What to do with the MP4 files after transfer?
 

I have 2 hard drives with the identical data. Each drive has the all the BPAV folders, and the .MOV files, from the transfer. With my this back up system I have in place, is there any need on god's green earth to hold onto the MP4 files, seeing as all my .MOV files are also backed up? Trash them, right?

I have a 1TB drive (with 63mb to spare)... and the same question.
I know I want to delete the mp4s, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it.

Lots of help you are ;)

I have a similar problem. When I transfer clips from the EX1 camera (SXS card) to the PC using the clip browser application, it create a sub-directory or each clip. In that sub-directory I have 6 files : *.MP4, *.SMI, *.PPN, *.XML and *.BIM and only the *.MP4 has a noticealble size (all other files have only a few Ks). I don even get a *.MOV file.
But when I want to open the MP4 file I get an error message "Error-2010:he movie contains some invalid data". So I cant read it.

I tries to export the clip and it creates a *.MXF file of the same size as the MP4 but I cant read it neither.

Can someone help me solving this problem?

What is you editing application ?

In PremierePro you just import the folder and off you go ...

If yours doesn't support EX1 files you might have to convert using the new Clipbrowser 2.0. But that will be extra cost for plugins as far as I understand until now from other posts.

Peter

Well. I have 2 distinct environments: (a) for mobility, I have just a Toshiba laptop with Windows Vista and that I want to use only for transferring the clips to the laptop but hopefully with the possibilty of running these clips in the PC; (b) a MacPro with Final Cut Studio that I intend to use to edit the clips. My concern right now is checking a way to transfer these clips safely to the laptop. As a next step, I would like to be able to transfer these clips to an external hard drive that I would plug to a Sony Playstation PS3 so that I can see these clips on the HDTV.

On location,for checking the transfer on the laptop, before erasing the card, i just copy all the files to a new folder on the laptop hard-drive using clip browser, then using clip browser i look into the new folder and check/play some files at random, if all is well i delete the footage from the card.
Clip browser has 2 explorer windows, i have the sxs card in the top one and the hard-drive/folder in the bottom on.
So just make sure when deleting you highlight the footage in the top explorer window.
If i have to export to mxf because maybe that's what the client wants, i just check the files using vegas which is also on my laptop.

Paul.

How could you get *.mov format files ? I have the latest Sony Clip Browser version and after transferring the mp4 files into my PC I am given a choice of export format and none of them is a mov format. So I would be very much interested to know how did you manage to get the clips in mov format.

In FCP import XDCam... XDCam Transfer 2.7.1 converts to .mov and places it in a bin.

But I still have the BPAV folders with all the MP4. Can I just trash them? As long as I've backed up the .mov's?

I've dealt with this problem the last couple weeks. What is making it more difficult is that we are working in an Avid/FCP hybrid environment. I've only used the EX-1 files with these NLE systems, so I cannot comment on the workflows for other systems such as Premiere or Vegas.

For transferring a card in the field it is advisable to run the Clip Brower software (version 2.0 preferably) if you plan on editing in Avid, simply select the clip, then export it into an .MXF file.

For FCP users, it is advisable to use the XDCAM transfer utility (there is also a plugin for FCP to do this directly in FCP). This basically does the same thing that the Clip Browser software does, with the exception that it exports the clip to a .MOV file for editing with Final Cut.

Once the transfer is completed (and backed up!) you are free to delete the BPAV folders from your drives or cards. However, if you ever need to re-import the footage into a different edit system, you can't without the original BPAV folder. As far as I'm able to tell FCP needs the files in .MOV format, and Avid needs the files in .MXF format.

I just comfortably deleted all the mp4 files, once I had the transfered .mov files on 2 separate hard drives. I'll never be editing on another system, so the .mov's are all I need.

What had been happening, all my BPAV files and my transfered files were all on one drive.
And I was just too scared to delete the BPAV's

Now, I've kept the BPAV files on one drive, and transferring to another. I'll then make a second copy of the .MOV's, and trash all the mp4's.

My work flow is that I do weddings. One the job, I'll copy the cards, that's it. I really should use the transfer software, and maybe try to get into that habit. Often, there's not a lot of time. Just time enough to copy cards. I'll eyeball that I have all the mp4 files, but are they corrupt? I'll never know until I get home. So far, this system is working very nicely.

If you use Shotput it will check that the files are valid.
I would always keep a copy of the MP4's. The .movs that are created by the Sony transfer tool cannot be read by any PC applications and many mac applications. I would ditch the .mov's keeping the MP4's that way you retain cross platform compatibility. Who knows what system you might be using in the future. By keeping the BPAV folders you also keep all the metadata such as when it was shot and by which camera.

What is Shotput?
 

Did it come on the DVD w/ the camera? Free download? What's it's purpose?

Shotput express is a low cost software application for backing up and verifying SxS cards.
http://www.ImagineProducts.com