Attn FCP users: Raylight for the Mac is now available!
 

Marcus van Bavel of DVFilm.com has just released Raylight for the Mac. This lets FCP users enjoy the same direct-MXF editing that we on the Windows side have had!

Check it out:
http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/mac/

No more "Log & Transfer", no more "File->Import Panasonic P2", no more waiting while FCP converts MXF files into Quicktime files... if you've shot half a terabyte of footage throughout the course of your production, now you can just plug that hard drive into your edit suite and start editing immediately.

No G4 love? If it can run on the G5 then it should be able to run on a G4 right?

If not, I would consider the request - while the hardware certainly isn't new, there's a lot of folks out there, like myself, using a powerbook on set to offload. With the Duel Systems PCMCIA adapter it isn't as necessary, but I would imagine there's still a healthy market for this.

It might run on a G4. Please try it and report back to us.

I just tried the Demo version and it works on my powerbook.
I am still trying to decide if this is a good thing for me or not... i'll explain:
FC imports the MXF as a whole new file on your scratch disk, leaving the originals alone=two copies of the footage. I burn a DVD for each of the 4G cards I use = three copies. once done with project, erase off scratch disk = two copies one on optical, one on HDD.

I'm afraid I may get rushed or lazy and not back up properly and end up with only the DVD of any footage, scary.

The FC rewrap kind of forces me to back-up properly.

Phil

That's a great workflow, but the downside is you are moving from a fast, reliable media (solid state memory) to edit from a slower and less reliable media (magnetic disk) and backing up to an even less reliable media (optical disk) where a mere scratch can render it useless.

Also by the time you have made your backup you could have been done editing. Newcutters and other filmmakers working on a tight deadline can appreciate that. This will be even more true when using 16K, 32K cards.

The more IT-style workflow is to work from the write-protected originals (the P2 Card) and run backups of the MXF files at night to an external drive, taking the copy/backup process out of the critical path.

Slow? well maybe for importing, but I've never dropped frames or been lacking bandwith, of course I generally shoot 24pN for the variable frame rates.

Unreliable HDD? maybe the "bleeding edge" few who purchase the biggest drives possible right when they come out, or those who buy the cheapest drives they can find, or the flashiest.

Single layer DVD-rs are a pretty good option and you can purchase archival grade discs (100 year+). If they are taken care of (put in a case and left there in a stable temperature) they are a valid backup.

I think you mean 16GB and 32GB cards, otherwise that's one short take!

I think you assume I am knocking Raylight, I am not. Just unsure right now wheater it is a valid workflow *for me* right now.

Anyway the main point is that it works with a G4 processor.

I'll give it a shot. I'm out here in Yellowstone right now shooting footage like a mad man. I've already had to drive 90 miles to Bozeman to buy more hard drives to store all the footage.

The thought of having to buy more in order to import QuickTime files of my footage doesn't thrill me very much. So, to be able to pull footage right off the MXF files themselves and not having to duplicate my footage in order to edit it in FCP will be a good thing.

I'll see if I can play around with it tonight after I get back in.

Is this a better choice for workflow than P2 Log Pro (which I just bought Monday) or is it a totally different animal? I don't edit on the road, but I need to shoot lots (HPX 500) and off media on cards to drives...

It's totally different in that you can do your logging in the camera and edit off the card (or the card image), backing up the MXF files when convenient.

Also the version we'll release next week will allow you to view metadata from the MXF files in FCP and automatically rename them to the User Clip Name/Scene#/Take# as recorded by the camera.

I dropped a hard drive once that wasn't terribly cheap or bleeding edge. All the data on it was instantly lost-- forever. That would never happen with a memory card.

But your points are all perfectly valid.

That will mean it's time for me to give it a try! Fantastic product Marcus!

Thanks.

Raylight 1.05 is now released. The most important new features are:

1) Support added for DVCPRO50 (PAL. NTSC, 24PA).

2) You can now read the Metadata in the Quicktime player annotations.

3) Raylight creates an optional Metadata "slate" in the first frame of the clip, viewable in the FCP canvas, or FCP clip viewer, or QT player.

4) Raylight will automatically name the clip based on the "User Clip Name" Metadata item. This allows you to pre-log shots by getting the camera to automatically name the clips based on scene and take #. See http://dvxuser.com/jason/P2-Name-article/ on how that works with the camera.

5) Raylight will create a subfolder based on the "Program Name" Metadata item. This allows you to automatically group clips that were shot for different films, news stories, or scenes.

6) The timecode is now readable in FCP.

All I see in QuickTime is a ten second white screen. In FCP all I see is black.

Phillip said it worked on his Powerbook but doesn't look like it's running on my G4 17" 1.67 GHZ Powerbook :(

That sounds fixable. It should work if you have OSX 10.4 and FCP 5 or later. Make sure your card/drive/folder names do not have foreign language or punctuation in them (this one of the known issues listed in the application help). There might be other problems. Please email me some details.

Raylight for Mac 1.06 is out. This is mainly a feature release that adds some needed flexibility:

1) You can put the metadata slate on either frame 1 or 2 (if you put it on frame 2 then you see video instead of the slate in the FCP thumbnails).

2) You can automatically organize the clips into folders based on either "Program Name" metadata or the name of the P2 card or disk drive.

3) If the MXF files are already on your hard drive, the Raylight links can be automatically co-located with them.

The free demo version is at http://dvfilm.com/raylight/mac/index.htm

If you already own the program, download a free update at
http://dvfilm.com/update/updateR.htm