Editing questions
 

Hi all,

Just starting to edit my first nano footage... so far so good. But a couple of questions have come up:
- All the nano files are locked, which makes coping and moving them problematic. Any reason why they can't be unlocked?
- The nano and the Nexto NVS2500 create several files and folders that bury the actual .mov files way down in the file structure. Any reason why these can't simply be eliminated?

Thanks!

What platform? Mac or PC? The locked file can be unlocked by setting permissions/ ownership on the folder in either. That should help move them around more easily.

As long as the clips have different names you could drag them into your media drive say, by date and them import into NLE.

Mac, FCP7.0.2

Found a little program called FileXamine that does the "unlock" trick as a batch very nicely. The question is if all those extras files that get included with the nano/Nexto file structure... like "}STT{" with the nano... and "SETUP000.NVS" with the Nexto... have any real purpose? I'm guessing they don't mean a thing but I hate guessing with production files.

BTW, the tally worked great! Thanks!

Automator can help
 

Hello Bob,
Locking the files is a great idea and works just as supposed to, but, as you founded it could be annoying...
If you are adding an extra info (rename the files) to all of your NF QT/MXF/MPG files for the purpose of your editing/storing work-flow, I would suggest to you "Automator" if you are on Mac OSX. It will do anything for you, of course, after you set up the work-flow first or the applications or plug-in/Script. Very simple and very powerful application fully customizable by the end user.
In your case, it will copy, rename (any way you like-keeping the original name or not is up to you), unlock, convert (using CD converter or Sony XDCAM Transfer) and many more all up to the work-flow made by you.
Here is the link for more info Automator: Explore
If you wanna see the video, please click on Introduction to Automator on the posted link.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Luben

Hey Luben,

Thanks for the info! With roughly 1100 files to change, I was looking for a quick fix. ;-) So I went with FileXamine. I would love to learn more about Automator because you confirm what I have always heard... it is powerful if you take the time to set it up. Thanks for the link.

Be well...

I do not believe the "locking" of files done by the nano and XDR really provides any value. It really is more of an annoyance than any kind of safety feature.

Also, when the files are copied to the Nexto device, there is no way to unlock them on the Nexto (although they do appear locked on the Nexto). In order to unlock them, you have to copy them to your computer.

I've tried Finder, Windows Explorer and attrib and none seem to be able to unlock the files on the Nexto.

It really is annoying.

annoying
 

I have to agree, it's annoying.

Dan, what's the theoretical benefit?

Hi Aaron,
I do not have NEXTO and can't try it with "Automator". If you are MAC user you have Automator on your system by default (I think, I could be wrong. I use it for so long can't remember if I've downloaded it) or could be downloaded, try it to unlock your files on NEXTO. I could try to help you with building your work-flow if need it of course.
Cheers
Luben

Hi Bob,
I just came back from a shoot in India for two months and I had over 7 TB of material on the RAID. All done in no time when back... took a seconds with the renaming the way I wanted it...

If you have used UNIX in your past and need a refresher, you may wish to roll up your sleeves and do some command line kung-fu! Here's what to do...

Launch the application "Terminal" found in the Utilities folder. Navigate to the directory in question. Say your directory is called "nanoflash_files" and it is in your "Documents" directory, you would issue the following command:

cd Documents/nanoflash_files

verify you are in said directory by issuing the present working directory command:

pwd

then do a change permissions command to make all the .mov files read/writable by the user:

chmod 764 *.mov

and you are done.

Andrew, I've been a UNIX user for 20+ years and yes I do know how to unlock files from the Terminal window but it doesn't work on when trying to unlock files on the Nexto. The FAT32 filesystem flatly rejects any attempt to modify permissions on the files.

Like I said, the locked files isn't really protecting anything. It's just an annoyance.

Ok, I just tried a new method of unlocking the files on the Nexto. A VMWare Windows XP virtual machine running on my Mac allowed me to unlock the files with the attrib command.

This is really a super pain in backside, just to unlock the files. Like I said, an annoyance.

Dear Friends,

I believe the original purpose of locking the files was to prevent them from being accidentally deleted.

I do most of my work on a PC, and I do not have to worry about them being locked.

Bob, you mentioned that copying and moving them is problematic.

Are you saying that you have to unlock the files just to copy them?

Or do you have to unlock them to move them?

My workflow is to just copy the files to the destination folder, in which the locking does not get in the way at all, then reformat the CompactFlash card in the nanoFlash, in which the locking does not get in the way.

I am saying all of this to determine:

1. Where is the actual problem?

2. Determine what you would like us to do.

Would you like us to remove all locking?

Would you like for locking to be a menu option?
(Please note that we do not like to add menu options unless they are necessary as each new menu option complicates the system to new users.)

Hey Dan,

If a file is locked on a Mac and you try to move it to another folder on the same drive, OSX will copy the file to that location. If the file is not locked then it will simply move the file.

The workflow I used today was:
- I connect one of my production drives to the edit Mac using eSATA.
- I copy the files onto my Rorke array.
- I go through each of the folders that were created by the Nexto2500 and ShotPut Pro with FileXamine and unlocked each of the nano created files.
- I then move the files into folders that break the shoot down by day. these are usually the top-level folders created by ShotPut.
- THEN I import into FCP

The reason I move the files is that I don't want them buried four layers deep in folders. If the files were unlocked from the start, this would be a very simple drag-n-drop process.

Thanks!

Please Unlock!
 

"If a file is locked on a Mac and you try to move it to another folder on the same drive, OSX will copy the file to that location. If the file is not locked then it will simply move the file."

Bob: I agree, this is an annoyance, and I bet that a majority of nanoFlash owners are Mac users. (Anyone for a poll?) I spent a year with a Focus Enhancements FireStore, which was a good experience. Their files are NOT locked.

Jeff

I too would vote for unlocking. I don't think it is worth a menu mod but let's see what others think. Dan, is it worth setting up a poll as Jeff suggests?

Dear Friends,

We will be discucsing this internally shortly.

Our goal was never to make it hard, just to prevent the files from being accidentally deleted.

Dear Friends,

We have discussed the "Locking Issue" internally.

We will, in a our firmware release, be creating "Unlocked" files.

Our goal is to promote the Second Public Beta to "For Production Use" status as soon as possible.

As such, we will not be changing this 1.5.126 to add this change, but we will adding it in our code so that the next build will have the updated code.

Like Jeff, I also used a firestore. I thought this was a very easy box to work with. The files were unlocked, you could easily move them around or delete them or whatever.

Again, with a nexto it is impossible to clear the lock on a Mac.

Dan,

Thanks for kicking this around so quickly and suggesting this solution. It will give others time to weigh in, if need be. I can't see a downside in the Mac world.

Thanks!

CH1 & CH2 locked together?
 

And...

Correct me if I'm wrong:

I notice that when I drag nanoFlash files into a Final Cut Pro sequence, the 2 audio channels are NOT linked. If I want to make audio level changes in a stereo pair, I have to link them together first by selecting them and typing "Option-L." I don't think that I had to do this with my old FireStore clips. Or am I mistaken? Is linking the stereo pair something that the nanoFlash can do?

Check me, guys!

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

What firmware version are you using?

1.1.154

Jeff

Dear Jeff,

We have made substantial changes to the audio subsystem.

Could you please try our "Second Public Beta", 1.5.126?

Mine come in linked...

Glad to see this discussion. I have an XL H1 & FCS3 and I'm considering a DTE solution. For those using the nF and FCP, is this a fairly simple way of going about it?

Essentially, it's a snap. Once you transfer the nano files onto your edit drives, open a project and just import into FCP, or drag-n-drop into a project. Then drop them into a TL with settings that match your shoot format... and you're good to go.

Thanks, Bob.

A small oddity
 

I just noticed that all the nano files I imported into FCP have a Reel name of "Flash XDR". ;-)

Ha !
 

...How Ironic !

This simple Automator script works great for unlocking lots of files at once:

Lock or Unlock Finder Items | Automator World

rafael

Cool! Thanks!