Had to put MXF Files at Root Level to Import?

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dvInsight

Well-known member
Hi all,

I had a great shoot today with another great member of the board, Filmstox. He acted as the DP and I acted as the Digital tech. We were able to mix an astonisihing assortment of gear that we both had in addition to the studio spaces gear that was available to us.

We had a great work flow and all of our P2 MXF data was backed up 2X prior to starting our data.

We did two 45 second spots. One at 1080i/60 and another 1080i/24pa. Six 4GB cards worth of P2 data imported perfectly into FCP 5.1.1. An entirely new project was created with associcated time changes made when we switched to 24pa. When we went to import the first clip we got a "possible corrruption" error. Knowing that we had two backups we were not worried, but it took a while to figure out a solution. It turns out that the MXF file foldersand associated capture scratch had to be moved to the root level of the drive to import properly. So any thoughts as to why?

I had to leave the set so Filmstox figured this out, but after a phone conversation, we were wondering if there is a limit to how long the data path can be in FCP. Or is this just a bizarre gremlin affecting this system?

Like I said, Six 4GB cards transferred earlier in the day with no issue.

Weird day,

Thanks,

Rob
 
I'd go with Gremlin for now...

I'd go with Gremlin for now...

Unless you had it the situation occuring a lot more often I'd kind of go with the Gremlin theory myself. The hardcore pro-Mac folk love to ride the no virus wagon, but they can't say the same about the Gremlins. The Gremlins have full interoperability. :evil:

As for the path length questions, that's an interesting question to note. It'd certainly be a good thing to know, either way. I could easily see that being an issue w/ Windows, would be a little surprised if it was on the Mac though.
 
dvInsight said:
I had to leave the set so Filmstox figured this out, but after a phone conversation, we were wondering if there is a limit to how long the data path can be in FCP. Or is this just a bizarre gremlin affecting this system?

Like I said, Six 4GB cards transferred earlier in the day with no issue.

Weird day,

Thanks,

Rob
Click to expand...
Rob,

It was a treat to get to know you and the guys and I truly enjoyed the day, even with the hickup at the end. I'm still pondering the root cause and hope to have the chance to do some more testing to get the Gremlin cornered and hopefully caged. The good news is that all footage is loaded and looking good. Coming soon to a Costco Plasma screen near you! :)
 
Filmstox,

I agree, it was a great team of people and I hope we all get to work together again soon. After some sleep, and my wife is really worried about the stuff I must dream about, I think the issue is not how deep the capture folder is, but relevant path the P2 data takes to get to P2 importer.

Something in my head says that it is a simple coding error in the P2 importer. The P2 importer was first designed to take data from the P2 Card into FCP, so the programmers always had the card mounted at the root level, and that is how the initially coded it. They then added the ability to get the data via a directory path. They either only assumed a few levels and or naming conventions that would work properly. We may just have used some conventions that broke their assumptions. I am sure it would have worked right away from either the backup DVDs or if we moved the data back to a P2 and tried again.

In essence, our inner computer geek kept us on the path of searching for something to be wrong with an FCP setting, instead of just going back to step one.

So I think the gremlin has an explanation after all.

--

Rob
 
I'm getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger on an HVX, and I'm ingesting as many threads on workflow as possible so as to avoid some of the pitfalls. But alas , I do not have the computer knowledge that some have here. The bottom line- I've got a few questions about definitions and terminology that you guys are using. Oh yeah, I'm a Mac guy.

1. What is "root level" and what is it's relevance to data corruption ? My guess is that it has to do with the number of folders and sub-folders that data is located in. Am I even close ?

2. What is meant by the "path" and again what's it's relation to corrupted imports ?

I'm a DP and a still photographer. I've been shooting digital stills for some three years now, so I'm familiar with a digital workflow. I'm really excited to make the same leap in moving pictures . However the nightmare experiences that I hear folks having with the file workflow is making me quite nervous to take the plunge to the HVX. After attending the HD Bootcamp in LA last weekend I'm inclined to download to an external HD via my Powerbook and then go from there to a workstation. WIth the imminent arrival of larger capacity P2 cards, I'm shying away from the P2 store route.

I'd certainly appreciate any light you guys can shed on the concepts discussed above, and of course, tips to avoid the gremlins would be great as well.
 
hotchkiss said:
1. What is "root level" and what is it's relevance to data corruption ? My guess is that it has to do with the number of folders and sub-folders that data is located in. Am I even close ?

2. What is meant by the "path" and again what's it's relation to corrupted imports ?
Click to expand...

Root is simply your "Macintosh HD" So if you double-click it the folders, like "system" are said to live at the root level. If you think of it like a real tree it makes sense. From the single Macintosh HD, which is the root, a few folders are added, then more folders, files, and folders and so on. They continue until it looks like the branches and leaves of a tree.

The path is simply the folders you must take to get to your desired file from the root or Macintosh HD. So to get to describe where an MS Word document is, might look like this: Macintosh HD/Users/UserName/Documents/WordFiles/WordDocumentName.

How does this relate to the above thread? Well we resolved a problem by simply copying our P2 data to the root level (Macintosh HD) and we were able to import into FCP. Our import did not work when the P2 data was buried down deep in a path.

Goog luck, and you will really enjoy your HVX.

--
Rob
 
dvInsight said:
Root is simply your "Macintosh HD" So if you double-click it the folders, like "system" are said to live at the root level. If you think of it like a real tree it makes sense. From the single Macintosh HD, which is the root, a few folders are added, then more folders, files, and folders and so on. They continue until it looks like the branches and leaves of a tree.

The path is simply the folders you must take to get to your desired file from the root or Macintosh HD. So to get to describe where an MS Word document is, might look like this: Macintosh HD/Users/UserName/Documents/WordFiles/WordDocumentName.

How does this relate to the above thread? Well we resolved a problem by simply copying our P2 data to the root level (Macintosh HD) and we were able to import into FCP. Our import did not work when the P2 data was buried down deep in a path.

Goog luck, and you will really enjoy your HVX

--
Rob
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, the tree analogy helps ! Just to clarify then, and using your example above of the Word doc - at what point in that path would the best place to create a folder with the P2 files ? As a folder on the hard drive ? Where in this path would the best place be for the files , and/or what would the optimal path for P2 clips look like ?

My inclination for a workflow would be to impport cards from cam to powerbook in the field- folders on the HD with each reel in a single folder. Then drag those to a external HD so that I have two copies. When back at the ranch I then drag those to a folder on my media drive. Should I put them right on the HD at this point- no master folderbesides the one the clips are in ? From there I'd import to FCP. Is this a workflow that would avoid some of these issues ???

Thanks again.
 
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