On http://www.sonybiz.net/xdcam you can find a new version of the proxy software.

They also have some shooting tips, they explain some of the more creative techniques.

Brian,

As far as I can tell, that's not new proxy software. It's the same version that came with the XDCAM HD camera (version 2.01). It's new for people who have been using the SD XDCAM cameras which have been out for a while.

Are you saying your F-330 came with an earlier version than this in the box?

regards,

-gb-

Sony may have upgraded it. 2.00 came with the first HD cameras. Keep any eye on the site as PDZ-1 is regularly updated.

Also it is a good idea to keep an eye on both the Sony sites maintenance section as well as the XDCAM.com.au site. Sony also upgrade the firmware of their cameras a fair bit, and with XDCAM this is important as they often add new features. For example on the SD XDCAMs, when they first came out there was no timelapse, no live logging, no clip naming etc. All this and a lot more was added with firmware revisions.

They recently made upgrading this very easy by allowing all the firmwares to be updated via Memory Stick (previously it needed an ethernet connection and a Sony engineer to do it properly).

That said it can still be a pretty hairy business! So would be as well to get it taken to Sony just in case.

Greg, if you pass me your email I'll send you the gamma doc.

Thanks Simon,

I got version 2.01 on the cds that came with the camera.

Attended the Apple/Sony XDCAM HD thing today. The integration is sweet but only supports 25mbs data rate at the moment. They would not confirm when the 35mbs mode would be supported. That said, they were using a 4K projector in a theater as their Apple Cinema Display full screen preview and it looked really good.

You also cannot import the proxies to FCP to do an 'offline' edit. You have to import full res...but at 25mbs data rate you are essentially working with the equivalent of DV25 in terms of system loading.

WRT firmware upgrades, that question was put to the Sony software guru and he said they aren't promising, but hope to be able to add the pre-record feature to the XDCAM HD units like you have on your SD camera. That would be a great feature!

They also intended to have an XDCAM HD workflow white paper available to handout but the mass copying place didn't get the job done in time so they are going to be posting it on their website within the next couple of weeks.

My email is available by clicking on my name at the left of the post.

regards,

-gb-

Did they give any info on when the proxy files might be able to be imported to FCP?

Did they give any info on when the proxy files might be able to be imported to FCP?

Bill, they more or less acted like it wasn't going to happen. They feel like the newer Macs and FCP are quite capable of editing this stuff at full resolution. I think Mike mentioned it in his blog but they were doing real-time cross dissolves on the example piece from the timeline on the 15" Macbook Pro he was using for the presentation.

Hehe, it's not everyday you get to hook your 15' display to a 4K projector. Man it looked good.

-gb-

My main interest in the proxy files is to be able to load a low res version of things onto an iBook if I want to so I could work on sequencing things in a motel room at night. Also, I'd like to be able to store proxy files of each disc onto a drive just for reference purposes--rather than having to go find a box full of discs 4 years from now to track down a shot, we could find the proxy file, which could then tell me what disc the shot is on. Just a cataloging thing.

But, I'm a lot more interested in the ability to handle 35mbs.

Greg.

I have been away for a couple of days. That is why I haven’t answered you before now.
You are right about the software, I got the 2.01 with my 330.
My focus was on the NEW word on the Sony site. New in there terms is longer, than I consider a thing in this world as new.
On the other hand, there could be some SD users out there, who haven’t been aware of the update!

The shooting tips have been a great help to me. It explains exactly, what I was missing, regarding what happens with the curves, when adjusting the setup of the camera.
Not all are covered, but it is a step down the road.

To Simon.
Could you mail me the gamma doc as well?
My mail address is also in my profile.

My main interest in the proxy files is to be able to load a low res version of things onto an iBook if I want to so I could work on sequencing things in a motel room at night. Also, I'd like to be able to store proxy files of each disc onto a drive just for reference purposes--rather than having to go find a box full of discs 4 years from now to track down a shot, we could find the proxy file, which could then tell me what disc the shot is on. Just a cataloging thing.

But, I'm a lot more interested in the ability to handle 35mbs.

I understand, Bill. You can always copy the stuff of the disk just like other files. Are you on Windows or OSX?

They already provide the proxy software that this thread refers to for the Windows platform. It would do exactly what you are wanting to do in the hotel room and it remembers all the disks you have used. It will also make disk image copies and can restore them. The proxy files can be cuts only edited on a siimple story line in the software and then the FAM partial file copy function copies only the parts of the high res clip files that are between the in/out points. This saves you on disk space and you can rename the clips as you save them to disk.

If you fill in the metadata tags and such in the software, you will have a very nice cataloging system. About the only thing you'll have to do is label the disks (using the supplied labels).

You get some similar capabilites in the forthcoming Sony XDCAM transfer software.

-gb-

My main interest in the proxy files is to be able to load a low res version of things onto an iBook if I want to so I could work on sequencing things in a motel room at night.

I've had a very easy time in the past recompressing all the media in a project to OfflineRT photo-jpeg media for this purpose.

But that's just a workaround for what would be done easiest with the proxy files, so I understand if you kinda roll your eyes at the suggestion.

Interestingly enough, I got proxy files working in FCP using the Flip4Mac plug. The aspect ratio was wrong on them initially, and 4 channel audio threw FCP for a loop, but I did get them working on a timeline with TC.