XDCam EX import trouble...

Greetings.
I know I've seen this problem reported before but I could not find it so here goes:

My friend called me about trouble she was having importing XDCam EX media off a drive into FCP 6.06. She has the latest Sony transfer tool, too.

The problem is that she does not have "Sony XDCam" as an option under "File" -> "Import" so I had her re-install the 6.0.6 update but it's still not there. Suggestions? I've seen work-arounds for this but she SHOULD have that option for importing...

Thanks. It's actually been about 6 months since I've done any actual editing so I've gotten rusty.

Hey Tim

Long time man. In FCP6 the Import > Sony XDCAM option is added as part of the Sony XDCAM Transfer tool install. I'd suggest you have your friend uninstall and/or reinstall XDCAM Transfer again (latest version 2.10.0) and see if that shakes it back out.

Cheers
Andy

Thanks Andy. Yeah, I've been keeping a low profile. I'll report back as soon as something happens one way or the other..

Forget about using the import under the file menu in FCP. Once XDCAM Transfer software is installed, simply launch FCP and then XDCAM transfer. Do the importing through XDCAM transfer. Once the importing is done bring FCP to the front and then drag the clips (shown in front of the app) into the "bin" you want the clips in and then proceed as usual from there.

The integration between the Sony s/w and FCP is not perfect. Sometimes they don't play well together, however, the workaround is not all that painful.

-Andrew

If she's got $300, she should upgrade to fcp7 and use Log & Transfer, which is now much better than XDCAM transfer. Also, she may need an Intel Mac and Leopard depending on the version she's downloading.

It's all done. Re-installing the Transfer Tool worked. Thanks again Andy.

Andrew- the question was how to get the "Import" option back. It was there and then it was gone.
Didn't know what happened to it and I was doing this long distance.

Mike- It is not my system. I suspect I will personally be upgrading soon. Just a hunch.

I suspect I will personally be upgrading soon. Just a hunch.

Heh heh ... another Brad special eh? :-) Wish that the new Log and Transfer would work directly with XDCAM HD disc media too and not just XDCAM EX, and that it could import as ProRes instead of just rewrap as per XDT ... Still XDT 2.10.0 finally lets you rename subclips now, so there's progress there at least.

Andy Mees Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I suspect I will personally be upgrading soon.
> Just a hunch.
>
> Heh heh ... another Brad special eh? :-) Wish
> that the new Log and Transfer would work directly
> with XDCAM HD disc media too and not just XDCAM
> EX, and that it could import as ProRes instead of
> just rewrap as per XDT ... Still XDT 2.10.0
> finally lets you rename subclips now, so there's
> progress there at least.

I agree it would be great if FCP7 had the ability to import directly to ProRes LT. Regarding renaming, that's why I did all pre-processing/transferring using Clip Browser and XDCam Transfer plus I could use a machine that didn't have FCP on it.

Renaming now works in Log & Transfer. You can change the name, add successive shot numbering, and keep the original name. And it's now faster than XDCT. Until Sony upgrades, that's the way to import.

Mike
Unless you know different Log and Transfer is for XDCAM EX only, XDCAM HD media is not supported ... or it wasn't. Is it now?
Andy

No, Andy, I was referring to Chuck's post and thought he was talking about ex footage. Don't know why if Sony changed the subclip naming they didnt go ahead and change other naming, too.

>No ...

Pity :-(


>Don't know why if Sony changed the subclip naming they didnt go ahead and change other naming, too.

What is it you wanted then to do exactly? I'm not noticing any issues, but again this might be an XDCAM HD / XDCAM EX difference in the way the media is handled.

Keep the original file name while at the same time putting in your own custom name that gets numbered sequentially. You can do the latter in XDCT, but to keep the original name, you need to cut and paste it inidividually in the Comment column where it will then show up in the Logging column in fcp.

With the new L&T, you can add any number of combinations of re-naming, but the most important (for me, anyway) is to take a shot, named say 04091234, rename it Cowboy1 and keep the 04091234 next to it (I'd prefer being able to put it in a separate column, but I'll take this) and do that for all the following shots in the series, (e.g., 04091235 gets renamed as Cowboy2 04091235, etc . I add spacers after the Cowboyx so I don't have to look at the orig name in the fcp timeline and can narrow the column to hide it as well --but it's there if I need to go back to the original shot.

I prefer the ergonomics of XDCT, but will stick with L&T until XDCT has these capabilities. Also, I did a test comparing the two and rejected L&T before, because it was 1/3 slower. Now it's about twice as fast. I have no idea why, though.

aha! very cool ... which makes me wish even more so for XDCAM HD support :/