I shot some footage on my PDW-F335 and have transferred the MXF files to Win7 and Edius

now I also need to provide them to a Mac FCP user but he does not have PDW-U1 drive or Camera in order to capture from the disk

would it be possible to burn the MXF files to a Blu-ray data disk and will a Mac user be able to use the files then? if yes, do I need to copy all folders and files from the XDCAM disk or only the MXF files

in Win7 and Edius, I only need the MXF files and I leave all the proxy etc. on the XDCAM disk

I found out that Mac does not support Blu-ray

I feel sorry for Mac users, are you all happy?

hi,

there are some cheap plugins for Mac that allow native import of mxf HD files like CALIBRATED MXF:

Apple - Downloads - Final Cut Studio - Calibrated{Q} MXF Import (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/finalcutstudio/calibratedqmxfimport.html)

Just find a way to send him the files (harddisk etc.)

BLURAY DATA: I am absolutely sure there are BluRay Authoring programs for Mac - so burning BDs would be a way.

Best regards

Uli

Most Mac users are pretty happy. As far as your issue of transferring footage depending on how many gigs you could use a USB Stick or harddrive. Best to transfer all files from the disc so they can sort it out at their end.

Oh yeah, were happy not to be using Windows!
Of course Macs support Blu-ray, but why would we want to use that?
It's so much simpler and faster to use a USB bus-powered hard drive to move footage around. Just plug it in an go. You can get 320GB Western Digital drives for under 50 bucks, you don't need a special optical drive, and the transfer rate beats the pants off Blu-ray.

As Doug said, use a USB hard drive. If you copy the entire contents of each optical disc into it's own folder on the drive you will be able access everything, metadata, proxies and the full HD files on both a Mac and PC. You can just copy the MXF files and that will work too but you will loose some of the metadata (not that FCP reads it all anyway) and the proxies.

ok, I had to purchase Macdrive software in order to format a 500GB WD USB drive to apple format, then I copied the contents of the XDCAM disk, because Mac users can't read from Windows formatted disk I was told

lets wait and see if he can open it, it should get there on Monday

Oh yeah, were happy not to be using Windows!
Of course Macs support Blu-ray, but why would we want to use that?

are you saying that you don't have customers who order Blu-ray? It was slow here too at the beginning but now I do some on a regular basis and it is a breeze in Windows

I have no desire or need to use Blu-ray as a mass storage device.
I am perfectly able to use off-the-shelf WD passport drives on both Macs and PCs without any special formatting or utility software on either platform.
I have no idea why other people run into stumbling blocks transferring footage around, because it sure seems easy from my point of view.
XDCAM footage is just data, like any other computer files, and there are hundreds of ways to move it around and store it.
In my opinion, USB bus-powered drives are fast, cheap, and 100% reliable (so far) after using more than a hundred of them over the past few years. Just plug 'n play.

are you saying that if I send you a windows formatted USB drive and place some files on it, a Mac can read them?

whenever someone sends me a Mac formatted USB drive with mov files, I can't read it unless I start Macdrive software
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive

I'm saying that the WD drives I buy from B&H or the local Staples store work equally well with Windows or Mac right out of the box. Whether a drive that YOU format can be read across both platforms does not matter to me. :-)

Doug I just did recently what you suggested and had dropped my xdcam files ( from the JVC 700) to a WD 320GB and his FCP could not recognized the files. Can FCP read xdcam files?

Your editor could save you a lot of trouble if we would bother to spend a few minutes familiarizing himself with the FCP/XDCAM workflow. It's very easy, but certain steps must be followed.

No, FCP cannot recognize native MXF files. He must rewrap and import the files using Sony's utility software called XDCAM Transfer. A new program called XDCAM Browser can also be used, but XDCAM Transfer is better. Also, be sure he has downloaded and installed all of Sony's drivers just to be safe.

And finally, make sure he isn't running an ancient version of FCP.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info Doug.

I actually did suggest to him the Sony program ( with a link to a short video about it from Tim Dashwood) but he said it couldn't convert the files. I'm not sure which version of FCP he's running.

I'll mention to him about the sony drivers.

he was able to use the files and convert them to Pro Res

he said Pro Res is better for editing???

Well, that depends on his workflow and other factors that we don't know about. It might be better for HIM but in general, it is not better for most people. I've been editing XDCAM since spring of 2006 and have never once used ProRes. It's a waste of time and storage space if you're shooting on XDCAM. ProRes was created for the benefit if people who don't have XDCAM.

The good news is that he won't do any harm to the footage by converting it to ProRes (assuming he does it properly). He will spend a lot of time doing it and he'll end up with files that a 2-3 times larger than the native XDCAM files. For what benefit? Probably none.

It's too bad he can't be bothered to learn the workflow, but that's his business. At least ProRes won't hurt your footage, and maybe for his workflow there is a reason to convert that we don't know about. I guess he doesn't have online access so can join DVi and discuss it directly, so let him do it anyway he wants. Just don't take anything he says about the workflow as fact. I guess that's my reason for posting. I don't care what he does, but I don't like to see misinformation about the workflow just hanging out there on the thread. The XDCAM / FCP workflow is excellent, and people can only mess it up by not following directions.

Hi Doug

is there a step by step guide that shows how to do it properly, so that I can get him up to speed for next time

I looked at several after google search but they all describe how to get the footage off the camera via Ilink and FAM mode

I can imagine that it is a similar simple workflow when compared to Windows, but I am green behind my ears when it comes to Mac so I can't advice him

This would be a good place to start.
I don't endorse everything it suggests, but like I said, it's a good place to start.

Sony | Micro Site XDCAM (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-XDCAMEXUserGuides.shtml)

thanks, I will pass it on