C300: Any way to stop c300 creating all those folders?

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Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
Is there a C300 setting I can change to have the C300 not generate folders whenever I press record? If I record 10 clips I wind up with 10 folders when I import. I'd rather have all my clips in one folder.
 
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I have no issues with the structure. Works fine editing native in Premiere Pro. They just come in as clips. Why is it an issue for you? What are you editing with?
 
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It will have folders with multiple files. However, in FCP X you when you import the files you will get to see only one. So no confusion.
 
Thanks everyone. Erik, for me it only becomes an issue if I wish to look at the source files without wanting to open the program. With other camera I've worked with (GH3, 7D, AF100), I just had one file for one clip instead of multiple folders with multiple files.

Importing the Contents folder is usually what I do. But then suppose I have multiple C300 projects to import with the C300. Won't I end up with a bunch of "Contents" folders?

I just had the opportunity to work with the Canon 1DC and was pleasantly surprised to see that the 1DC doesn't generate all those folders, just single files for each clip. Just wondering why the C300 does this and not the 1DC.
 
I'm very confused as to why this is even an issue. Canon XF keeps all mxf files in a single folder per clip, it doesn't break a single clip into multiple files. You will wind up with 10 folders if you press record 10 times because the XF codec needs to create a place to keep spanned files.

If you want to view the files without transcoding you have a few options, and here are two: use Canon's XF utility when you transfer the cards, or open the mxf files directly using VLC.

You can also rewrap the mxf files to mov and lose the folder structure via your NLE or other conversion software when you copy the files to hard drive if you want. Sometimes I'll just transfer the footage off my CF cards to a hard drive via FCP7's log & transfer function and using the "native" setting, which of course just rewraps the footage to mov files, as well as joins spanned clips. There is no folder structure after that.

The 1D C acts differently because it is recording it's 4K video to mjpeg, which is a far less efficient acquisition codec (it's basically a series of jpeg still images strung together in a video stream) and no associated metadata. Remember, MXF is designed not just to contain audio/visual data, but also lots and lots of metadata - and this is part of the reason for all those separate folders. The information has to be organized.

If you really want to understand why material exchange format codecs (MXF), like Canon XF, work the way they do, I recommend this article.
 
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In the Canon XF utility, they have a very handy "Export to MXF" feature that simply allows you to rename and renumber your files, puts everything in whatever folder you want. Pr will read either the MXF file structure or this exported way just fine. Downside if I understand correctly is that the metadata you may add (shot marks etc) is stripped by the export utility. Personally, I have, on my xf305, been using Export to MXF for over a year, with no downside effects, and I backup the entire card I shoot to a USB3 drive that I then take to the bank safe deposit box when full (or when I need to park it safely). It's really trivial. I assume the C300 utility is the same.

This issue has been discussed here a lot in the last year, if I remember right (I am on multiple boards) so I might gently remind folks to use the search feature of the forums.
 
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