Help with Mac to PC info
 

Hello,

I have a shoot coming up where we will be capturing some DVCPro HD into a Macbook Pro.

I will be supplying the hard drive and editing the footage.

But I use a PC.

So, if I could ask for some help regarding how to format the drive and how to get the files back into the PC for editing.

I am unsure about the formatting the drive. If we format it in the Mac, I don't think the PC will be able to recognize the drive.

If we format for the PC, I am unsure about capturing on the Mac.

Thanks for your help!

Both systems can read FAT32. BUT that limits file sizes you can use. When I had to do this with a friend, I purchased a utility called MacDrive 7. This let me read my friends Mac formatted hard drive just fine. WELL worth the investment as now I can get anything from any mac user and read the drive.

Once that is done, you just need to use a video and audio codec that is common to both platforms. PC Users won't be able to read the DVCProHD files most likely without some help. ProRes is an option now for PCs if you're going to work in FCP on the Mac side. Another option is the Avid DNxHD codec, which is what I use. The codec is excellent, and free both both Mac and PC users. It's very similar to ProRes, and 10bit if desired so color corrections and so forth will look excellent when you pass from one platform to the other.

Thanks Perrone.

I use Edius, so the files themselves will not be an issue.

MacDrive seems like the trick.

I will format the drive with Mac so the capture will be smooth.

Why not connect the Mac to the PC via ethernet and transfer the files to a PC drive?
I've got a MacPro and a PC networked together that I pass files between all the time. As long as both computers have GigE ports it shouldn't take too long to transfer over.

Connect it how? Mount the drives (same issue we are discussing here), or transfer via FTP?

You could connect using your router LAN.

What media are you using to record DVCProHD? If it is P2, it is always FAT32 format (i.e., 4GB limit file size). If you get a USB passport or similar portable external HDD, those are already formatted FAT32. This is what I use to dump cards to in the field, and the USB drive plugs into either a Mac or PC without the need for any other app like MacDrive.

If you're referring to an external Mac formatted drive, mount it to the Mac, then connect the Mac to a PC via ethernet (through a hub or directly), mount the PC's hard disk on your Mac then move the files over.

This would assume that the mac could mount the PC drive. To do that, the drive would have to be Fat32, which most PC drives are not.

It mounts the network link to the PC. Assuming file sharing is active on all computers and Windows file sharing is turned on in the Mac you shouldn't have any problem moving files from the Mac to the PC, even if the files are on a mounted external hard drive.

Ok. That works then.

I will only have the drive to work with, so MacDrive seems like the best option.