F3: SxS copy issue

C

captslomo

Well-known member
Shot two cards yesterday, one on the EX-3, one on the F3. Both BPAV folders were copied to the producer's external hard drive, then brought home and a safety copy was made.

When I spot checked the copied BPAVS, the EX-3 card popped right up in Content Browser. The F3 card showed up in the browser file tree, but no clips populated. In AVID, the EX-3 card would immediately load via AMA, but AMA couldn't find any clips to link to on the F3 copy.

Hooked up the original F3 card, and Content Browser was able to see it just fine, and made the .mxf export in good order. I was able import the .mxf clips into AVID with no issue. However; AVID could not populate any AMA clips off the original card, either.

The producer was using a mac and a Toshiba external drive, which she had to load some mac utility that came with the drive in order to be able to write to the Toshiba. She was able to copy both SxS cards and an SDHC card to her drive, but did not have any way to check the video.

Any idea what might be going on with the F3 card copy? The BPAV folders show a file size exactly the same between the master card and the copied BPAV folder, and all the different SxS readers I experimented with all say there are the expected 30 gigs of material on the matching BPAV folders...they just can't access it unless I use the Content Browser and only the original card--no copies.
 
I had a similar issue with our f3 and media composer 7. I ended up using premiere to bring in the files and then outputted a dnxhd file from premiere for avid. Avid could not read the cards, but premire could. I then reset our f3 to factory defaults and formatted the cards. I then did a test record and AMA worked fine. My camera guy in the field was messing with how the f3 names clips while recording. Maybe that had something to do with it? Not sure.
 
I also now use a program called shot put to move cards to hard drives as some more protection. Could be overkill, but shooting footage that the avid cant see is scary.
 
As long as I didn't rely on AMA, I could get the footage into AVID easily. My bigger worry is why a copied BPAV folder is not working in the Content Browser. Interesting you mention the naming convention. Even though I changed nothing in the F3 from all my previous shoots, I did notice that two of the 11 clips in the CLPR folder had an extra folder: 3831_01 and a 3831_02 for instance. In each case, the _01 folder was exactly 3.6 gigs...so I'm wondering if that is the maximum file size on the SxS card before it creates another folder within the same clip, or whether this is an error of some kind.

Edit: after recycling the AMA import in AVID, I was able to bring in the files via AMA off the original SxS card. It still can't find any clips in the copied BPAV folder, though.
 
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Just wondering was the SXS card a Sony card or non Sony Card. I'm dealing with a similar issue in Avid, clip wouldn't import via AMA, I used Sony XDCAM browser to transcode the clip to MXF and than imported the clip in (not using AMA) the clip imported but there was a few words within the video missing in the middle of the clip which was an interview, the import skipped some video in the middle. So I did the entire transcode and import again and it worked. This was a two camera shoot using the F3 and EX3 the cards on the F3 where Sony cards and the cards on the EX3 rental were off market cards. The problem was with the off market cards.
 
Stephen: this was a relatively new Sony-branded G1A 64 gig card that has been used with no issues. As have all my SxS cards. Just not sure what would make a perfectly good card, which will read fine in the camera, via AMA and through Content Browser not be able to make a copy of the BPAV folder that will do the same. I have been using the "copy the entire BPAV folder" as an archiving tool since I began using SxS three years ago, without fail.

This event concerns me greatly.
 
How did you structure the two BPAV folders on your HD - did you rename one of them (that would prevent the content browser from reading it) or did you put each one in a new parent folder?

In the content browser did the folder with the footage have the MXF logo or whatever it is on top of it?

Your producer could try installing the content browser for MAC and seeing if it works for her.

To me, if it works from camera and content browser, but not copy to HD and content browser, it is indeed perplexing. (not to mention frustrating sounding)
 
I put each BPAV folder into a separate "card 1" / "card 2" folder. When I call them up off the internal storage drive in Content Browser, I get the little "ex" icon beneath the named card folders. When I click on either folder a second "Planning" tree item drops down, with a little "plan" icon. The Card 2 folder immediately populates the EX-3 video clips. The Card 1, when clicked, just does...nothing.

I have not yet heard from the producer's editor whether they have an issue yet with their copy.

BTW: is there a pathway inside Content Browser to duplicate the entire BPAV folder with CRC check, as opposed to converting & exporting the .mxf files for NLE editing?
 
OK...it gets a bit stranger.

I take another 64 gig card, shoot some clips on the F3 and copy the BPAV through my SBAC-20 onto the desktop. Content Browser will not open the clips from the copy, but opens them just fine from the SxS card. I use the "copy all" function in content browser to make a copy of the BPAV folder. Lo and behold, Content Browser can read this copy. Then, I make a copy via desktop drag-and-drop of the successfully copied BPAV.

No joy. Content Browser sees it, but won't open it. I do a CRC-check copy (which takes much longer) and CB opens it just fine. I desktop copy the CRC-checked copy, and again, no joy.

Here's what we have more or less empirically determined:

1. Unless 2 of three 64 gig G1A Sony SxS cards have suddenly developed an issue, it's not the cards at fault. The 64-gig in the EX-3 copied just fine.
2. There may be an issue with the way my Windows 7 desktop copies BPAV folders. Or there may not. The EX-3 copies worked just fine.
3. There may be an issue with the way the F3 is recording the files, although I'm not sure what that would be. The card itself downloads just fine. A copy directly from the card does not. A Content Browser generated copy works just fine. A desktop copy of the CB BPAV does not.

So my best guess would be that the F3 may be the culprit. But what could it be doing that allows normal operation, EXCEPT for any drag-and-drop BPAV folder copy? I'm stumped.
 
You can copy clips to other destination media or folder tree, etc.. but I don't know if it will create new a duplicate of the BPAV folder with all the related folders & files below.. perhaps give it a shot.

Have you tried temporarily removing those instances where there were extra folders and relaunching the content browser?
 
I still think you should use ShotPut Pro to copy your cards into whatever drive, folder, etc you like.

Ned Soltz
 
SC: As far as I can tell, the "copy all" function in Content Browser creates a new, full BPAV folder with all the associated files. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "extra folders." In the copied BPAVs, there were the exact same numbers of files and folders, and CB recognized the BPAV as such. For whatever reason, it just doesn't open the clips.

Ned: very true. Not every producer arrives with a laptop equipped with either Content Browser or Shotput Pro, but the "drag and drop" copy function has been working flawlessly for nearly three years. Until last week. I may need to start bringing a suitably equipped laptop...but I'd really like to figure out what this new issue is all about.
 
Previously you had mentioned the CLPR folder had an extra folder: 3831_01 and a 3831_02 for instance. I wonder what might happen if you move out those extra folders..

What if you manually create your own structure on your hard drive with BPAV and CLPR and move one clip into it? I know from my days with the F3 I sometimes use to delete everything else as long as I kept the main folders in proper hierarchy my content browser always worked fine.

Sorry if I missed it, but had anything else changed three weeks ago since the issue started? Are you using the new "paid" version of the content browser?
 
Ahh...OK. I think the "extra folder" is simply that the camera only recording up to 3.6 gigs in a folder, then spanning over to a new connected, sub-numbered folder; because both of the interviews that went long had exactly the same sized main folder paired with an extra. But I might take a look at that and see...

I've had the now-paid version of Content Browser for a while, but I downloaded it a couple of months ago while it was still a free upgrade. This incident just happened to be the first time I did a desktop copy of a BPAV folder from the F3.
 
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