Since I gave Users an idea of what to expect with their P2 workflow in an Avid, I thought I’d do the same for XDCam.

These screen shots are the menus that were added to streamline the process in Media Composer 2.7, XpressPro 5.7 & Symphony Nitris 1.7.

XDCam basics

XDCam automatically records both a high resolution image in MPEG-2 and low resolution proxy image in MPEG-4 with a bit rate of approximately 2 Mb/s.
 

If media is transferred to a disk the low resolution proxy is also created.

The media can then easily be transferred to your Avid system through an IEEE 1394/Firewire connection at faster than real time speeds.

XDCam Disk File Structure

- Clip folder contains the high resolution media files and Metadata

- Sub folder contains low resolution proxy files

- Edit folder contains EDL’s, General folder has User files  (neither of these are used by  the Avid system.)

- The Index file is an index of all the files on the disk

- DiskMeta is the disk label information.

- XDCam disk is seen as if it were local storage when it is connected via firewire.

- Media recorded is an MXF files, but are OP-1A, in which

  audio and video data is interleaved. (not the same as Avid MXF)

- These files are “de-interleaved” to separate video and audio

   files as part of the import process.

Import Speed vs. Playback Performance

There is a new tab in the Import Settings dialog box that deals exclusively with XDCam. The speed of the proxy import depends upon the Avid editing application Import settings.

For instance, the proxy audio is sampled at 8kHz. If you chose to have a sample rate conversion done on import, the system will have another process to complete on the import. However, this means the system will not have to do a conversion for the project audio rate “on the fly” during playback and thus effect playback performance.

WorkFlow Option #1

Import all Proxy media > Edit > Conform to High Res

1) Mount the XDCam Disk

2) Select File>Import XDCam Proxy

    All Proxy media from the disk will be imported to the bin.

3) The Avid System will ask you to name the disk the   

     same way you would normally be asked to name a tape.

4) Edit your Proxy media

5) Once you’ve finished editing highlight the sequence in the bin and

    Batch Import the High Res media that corresponds to the proxy

    media you’ve used in your sequence.

6) Select to Batch Import "All clips" and not the default "Offline only"

7) As with any Batch Import, the system will show you the location of the media to be imported.

Handle length for the High Res import are set in the XDCam tab of the Import Settings.

WorkFlow Option #2

Selectively import Proxy media > Edit > Conform to High Res

1) Import just the Proxy media needed, instead of all Proxy media.

File>Import>Ctrl Select Proxy media to import from Sub folder on XDCam disk.

You may also Drag & Drop Proxy clips from the Sub folder on the disk into the bin.

2) Edit

3) Conform to High Res media by Batch importing as found in WorkFlow Option#1

WorkFlow Option #3

On-Line all the Time – Only working with High Res media

1) Import only High Res material necessary to complete you edit.

File>Import>Ctrl Select High Res media to import from Clip folder on XDCam disk.

You may also Drag & Drop Proxy clips from the Sub folder on the

 disk into the bin.

 Hi,

this is cool but I have a few questions. During Batch Import Avid normally imports the same footage that was used before, thus it points to the proxy files (as shown in your screenshot). Do you have to set the location one by one to the hi-res media? Or (just by selecting HD resolution) avid knows that you don't want the proxy again?

Is there a reason to use dvcpro HD resolution for importing xdcam HD, or is it just a choice of your taste?

I would mention to pay attention to the number of audio tracks when importing. Xdcam can have 8 tracks and it's the default setting in avid but a "normal" footage usually contains only 1-2 useful tracks of audio, and its annoying to always turn off the unwanted channels during editing.

 Hi. Does it work the same way when the disk is connected to the computer from a camera instead of a desktop player ?

Thanks.

Yves

 do you have any tips for Avid Liquid Chrome Xe version 7 users?

xeri:

Do you have to set the location one by one to the hi-res media? Or (just by selecting HD resolution) avid knows that you don't want the proxy again?

You would go into the XDCAM options tab in the import tool and choose "batch import hi res only" and de-select "force import of both proxy and hi res files". That's all there is to it.

yvesmagat:

Hi. Does it work the same way when the disk is connected to the computer from a camera instead of a desktop player ?

Thanks.

Yves

 Yes, it works the same way so long as your computer recognizes and mounts the camera as a drive, and so long as you have the XDCAM drivers installed.

Hey Larry,

We have been using workflow 3 for a year, but we can't batch digitize from another computer than the original import was made from. Everybody I talk to have the same problem, and I haven't been able to find a lasting solution. Is it a known issue? Is there a work around?

bs

Joao

 I wasn't aware that moving a project from platform A to platform B would cause XDCAM batch importing to fail on platform B. If I have time, I'll try to replicate this problem. Anybody else seeing this?

Larry Rubin:

Anybody else seeing this?

I havent checked in awhile but is this possible on the Mac side?
Last I remember the Import option didnt work at all.

Has anyone tried this in 3.0.5? Avid was made aware of this design flaw and was supposed to correct it. I was wondering if it's happened yet. 

Due to time constraints I recently edited a piece by importing the Hi-Res files rather than using the proxy files.

I imported the MXF file using the usual import function..however I could not create motion effects

or freeze frames. 

Any Ideas?

Bob Tonge

Tongo Productions, Inc.

Hi, We had been using workflow #1 and struck the following problem: When we came to conform, the system throws up an error message stating "timecode out of range" on some clips and on others, the audio was way off synch. To get the series out, we eventually resorted to a full res, real-time import via SDI and are continuing to do that for all XDCAM originated shows. As I would really like to make use of the time savings with the proxy import, I really need to get the problem resolved. Any ideas? System: HP XW8400 & XW8600 workstations with MC 3.0 Thanks, Stu.

Have you taken a look at the document on the XDCAM landing page: http://www.avid.com/xdcam/