Endless recording?

Chadfish

Chadfish

Veteran
At the moment I only have three 8 gig sxs cards, and one Hoodman card adapter with a 16 gig card. I've got a long Yoga class to shoot where the guy wants no breaks. I'm positive I can go from one card to another without stopping, but can I go over 3 cards or 4 cards without stopping?

It seems that when I capture something that spans over 2 cards, XDCAM transfer won't import the file off the first slot/card, but will import off the 2nd slot/card, and automatically pull the info for the 1rst half of the file off the 1st slot. It's not apparent if I can do this over 3 cards, since I can't have all 3 in the camera at once, and I can't import a partial clip without both cards n the camera.

What's the consensus on this?

Thank you!

Chad
 
No. I will eventually buy one. I'm just wondering if this is possible to span 3 cards with one file.
 
I'm almost positive you can do this, Chad. I've spanned several cards continuously and when you copy each BPAV folder into one, single folder using Clip Browser, they will all be joined into one big file. The only "gotcha" in this might be if there is any kind of file size limitation that I'm not aware of. Best thing to do is test it yourself first.
 
Hey Chad, I wasn't using Clip Browser back then but I recorded a 3+ hours show using 3 16GB SanDisks and 1 8GB SxS. No problems... at all... I have just looked at that show's folder and there they are, 13 folders (_13). I think that each time that you swap cards another folder is created, that's all. The single take is split into many files even if you don't swap cards anyway, at around 3.5GB.

Just remember to have the camera very firmly attached to the tripod and be very careful, you do have to do some pressure for the swappings and this might result in adding some movement to your footage.
 
I have seen the situation where the camera automatically "breaks" the recording and starts on the other card, but when you try to retrieve it, it seems to think something is broken and needs repair. But other times, it seems to work without a hitch. Haven't been able to establish any kind of pattern to when it works and when it doesn't.

I've taken to pro-actively switched cards when I have only a minute or two remaining on a card.

Do we have some method of clearing off a card after we extrct the video using the clip viewer (or copying the raw file structure)? That seems to be the major show-stopper preventing perpetual recording with a finite number of cards.
 
Jay, personally I have no problem with that at all. Before I started using the higher capacity SDHCs (and now the nanoFlash), I regularly did long live music events using just 2x8GB plus a single 16 GB SxS cards. The camera firmly on the tripod, my laptop within reach - I was shooting and off-loading my cards at the same time...

The only thing I had to remember about was:

- keep the SxS slots door open (sliding it may be noisy)
- eject the card with a single, firm push on the stick
- insert the off-loaded card in a similar fashion.

Even though I often was using a rather long focals, never had visible shakes in the picture. The fact is though that the sound master was always done by somebody else (our sound engineer), so those little noises were not important, either.
 
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Hi, Piotr. I've never tried it, but I guess like most things, practice makes perfect.

So once the "A" card is full, the recoording automatically goes to the "B" card. You then remove the "A" card, download the files, delete the files from said card, and reinsert the "A" clean card.

Now, does the recording go from the end of the "B" card back to the beginning of the now clean "A" card? One presumes Clip Browser keeps all this straight, right?
 
Jay Gladwell said:
Hi, Piotr. I've never tried it, but I guess like most things, practice makes perfect.
Click to expand...

Well said.

Jay Gladwell said:
So once the "A" card is full, the recoording automatically goes to the "B" card. You then remove the "A" card, download the files, delete the files from said card, and reinsert the "A" clean card.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Jay Gladwell said:
Now, does the recording go from the end of the "B" card back to the beginning of the now clean "A" card? One presumes Clip Browser keeps all this straight, right?
Click to expand...

Yes - as long as there is space on the "A" card (and in this scenario, it's actually empty) - the EX camera will close the current file when it fills card "B" (adding the appropriate integer suffix to its name), and open the next file (with the suffix incremented by 1) of the same take on the card "A".

Later, after having copied all cards onto my laptop in ClipBrowser, what I do is merge all folders into the first one. This way, I'm getting a single file for the entire take (well over 20GB per ca. 1hr of recording).
 
Piotr, so you open the first/original BPAV folder and merge the contents of all other BPAV folders into it. Am I understanding you corectly?
 
Yes Jay - of course this MUST be done using ClipBrowser (actually you don't need to open the first folder - just right click on it, and select Combine Folders; then mark those you want to merge into it from the list).

All this must be done by ClipBrowser, as it can read all relevant information, and merge the mp4 clips correctly. You also have the option to delete redundant BPAVs after merging, so you're left with just a single BPAV (and mp4 within it) per each take, no matter how long.
 
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Hi Guys.

Jay, it's not too hard to remove a card without shake. It's a yoga class, and I'm full wide to get all the students in. I lock my Sachtler FSB8 down, put my right hand on the camera's top handle, and remove the card with my left. I didn't notice any shake, but even if it did coour, it's not a biggie, as this is only a certification video to make sure the guy taught the class right. It's not for sale or anything. I don't have a laptop to dump to.

They would rather not have any breaks, but they are used to it with tape changes from days or yore. I'll just let the first 2 8 gigs go non-stop, then pause briefly to switch back to the 3rd 8 gig, and let that run to the Hoodman. So I'll have one small break. I really need a 32 gigger! It's hard to let go of 850.00. On top of that I have 2 EX1 cameras. I would love to be able to shoot a live performance with 2 cameras. So my long term plan is to get a 32 gig for now, then later try to get a NanoFlash for 2,800.00 (or less if they come down).

My problem/question with spanning 3 cards is that it seems to need the last card/file recorded on to access the first half of the file on the first card. I only use XDCAM transfer to make .mov files right out of the camera, and just delete the original files. Most of the stuff I do is short lived TV stuff, so I don't bother archiving the original files.
 
When changing card, I locked the tripod (both horiz & vert) and no shake at all. I used the SDHC cards and let it run thru almost 4-16GB cards for the whole show.
With the new firmware (1.20) I will have more confident to continue to use the SDHC cards.
 
Jay Gladwell said:
Chad, how will you get the cards in and out of the camera while recording without excessive camera shake?
Click to expand...

Its very easy, unless perhaps you were on full zoom, removing and inserting cards need not shake the video, just do it slowly.
 
Chadfish said:
I don't have a laptop to dump to.
Click to expand...

I'd pick up a cheap one (even used) with an ExpressCard slot. Doesn't need high CPU performance, display or memory specs, just the bus to dump fast.

On top of that I have 2 EX1 cameras. I would love to be able to shoot a live performance with 2 cameras.
Click to expand...
I shoot 3rd camera with 2 other guys with EX1s for a dance corps every year, and we all only have three 8gb cards apiece, no SDHC at all. The guy who contracts and edits it has his wife come around to us frequently on opposite sides of the stage, and we switch slots, pop out a card and she hands us an empty one. We almost always have an empty in one slot to switch to, and never fill an 8gb card before she arrives. Of course, she does the card dumping to a laptop up in the control booth. At the end of the evening, I just have to make sure I get my own cards back. With two cams going, you'd have the liberty of editing a break in stream should there be a problem.

I guess if it's only for certification look, you could FireWire it (again needing the laptop) or worst case scenario: output Composite to an LP tape in a VHS VCR. :cheesy:
 
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Zanshin said:
or worst case scenario: output Composite to an LP tape in a VHS VCR. :cheesy:
Click to expand...

I knew I should have just got my portable BetaMax deck (with a 12' cable going out to a camera) fixed. I could fit 2 hours in high quality mode, or 6 with extended long play!

I actually had one of those. You carried around a "portable" yet full size VCR with a handle that weighed like 15 lbs in one hand, and held the camera in another. It cost 1,500.00 in 1983 or so. You had a dial for white balance even! Dial it left: Blue. Dial it right: Gold. I even made a music video with that camera 23 years ago. It was my ode to Robitussin DM, shot in my Air Force dorm room.

RoboTrip DM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KSx4Ukqjrc
 
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