EX1 footage transfer question ( newbie question before I buy a EX1)
 

I am actually thinking very hard about getting a EX1 and selling my XHA1.

Before I do so, I like to know the experiences of those who are currently using the EX1. Although I saw and played with it for an hour at IBC2007. I have no real work experience on it.

Going tapeless , is the question for me at the moment.

How do you guys transfer the footage when you are shooting a live show. do you have your laptop around you? I'm a mac user so I thinking of upgrading to a MBP.

I know that 8gig is only 35mins and 16 gig is about 1 hour. So how much trouble do you guys experience when you have to continually dump footage to a laptop while covering a live show that last for 2 or more hours or even like a full wedding day.

Does the footage remain continuous or does it break up by itself into files. If continuous , how long is the max file time.

Do you guys dump it directly into the Laptop hard drive or do you have to have an external hard drive link up to the Laptop that you dump the footage to. How long does it take to dump a 8gig card and erase the footage on the card after dumping and then you bring it back again on the camera for the on going show. ( providing that you proof check that the footage has been transferred , but actually seeing it play on the laptop. I hate to know that the file is corrupted and I just deleted the footage on the SxS card)

Obviously I think this is not fitted for one man band . I can't afford to shoot a wedding and pause and start dumping to my laptop can I?

What type of files are they when they are transfered from the SxS card. Can I use these files directly in FCP or do I have to transfer to Quicktime with something else. I have currently FCP studio 1 and I know that it can't do full HD and that I have to upgrade to FCP studio 2 for that purpose.

Or you guys have it linked up to a firestone to save the trouble of dumping footage during weddings and live shows

Thank you guys in advance for the reply, I have to calculate the total cost for all the extra gears that I have to buy if I have decided to go for the EX1.

David,

I use the XDCAM Transfer software that Sony provides to import directly to FCP 6 from the card via my Macbook Pro, it reformats to FCP/QT readable format in the transfer. It is VERY fast but I have not transferred a completely full card and can't tell you how long that would take per card.

Reformatting the card in camera takes just a couple of seconds.

By default, it breaks clips into separate files. Long recordings cross cards without dropping frames.

8gig/16Gig is more like 25/50 minutes in full HQ mode. If you shoot in SQ mode or link to a Firestore, then you are back to HDV format so I don't know if you really get the bang over the XHA1 (which I also have). The only potential solution I see for you besides getting more cards and/or doing the transfer rotation, is the upcoming Convergent Design Flash XDR but that carries about a $5K tag. The real bonus with that solution is that it records straight HDSDI which gives you 4:2:2 and the 32GB flash cards are much cheaper right now.

http://www.convergent-design.com/

Thank you for the insight. Gee.. that is a lot of money on top of the camera. I guess I got to stick to my XHA1 for a little longer .