Importing MXF from cameracard backup.

Hi,

With our Sony F5 I first make copies of the SxS Cards (most of the times on set, at the end of the day)
Before I start editing I copy these backups from my mobile drive to my editing RAID.
When I want to import the media I would like to leave the files in place. However in the import window the option to leave in place is greyed out. I can only copy to Library, probably because FCPX sees the card structure on my RAID.
If I want to leave the files in place I go to the finder and find the Clip folder inside the SxS card backup.
Then I sort on file type and select all the MXF files in one sweep and drag them in my event.
Although a usable workflow, I wonder if this should be the way to go.
I can remember from a few versions ago that there has been a moment that I saw all the MXF files in my import window and I could click import without the rewrap to .mov files.
I have already removed the XDCAMFormat.RADPlug folder from my ProApps folder, but no luck there.
I am running FCPX 10.2 on OSX 10.10.3

I hope someone can shed some light on this.

Robbert-Jan

Hi Robbert-Jan,
I may not be understanding you correctly, but it sounds like you are doing a "Camera Archive" when you first copy the cards. This preserves the camera cards file structure and is my own workflow. Later it seems that you then transfer this file to your RAID.
FCPX would see an archive the same as a camera card inserted into the computer and will not allow you to leave in place. This also preserves your original files as backups. Camera Archives are not the same as imported media.
You should be able to use the "Import Media" arrow icon and then navigate to the RAID folder and "Import (All or Selected)" from there.
Am I missing something?

Hope this helps, Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your reply.
I think my description is not clear enough. I will try to elaborate.

To play it safe with all this file based media I make 2 copies of each card in the Finder by Opt-dragging the SxS Card icon to a mobile HDD into a folder with the following name structure: yyyymmdd_clientname_programname. This creates an "Unnamed" folder that is an exact copy of the SxS card with the original file structure of the card, inside the client folder.
I rename this "Unnamed" folder to "Card_01", the next card to "Card_02" etc.
After all the copying to 1 HDD is done, I make a safety backup of this HDD to a second HDD.
Before formatting my SxS cards I do a quick check either in Sony Catalyst Browse or in Sony Content Browser to see if all my files are there and do a random playback check.
At the end of the day I have two HDD's containing all my cards from that day.
When I start to ingest, I copy the contents of one of the HDD's to my RAID in Finder.
When copying is done and verified, I can delete those files from the mobile HDD because I still have another copy on the second HDD.
In fact I have now Camera Archives for each card sitting on my RAID, the only difference is that they were not created in FCPX but by copying the cards.
When I start editing I have a new Library and a new Event and I start importing my media.
Preferably I work with external media, to keep my Libraries lean.
I open the import window and navigate to my media. FCPX sees this as a Camera Archive so it won't let me choose "Leave in Place". Copy to Library is preselected and if I import this way, the files will be copied and rewrapped to a .mov. Because of this rewrapping and change of the extension I will end up with yet another copy of my files.
To prevent this I can go to the Finder and navigate to the folder with my card copies, select the Clip folder inside each card and drag this Clip folder straight into my event. FCPX will ignore everything that it doesn't recognize, like the clip .XML and .BIM files.
This will leave all the media in its original location and I can edit straight away.
I am curious if this is a valid workflow.
I was hoping that since FCPX is editing MXF natively it would also be smart enough to see wether a clip is living inside a card copy on a RAID (or any other HDD for that matter) and allow "Leave in Place" or when it is living on an actual SxS camera card and force a "Copy to Library".

Robbert-Jan

Hi Robbert-Jan
As long as the files are " Camera Archives", FCPX treats it the same as directly connecting the camera or inserting the cards in a reader slot. It will not use it for media because it assumes this file will be erased and camera will reshoot over.

Might I make a couple of suggestions? Why not make a "Camera Archive" directly inside FCPX to your external back-up and then do a direct FCPX "import media" into your RAID for the media files? I wouldn't even use Finder per se. I think this will allow FCPX to find the Archive for importing media. You can save the "Camera Archive" anywhere you want and name it prior to creating the Archive. Likewise, you can decide where the import media files go. The additional benefit, is that you can check the files as it is being imported. FCPX will allow you to skim/edit as it imports, saves time and steps. Moving files/clips from the Finder can cause problems.

There is little if any safety in both an "Archive" and imported/transcoded media files on the same RAID. This just creates additional files, but if the RAID fails, bye-bye files. The only thing you gain is if the transcoded media gets corrupted, you can re-import off the RAID instead of the other external back-up drive.
Personally, I would opt for an additional redundant back-up drive and rotate back-ups.

Hope this helps, Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your explanation and suggestions. I will reconsider my workflow. The reason I am working the way I do is because in some cases someone else is doing the backup with a laptop that hasn't FCPX installed.

Cheers,
Robbert-Jan

Is it possible to create camera archive from footage that has been already download to the drive?

Hi Guru
Not entirely sure about your question??
If you are using the Finder to "Copy" the camera card to a drive, this is in essence a Camera Archive. This will preserve the file structure and formatting of the data on the camera card. Each manufacture has their own method for recording data to the card. Opening up the files will often show various file folders like DCIM, PRIVATE, etc…. What the folders are and what data is put in and what format is specific to the camera manufacture.
When you "Import Media" into FCPX, FCPX strips out the camera card structure, converts if necessary any formats into Apple based files and structures and assigns associated id's for use inside the NLE and storage system. This is very different than a "Camera Archive". Apple is dependent on the manufacture to provide the necessary code for this translation ability and comes to the end user in the "Pro User Updates" we get occasionally. They always include the latest drivers for the newest cameras.
So, AFAIK, if you have already "Imported" the media I don't think you can recreate a "Camera Archive" from that data as the card structure is stripped. You can however, create an "Archive" of the converted files for saving. The stripping of the camera structure and the conversion process is why I like to first make a "Camera Archive" either via Finder or from inside FCPX, just in case something gets corrupted while "Importing", I can always go back to the copy of the original card. Yes it means I have lots of extra data / duplicate files, but I consider this a safety feature and part of my paranoia of lost footage. I keep at least 2 and more likely 3 separate copies on separate storage devices.

Hope this helps, Greg