OK guys...I have a question:

If I take my SxS cards and do a file transfer using Sony Clip Broswer 2.5 (MXF for NLEs) on my PC to a external hard drive, just a simple file transfer to give the client the footage, and if the client edits on a MAC computer...will the MAC computer (say FCP), see the files written on the external hard drive by my PC (Sony Vaio)?

An editor told me this morning, that if the client (editor) has a MAC, then the hard drive has to be formatted on a MAC and the files need to be transfer on a MAC computer also.....

Please help as I am lost on this issue.....

TIA.....

An editor told me this morning, that if the client (editor) has a MAC, then the hard drive has to be formatted on a MAC and the files need to be transfer on a MAC computer also.....


Untrue.

If the Drive is formated with FAT32, the Mac can read them natively. If the drive is formatted with NTFS, then you can download a free utility to add that capability to the MAC. I trade hard drives back and forth regularly with Mac folks.

Regarding file system formats, here's what I understand:


FAT32 File System (called MS-DOS on Mac)

• Read/Write by both Mac and Windows natively
• 4GB file size limit
• WindowsXP can natively format FAT32 drive partitions up to 32GB in size (but can read/write up to 8TB). Third party software tools (eg. from drive manufacturers) are needed to format partitions larger than 32GB
• Mac OS X 10.2 or older can format/write partitions up to 137GB (but read higher, up to 2TB?)
• Mac OS X 10.3 or later can format/read/write partitions up to 2TB


NTFS File system (the Windows file system)

• Read/Write/Format natively by Windows
• Read only by Mac (Mac OS X 10.3 or later)
• Supports nearly unlimited file sizes and partition sizes


HFS+ File System (the Mac file system)

• Read/Write/Format natively by Mac
• Read with Windows using free HFS-Explorer app
• Read/Write with Windows using commercial MacDrive software
• Supports nearly unlimited file sizes and partition sizes

Please correct where wrong.

So, are you both saying that I need to get a hard drive that can talk to both MAC and PC?

If so, what drives out there are both? as in which one....as I need to buy 1 or 2 for next week.

thanks

No, they're saying all drives are the same, it's just how they're formatted.

Perrone, what is the free utility that allows for easy back and forth?