Invalid Directory Structures

Hi all

I was hoping to get a bit of help with something Im doing at the moment.

Im attempting to log footage into FCP 7 via a Log and Transfer option as I am using rushes that are either on my desktop already or to b ebought into FCP via a card reader.

In the Log and Transfer window when I select the relevant folders to draw the footage from my FCP comes up with a window that says:

Warning

****** contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media


Now I would put this down to the fact that the H264 codec that the 5D mkII shoots in isnt supported by the system BUT I for the fact that I also attempted to transfer folders of footage from the Final Cut Pro 7 Apple certified book and it comes up with the same error message

Any ideas how this can be rectified? Am I missing something really basic and obvious?

Any help appreciated
Cheers
Lee

There is a Canon EOS plugin, which I believe works with this camera.

All the best,

Tom

Hey Tom

I go down the folder tree as far as I can go. The bottom level has all of the video files but they are all greyed out so I just select their master folder

Ive also found some files that it allows me to select as well which are all in an AVCHD format. I dont know if that helps at all

Cheers
Lee

Use the Canon plugin. Do NOT drill down into the folders. You want the top level.

All the best,

Tom

Which Canon Plugin Where would it be found?

The folder tree is as follows:
New Volume - DCIM - 100EOS5D - all of the rushes
- MISC - nothing further in here

Do I just select New Volume? because every selection along the tree all comes up with the same message

Any ideas?

Cheers
Lee

There's Google

[www.usa.canon.com]

[blogs.digitalmediaonlineinc.com]

All the best,

Tom

Excellent!

Thanks very much for this Tom! Ill spend some time digging around with it. Ill let you know how it goes.

Cheers
Lee

OK Ive played around with it all Tom and it works a treat if I need to take files off of a CF card BUT for all the files that are already on the Mac. These, I still cant bring into FCP

Any ideas?

Cheers
Lee

"if I need to take files off of a CF card BUT for all the files that are already on the Mac."

I don't know what this means.

All the best,

Tom

L&T requires the entire directory structure to work. If you only copied the h.264 clips onto your computer and you wiped the CF cards, you have to send your clips through Compressor or Mpeg Streamclip or use FCP's Batch Export tool to convert into ProRes.



www.strypesinpost.com

Ah right

I was just arriving at that conclusion as well...obviously without the knowledge of the system to back it up.

Im half way through encoding a batch of H264 clips through Streamclip at the moment. Ill let you know what happens

Cheers
Lee

OK Im still having the same problem.

Ive converted a batch of H264's into Prores 4444's and even put them into their own folder on my desktop.

On attempting to L&T the same message comes up. It still says:


Warning

****** contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media

This has got to be something really simple that Im missing but Im starting to pull my hair out. Any more ideas?

Cheers
Lee

Quote

Ive converted a batch of H264's into Prores 4444's and even put them into their own folder on my desktop.

Please consult your manual. This is not what Log and Transfer is for at all.

>Any more ideas?

Totally. Import your clip straight into FCP, log and rename from there. Make sure you keep the name of your source clip either as part of the name of the file or in the comments column so you can reingest if you need to.

L&T is for ingest from a digital mag. It rewraps clips into Quicktime, and transcodes media that it cannot work with natively (eg. Red, H.264, Avc-intra and AvcHD).



www.strypesinpost.com

Hey Strypes

Thanks for the input. I can already import the clips directly into FCP. The problem is that Im trying to work my way through allof the lessons in the Apple Certified TRaining Series FCP 7 book and Im doing all of the 'transfers from tapeless sources' and now that I cant use the L&T function, I'm worried that there is going to be something important that Im going to miss with regards to the working processes

Tom mentioned that the whole director structure needs to work. How do they work exactly?

Cheers
Lee

>How do they work exactly?

For most formats (I'm not sure about the Canon DSLRs, but I believe it is the same), FCP assigns a UUID (universal unique ID) as part of the quicktime clip. This allows you to batch capture from the original mags even if you have renamed the clips. Just be careful that the folders are given proper names before you L&T (FCP assigns the reel name from the name of the mag).



www.strypesinpost.com

I usually make a copy of the disk image through disk utility before I import anything.

I've had people give me stuff with bad file structures before where they just copy the movies and not the whole directory structure.

One way around this is to go back to the camera, and shoot a video clip of 1 or 2 seconds (could be anything). Take that CF card with your new video clip and mount it on your system. Now copy the "naked" movies you have onto the card. You copy the files to the folder where your "dummy" 1 to 2 second video clip is. Once you do that, you should have a recognizable file structure that FCP will see using the Log and Transfer.

Be sure you have copies of your files though just in case.