How to edit file structure?

T

tangierc

Member
Is there any known safe way to edit the raw file structure for this camera (and for that matter the GH1)? Our videographer went out shooting without formatting the card so I have the old shoot (totally different project) on there as well. I want to delete the old shoot because we backup all of our raw content and it takes up space.

Is this possible - safely?
 
I wouldn't edit the structure while it was in its raw format. i would use a help program like one of the programs from Imagine Products. Or wait until the NLE can see the files and delete them there. Transfer the entire card to a hard drive first!

Best,

Jan
 
I always backup first. I have Shotput from Imagine, but am really looking to modify the raw. Thanks though. Oh Jan, it's you. Hey! Didn't realize it til after I read the post. Just strange that there's no way to edit the raw file structure (that I've found so far).

Tangier
 
Yeah I would definitely not suggest this. AVCHD is not a 'raw' format the way say a DSLR camera shoots RAW stills. Which is to say you're not accessing the raw sensor data at all. You're working with a highly compressed format that's optimized for playback and storage, not manipulation. You'll get much better results transcoding the camera original to a higher quality and more editable format such as ProRes or Cineform- depending on your NLE of course.

-Noah
 
OK, I don't want people to be confused. I am not interested in information about transcoding. I get that part - for the editorial. Specifically, I am looking to find if it's even possible to edit the file structure in a way where I can delete ".mts" files and any associated directory information files and keep the file structure in tact and recognizable by NLEs or other apps that that can read the contents of a "PRIVATE" folder. The reason why I want to do this is because I don't want to backup content I already backed up previously. It takes up space which translates to more money. We back up raw cards to two hard drives ALWAYS and shelve them. For every backup drive there is a clone of it. So we have multiple projects sometime on a hard drive depending on how large (in (GB) the shot was. I just want the ability to do this so that if it happens again, I can isolate only the raw we need (even before transcoding) so we're not backing up the same content already backed up simply because a card wasn't formatted before shooting. I realize the one part of the equation is to make sure people handling the cards use them correctly, but people aren't perfect. What I am asking may not be possible. I just thought this was the best place to start. In my mind I guess, if a file structure can be created and parsed (translated) by an application, then it can certainly be undone as well. I want to find out how.

Thanks for any help.
 
Nope- you can't do that in any sort of reliable way at the "raw" stage. And raw is not really the correct term here anyway- you mean the camera's native file format and its associated file structure.

I mean sure I suppose you could hack your own way if you really wanted to spend a lot of time and were a programmer. But that's kinda pointless when you consider how compressed AVCHD is already and how little space it takes up compared to say uncompressed or even ProRes HQ.
You'd be much better off simply investing in enough hard drive space to support your productions. It's pretty much a cost of doing business. That said they are super cheap ways to get a lot of backup space, such as purchasing a SATA caddy and using internal drives bare.
 
I would just use the SD card as a back up and store it somewhere...then I would buy a new SD Card.

The time and trouble doing what you are contemplating ...aint worth the effort considering the price of a SD card.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I get the thinking that due to the compression that perhaps the amount of extra space taken up by backing up an already-backed up project is negligible, but I don't work that way. I suppose the only real solution is makes sure the cards are ALWAYS formatted before going out. Our typical workflow is we shoot, I get the cards, those are backed up to a raw hard drive (which is cloned immediately onto another drive), the editors can have at it. We buy backup drives in pairs, bare, put them in dual bay drive dock and all cards get backed up to them until we have to buy more drives. Duplicated files = money to me so it's not negligible; perhaps because I work for a non-profit production company. Thanks anyway everyone. Perhaps that would be a good project to take up. My background is in computer science.
 
Is there something I'm not understanding here?
If the old shoot is clips 1-50, and the new shoot is clips 51-100, why can't you go in the camera and delete clips 1-50 (as long as 1-50 have been offloaded, obviously).
Isn't that (deleting clips) deleting media without altering the file structure? Granted, you'd need to do it in camera, but why not?

It doesn't sound like the OP wants to archive cards because his workflow is based upon saving 2 hard drives.
 
I suppose the only real solution is makes sure the cards are ALWAYS formatted before going out.
Click to expand...

Of course.

Duplicated files = money to me so it's not negligible
Click to expand...

How so? You need a back up so you need duplicate files even if they are on the same card or drive.
 
You're absolutely right. If I have the camera or the DP/ videographer realizes that there's old content still on the card. Often I am given the cards or our Newertech Guardian Maximus Mini (our field RAID) at which I either don't have the camera or the cards have been dumped the newer tech and reused. Not to belabor the issue since it seems not possible, but what I'd love is an application that (in software) does what your describing that the camera can do. This discussion is good though. Gives me more to discuss with the team pertaining to workflow, checks and balances between production and post. Thanks.
 
My fault. Perhaps I didn't work that correctly. What I mean was having duplicate files backed up on the same hard drive mean unnecessary space is being used on the backup (and therefore the clone) which translates to buying additional drives perhaps sooner than is necessary or even necessary at all depending on how the gigabytes fall.
 
I understand totally.

You, me and everyone else are seriously challenged by media management.

There does not seem to be any solution apart from more storage and good file management practices (protocols).

I would love to be able to print out (on paper) a File Structure from a drive.
 
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