, 05:57 AM

there's no tc preset?

oops, sorry didn't connect clip naming. surely on ingest with tc it'll be straightforward?

Doug Jensen · October 14th, 2018, 11:25 AM

What do yo mean by "ingest with tc"? Do you mean timecode? Timecode is certainly no substitute for proper control of clip naming.

Simon Denny · October 14th, 2018, 12:26 PM

Thanks Doug, yep thought this might be the case, we need a firmware update to fix this ASAP.
I ran into an issue last week where I shot 15 stories and all have the same file numbers, real issue for editing. I’ll have to rename each clip on my Mac going forward.
Cheers, Simon

Doug Jensen · October 14th, 2018, 02:37 PM

It's not a firmware issue. That is the way the camera is designed to function and it will not change.

Simon Denny · October 14th, 2018, 04:06 PM

Ok, thanks Doug.

Alexander Azzi · October 14th, 2018, 04:49 PM

Since the camera is designed to always start back at 0001, there is a workaround that could for now put you at ease in your moment of panic....
Make folders and name them the dates for each batch of footage you shoot and dump your files into thos folders... "October 14 2018" "October 15 2018" "October 16 2018" etc... and if you dump more than once a day you can create sub folders and name them "Batch 1" "Batch 2" etc.

Obviously each batch in each folder after you format will start at 0001... so...

When ALLLLLLLL the shooting is over and you have all these folders of video files all starting with 0001 and so on.... go to each folder and sort by date/time and have the most recent one at the top ....then highlight all the files in that particular folder. Rename the first file "A" .. once you do that all the files will be renamed A, A (1), A (2) A (3) and so on.

Do the next folder of files you shot with the same process but name them "B" ... and keep doing that till you reach the end of your shot footage... If you have more folders than you have alphabet then keep going with "AA" etc....

Once all that is done.... take all your files and put them into one folder... since they will all have unique names nothing will be accidentally overridden.

Sort by date so the top file is the first one you shot, and the rest will fall into order regardless of the file names..... highlight them all and rename it whatever you want... and it will look like XX, XX (1), XX (2) XX (3) and so on all the way down till the end and all your files will be in the order shot with their own individual filenames.

It's a lot to read but the process is simple once you get the workflow going...

Alexander

Simon Denny · October 14th, 2018, 07:11 PM

What I have been doing to copying the mxf files over and renaming these as per shoot location, just one extra step in the process. As other editors may access the files with the same numbers I need a work flow that will work, this seems ok.

Christopher Young · October 15th, 2018, 04:30 AM

A work around I used on another camera some years ago that had this same clip numbering issue was as follows and works on the x70 and z90. As I say it is a workaround and does require a little work.

When you have wrapped your shoot on a card shoot one extra short "dummy" clip, a couple of seconds long. Once you have transferred your card contents to your PC and are sure all is backed you can now put the card back in the camera and select the THUMBNAIL button followed by the MENU button. Under the menu button under the top item you will find PROTECT and DELETE. Select the DELETE option which will take you into the media clips. As I said a bit of work. Now "Tick" select all the clips BAR the last one and then select OK. This will delete all clips bar the last one. Now exit. The card capacity will now reflect the fresh space available and when you start recording the clip numbers will increment upwardly from the last clip number left on the card, your last 2 second "dummy" clip that you didn't delete. Do the same when the card is full. Shoot another dummy clip, transfer everything, using the delete method go through the process again leaving a new dummy clip and the next shoot will increment from there.

I have found deleting clips and formatting the cards seems to make no difference in card performance or functionality so if I have to have contiguous clip numbers this is what I have done. It can be a bit tedious if you have a massive number of clips to delete but the workflow does work.

Chris Young
Sydney

October 13th, 2018, 11:04 PM	#1
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Sony Z90 clip names question Hi guys, I'm on tour on a 30 day shoot and forgot my manual for the Z90 and internet is limited at times. Question, Every time I format my card it reverts back to naming clips from 0001. How do I keep the clip names increasing as I format my media rather than reverting back to 0001, can someone advise me please. I can't download the manual, I'm in really poor reception. Cheers, Simon

October 14th, 2018, 04:45 AM	#2
Doug Jensen Vortex Media Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,450	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question Sorry to give you the bad news, it's not possible to stop the clip naming from resetting when you format a card on that camera. __________________ Vortex Media http://www.vortexmedia.com/ Sony FS7, F55, and XDCAM training videos, field guides, and other production tools

October 14th, 2018, 05:57 AM	#3
Leslie Wand Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: upper hunter, australia Posts: 1,410	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question there's no tc preset? oops, sorry didn't connect clip naming. surely on ingest with tc it'll be straightforward? __________________ www.lesliewand.com.au

October 14th, 2018, 11:25 AM	#4
Doug Jensen Vortex Media Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,450	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question What do yo mean by "ingest with tc"? Do you mean timecode? Timecode is certainly no substitute for proper control of clip naming. __________________ Vortex Media http://www.vortexmedia.com/ Sony FS7, F55, and XDCAM training videos, field guides, and other production tools

October 14th, 2018, 12:26 PM	#5
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question Thanks Doug, yep thought this might be the case, we need a firmware update to fix this ASAP. I ran into an issue last week where I shot 15 stories and all have the same file numbers, real issue for editing. I’ll have to rename each clip on my Mac going forward. Cheers, Simon

October 14th, 2018, 02:37 PM	#6
Doug Jensen Vortex Media Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,450	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question It's not a firmware issue. That is the way the camera is designed to function and it will not change. __________________ Vortex Media http://www.vortexmedia.com/ Sony FS7, F55, and XDCAM training videos, field guides, and other production tools

October 14th, 2018, 04:06 PM	#7
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question Ok, thanks Doug.

October 14th, 2018, 04:49 PM	#8
Alexander Azzi New Boot Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Manchester, NH -USA Posts: 7	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question Since the camera is designed to always start back at 0001, there is a workaround that could for now put you at ease in your moment of panic.... Make folders and name them the dates for each batch of footage you shoot and dump your files into thos folders... "October 14 2018" "October 15 2018" "October 16 2018" etc... and if you dump more than once a day you can create sub folders and name them "Batch 1" "Batch 2" etc. Obviously each batch in each folder after you format will start at 0001... so... When ALLLLLLLL the shooting is over and you have all these folders of video files all starting with 0001 and so on.... go to each folder and sort by date/time and have the most recent one at the top ....then highlight all the files in that particular folder. Rename the first file "A" .. once you do that all the files will be renamed A, A (1), A (2) A (3) and so on. Do the next folder of files you shot with the same process but name them "B" ... and keep doing that till you reach the end of your shot footage... If you have more folders than you have alphabet then keep going with "AA" etc.... Once all that is done.... take all your files and put them into one folder... since they will all have unique names nothing will be accidentally overridden. Sort by date so the top file is the first one you shot, and the rest will fall into order regardless of the file names..... highlight them all and rename it whatever you want... and it will look like XX, XX (1), XX (2) XX (3) and so on all the way down till the end and all your files will be in the order shot with their own individual filenames. It's a lot to read but the process is simple once you get the workflow going... Alexander

October 14th, 2018, 07:11 PM	#9
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question What I have been doing to copying the mxf files over and renaming these as per shoot location, just one extra step in the process. As other editors may access the files with the same numbers I need a work flow that will work, this seems ok.

October 15th, 2018, 04:30 AM	#10
Christopher Young Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,571	Re: Sony Z90 clip names question A work around I used on another camera some years ago that had this same clip numbering issue was as follows and works on the x70 and z90. As I say it is a workaround and does require a little work. When you have wrapped your shoot on a card shoot one extra short "dummy" clip, a couple of seconds long. Once you have transferred your card contents to your PC and are sure all is backed you can now put the card back in the camera and select the THUMBNAIL button followed by the MENU button. Under the menu button under the top item you will find PROTECT and DELETE. Select the DELETE option which will take you into the media clips. As I said a bit of work. Now "Tick" select all the clips BAR the last one and then select OK. This will delete all clips bar the last one. Now exit. The card capacity will now reflect the fresh space available and when you start recording the clip numbers will increment upwardly from the last clip number left on the card, your last 2 second "dummy" clip that you didn't delete. Do the same when the card is full. Shoot another dummy clip, transfer everything, using the delete method go through the process again leaving a new dummy clip and the next shoot will increment from there. I have found deleting clips and formatting the cards seems to make no difference in card performance or functionality so if I have to have contiguous clip numbers this is what I have done. It can be a bit tedious if you have a massive number of clips to delete but the workflow does work. Chris Young Sydney