PDW-U1 mac write back
 

Anyone heard anything? It's been a long time since Q1 2008.

Attended a Sony roadshow last week and was told November for release, then told by the Sony Rep that it would be beginning of 2009!!
Not very satisfactory as I am on Avid and having spent all that money on the U1, I use the camera to ingest.

Still looking at 2009 for the write back to Mac capability.

-gb-

Hey Roddy,

I too am on a Mac running Avid MC 2.8. I bought a U-1 with the hopes of letting my camera get a little rest, but I cannot seem to get Avid to recognize the disk properly. It shows up on the desktop as a hard drive, so Mac is seeing it. But Avid does not see the proper folder structure and will not import the proxies or hi-rez material. Is your U-1 working for import?

Hi Kevin

I am running AVID MC 3.05 with Mojo DX, also FCP/Blackmagic on a separate boot drive.
The problem is how the Mac sees the file structure when using the U1. That's why we are awaiting the new Firmware update for the Mac which will not only allow write back to disc, it will allow the Mac to see the correct file structure needed by Avid to allow import.

The only import I can do at the moment is proxy from U1. The other option is using the XDCAM Transfer software to import Quicktime, but a bit pointless as Avid then converts it back to MXF.

I will say that FCP does Xdcam better than Avid. As with Avid you have to take the whole clip in and don't seem to be able to log partial clips.

I'll stop rambling, hope this helps.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected. I too am only able to import proxies via the U1.
I have Final Cut on my Mac as well but, as you say, it is pointless to import into FCP then re-import into Avid.

I love the XDCAM camera and the workflow concept. Had I known I wanted to stay with Avid, I would have moved to the PC a long time ago. Mac is apparently just an afterthought at Avid.

I have been using Avid since the time you could only get it on a Mac, but it's getting better. Problem is that there are far more PCs out there so the software tends to reflect this, it was the same with P2 in the earlier days, Mac support was poor. Sony is no different, roll on next year.

I was at an event yesterday where they said Feb. 2009. For what it's worth.

Well it's 2009, anyone know of a definite release date for the update for the Mac?

am waiting as much as you!

I have been shooting XDCAM for two years now and I have 3 clients and myself each waiting to buy a 1U as soon as it works with Final Cut....Sony is making me crazy!

Jeffrey, when you looked into it two years ago, did you get the same answer -- "any day now"? :-)

is there still no firmware available? is there no way to use the fcp xdcam export plugin to write back to the u1?

I was just talking with a sony engineer today and was told end of this month/start of Feb. He told me it would be available with in thirty days.

Now last year he told me by the end of 2008 so we'll see if he's right this time.

And it will be Leopard only and only intel macs.

As early as last June, my Sony contacts were saying Q1 2009. So if they get it done by the end of this month, give or take, then they have hit the time frame I was given.

-gb-