Problem: Sony CAM to PC

[Brad Ridgeway]

I shot a wedding for a relative this past weekend using a Sony XR500 and a Sony XR550. I've used both of these cameras in the past with no issues. I was able to retrieve all of the footage from the XR500 using Picture Motion Browser (PMB) with no issues, but when I try to retrieve the footage from the XR550, PMB does not see any of the video files, only pictures. At first I about crapped my pants because I thought maybe I didn't have any footage at all, but then I looked on the camera and everything was there. Anyone have any idea why the PMB software may not recognize the video on the camera?

I can use explorer and copy all of the .mts files from the camera hard drive to my PC, but then a lot of my longer clips are going to be broken up into individual clips. I am assuming that all the footage will be there but the longer clips just won't be reassembled by PMB.

Any thoughts on this?

[Noa Put]

For my rx10 I copy the entire drive structure from the cards onto my pc and then use PMB to assemble them directly from that folder so that long files get joined correctly, maybe you can try to see if that works?

[Dave Blackhurst]

If Noa's approach doesn't work, maybe try with another computer (laptop?) to get files imported joined, then transfer.

Try unplugging, rebooting CPU and cam, and plugging back in? Sometimes a bit of "junk" gets caught somewhere in memory and must be cleared!

Maybe try Play Memories Home? Dumb name, but newer program....

Final thought, are you using internal memory or card - maybe PMB is seeing the wrong storage?

[Brad Ridgeway]

Thanks for the input guys. For some reason, I think part of the file structure is missing on the XR550 hard drive. It would be something that the PMB software uses to know what clips to put back together. Tonight I will connect the XR500 and XR550 and view the file structures of each hard drive side by side to see how they compare. For some reason I recall deleting files on the XR550 using the PC instead of deleting content from the CAM as I was prepping for the wedding. Maybe this is a lesson learned here.

Regardless, the *.mts files that I transferred will still work fine in Vegas, correct? I will just have to make sure the order of clips is correct on the timeline to keep those that were supposed to be longer clips together. Do you guys agree with this or will I have issues with this footage?

[Jeff Harper]

Yes they'll work fine on a PC as is. I drag and drop all my footage onto my hard drive, it's the only way I've ever done it, works fine.

[Dave Blackhurst]

OOpsie... that might be your problem... back up the card, and try letting the camera rebuild the database - I've seen that "feature" when I had a battery go dead while rolling, I think it's buried in the menus somewhere.

if you have larger clips that exceed the 2G size, you "may" have a slight gap/glitch where they are supposed to be stitched between subclips. It may not be an issue, but better forewarned! There used to be a little program to properly stitch these, but it was linked a LONG time ago from this forum!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Brad

If you have simply copied to your PC then as long as the clips are less than 2GB just zap 'em into Vegas and use them as normal. I use that method all the time!!

Where you will hit an issue is when a long sequence is split by the camera when it hits 2GB ... now you CAN simply assemble the split files together and they will work ..in fact the video will be seamless but the audio will have around a 12 frame audio "gap" at the join. If the information at the join isn't important then just overlap a bit but obviously if it's right in the middle of the vows you have an issue.

If you cannot get the split files to join with the Sony software just copy them all over to your PC ..at worst you will have the tiny audio silence at the splits. Otherwise the files will work perfectly!

Chris

[Brad Ridgeway]

This is really weird. I looked at the file structure from both cameras side by side and everything looks the same so I am not sure why PMB is seeing the video files from one and not the other. Oh well. I only have a handful of files over 2gb and most of my audio will be from other sources so I should be good to go.

Now that everything is transferred from the camera hard drive to the PC, I am going to use the format media feature on the cam to hopefully reset everything. Then I'll play around to see if that resolves the problem. I wouldn't want to have this happen on my next recital shoot where the camera is rolling for 5+ hours straight.

Thanks all for the help.

[Jeff Harper]

You should reformat in-camera after every shoot anyway, right?

Just drag and drop your video files from now on, do you really need to use the software to get your video?

I believe Final Cut needs the file structure, etc., but I think most if not all PC editing programs only need the actual clips.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jeff

AVCHD files that run over 2GB require the camera's media utility software to join them back up. Yes you can just copy to your drive but you will get the 12 frame audio gap at the end of each clip. It's only om AVCHD ..MP4 files seem to not have the issue.

I did a dance recital but cheated!! I restarted the camera after each dance so my clips never went over 2GB ...even at weddings if I see a break in the action at a ceremony I do a stop/start so a new clip is created ..much easier to edit!! Gosh I would hate to have to tackle a 5 hour clip!!! Much rather work with 50 x 6 minute recitals and let them run sequentially.

Chris

[Jeff Harper]

I see. Not an issue for me, I typically run four cams and several voice recorders so any breaks are not an issue for me syncing or editing wise. A time or two I have had unlucky breaks but between the multiple cams it always seems to be fine. I can see how with a single or even two cam thing the breaks could be really problematic.

It would be nice, however, to do it as you describe and have unbroken footage!

[Ron Evans]

I shoot theatre with 4 cams so always over the 2G limit on all cameras. Always use the PMB for CX700 and XR500 with the NX5U and NX30U using Content Browser Utility. Never had a problem with breaks on any of the cameras. The transfer time is the same so there is no downside in using the Sony utilities to get a clean clip. Placing the clips in Vegas or Edius bins is instant then and they are m2ts full clips.

Ron Evans