Catalyst Browse sees 4 audio channels, transcodes 8

L

littlefish

Member
I've only recently started using Catalyst Browse since we purchased a Sony camera. We record two channels, but when I ingest the footage from the camera cards (XDCAM, .mxf) Browse thinks there are two more channels, so two real channels and two empty channels. Then when I transcode to ProRes, Browse creates 8 mono channels. I've searched the web and looked into every nook and cranny of Browse to see if I"m missing anything. The manual sheds no light.

If I test transcode even from the Browse .mxf originals to ProRes with any other program all works fine, with the result of two audio channels.

I prefer using Catalyst Browse, at least for ingest, for ease of use and the fact that it maintains such detailed metadata (camera info) that the other programs loose.

Our setup: Macs running Mojave, Browse 2018.2, Sony Z90V, editing in the latest Premiere. We keep all original XDCAM card structures + the editing transcodes into ProRes.

Thanks for your help!
 
I can't answer your question about transcoding but XAVC always records 4 stereo or 8 mono tracks and there is nothing you can do to turn that off. But the bigger question is, why are you transcoding?? If you're editing in Premiere there is absolutely no reason to ever transcode XAVC to ProRes. You're wasting your time, inflating your file sizes, complicating your workflow, and adding another layer of raw footage that needs to be backed up and archived.

Just import the XAVC files directly into a bin in Premiere. Then select all the clips in the bin . . . right-click and choose modify audio channels . . . and then choose whatever audio configuration you want. It is non-destructive so you can condense your audio tracks down to a single stereo channel, two mono channels, or whatever suits your needs best. Very easy.

But the most important thing is to stop transcoding. That is a waste.
 
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Thanks Doug for clarifying. So appreciate you taking the time to post and always love your frankness! Back when we were shooting AVCHD we developed a naming structure based on the filming project, original filename followed by a short designation that was unique to each card. So when we are later pulling from our archives we don't end up with (in the case of AVCHD) multiple clips as 00001.mts. For us at least with Premiere on our MacPro, it never liked the long GOP, H.264. ProRes was much easier to edit with. So there are some similarities with mxf, except that the files are 10bit, 4:2:2, they are still long GOP from what I understand. The short tests I did trying to edit .mxf on our system was still a bit sluggish compared to ProRes. We have colleagues in the US that are doing the same thing, but seem to have no issues with the H.264, Long GOP on their PC/Premiere system. For now we are stuck with a very aging MacPro (one of the earliest "trash cans").
 
littlefish said:
For now we are stuck with a very aging MacPro (one of the earliest "trash cans").
Click to expand...

Whatever playback problems you have are probably due to whatever drives you're using and not the Mac. What are your drives and how are they connected?
I've edited 4K XAVC and 4K RAW on nothing but MacBook Pros since 2014 with no problems. But you need to have decent external drives.
 
It's a fairly old FirmTek 5 drive RAID 0 (software) connected via esata from a FirmTek card in a thunderbolt enclosure. I just did a quick AJA test, writes 196 mbs, reads 240 mbs.
 
littlefish said:
It's a fairly old FirmTek 5 drive RAID 0 (software) connected via esata from a FirmTek card in a thunderbolt enclosure. I just did a quick AJA test, writes 196 mbs, reads 240 mbs.
Click to expand...

And that is probably your problem right there. Upgrade. Drives are cheap! :-)
 
Most people who think they need a better, faster, newer computer generally just need a better drive or a better type of connectivity. I primarily edit on Thunderbolt SSDs that get nearly 1200Mbps. And even my "slow" hard drives are better than 400 Mbps.
 
Not an editor, but a fast(er) drive is gonna help no matter if it's HD, 4K or higher. I just had a real world wake-up call as to how much faster SSD's can be when moving big files around. We had a multi-cam shoot at the beginning of the week, involving an F55, F5 and A7sII on a Movi, plus the iso audio and mp3 transcription files. I copied everything to one of my small SanDisk Extreme 1TB SSD's(native USB C to USB 3.0 on computer side), then copied that all encompassing folder to another SSD and then a spinning HDD, all through my 2012 RMBP. It took a little under 10 mins to copy from the original SSD to the second SSD, then when I copied again from the original SSD to the HDD it took ~50+ minutes.
 
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