Re: Is "export to xdcam" the holy grail of archiving?

Hey there, I'm a Sony ICE Team member, and I do indeed archive onto XD media! I have an F70 deck, a PDW-U1, and a 1500HD. All three will allow you to "write back" and archive media shot or transcoded to the mxf format.

In fact, I have taken digiBeta material and either dubbed it to IMX 50 file format or upconverted it to HD and saved that onto discs too! I'll be honest and take it a step farther: I have indeed taken Beta, DV, DVCam, DVC Pro, and TIVO material and saved them onto XD discs by either recording straight into a deck or by first capturing the material into my NLE, editing appropriately, and saving/exporting as an .mxf file.

You cannot mix SD and HD files on the same disc.

There are some "rules" for which files can coexist on a disc:

For SD: (MPEG IMX and DVCAM):

Different video standards must be on different discs: 525 / 625 line (ie NTSC / PAL)

The different flavors must be on different discs:

30 Mbps, 8 ch - 16-bit audio
30 Mbps, 4 ch - 24-bit audio

40 Mbps, 8 ch - 16-bit audio
40 Mbps, 4 ch - 24-bit audio

50 Mbps, 8 ch - 16-bit audio
50 Mbps, 4 ch - 24-bit audio

DVCAM, 4 ch - 16 bit audio


For HD:

XDCAM HD 4:2:0

a. 59.94i, 30p - 18/25/35 Mbps
b. 50i, 25p - 18/25/35 Mbps
c. 23.98p - 18/25/35 Mbps
d. DVCAM - 525 line
e. DVCAM - 625 line

Currently I edit my files in Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, export my timeline out as an mxf file and copy to a new disc, by placing my mxf file into the clip folder of the disc in which I'd like to master material. I also copy my project files, graphics, music, fonts etc., and paste them into the "GENERAL" folder on my XD Cam Media for BOTH my original source/raw material disc and my edited master disc (currently this is limited to 500Mb, but will soon open up to the entire disc size of 23Gb or 50GB!). This way if I need to re-build or change something in my edited program I have the info necessary to perform that action on BOTH my archived master and my archived raw footage XD Cam HD discs.

If you were referring to "archive" as a means of storing data other than that originating as an mxf file or being transcoded to an mxf file, as mentioned in the other posting, then that gentleman is correct, we're "almost there..." and when it happens it will first happen for the PC.

A person in Sony's POSC recently sent me the following email: "GENERAL folder storage update is on the way but will first be released for the pdhd1500, then the U1, then possibly the F75 and other phase 2 machines. ETA is sketchy but it should happen within the next few months." (note: other phase two machines are F70/F30)

I hope this helps in clearing up your questions and concerns, if not feel free to contact me directly.

Curt Pair
Picture This Productions
Sony ICE Team
F900/F350/700/EX1/EX3/D790/D600
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 HD/Matrox
Phoenix, AZ