XDCAM problem with 8.0c

ScorpioProd wrote on 9/28/2008, 12:42 AM
I upgraded to 8.0c and found that the XDCAM HD support had improved as promised, but unfortunately, the XDCAM SD (DVCAM) MXF support appears to have been broken by 8.0c.

When I put a long XDCAM DVCAM MXF clip into Vegas Pro 8.0c, I can't get longer than 17 minutes 40 seconds and 8 frames of audio. After that the clip will flatline on the waveform and audibly for the actual sound and there will be random spikes on the waveform that correspond to the video itself having blocky breakups.

It's not the clip itself, that is fine, as verified with other tools. It's a problem with 8.0c.

All my clips are over 45 minutes long, so I'm not sure exactly how long is needed to trigger the problem, but I'm thinking probably anything longer than where it stops, 17 minutes 40 seconds 8 frames. This is exactly where the audio stopped and audio waveform flatlined for every clip I tried.

I uninstalled 8.0c and reinstalled 8.0b, put in the same clips, they had their full audio and waveform as they should.

I reinstalled 8.0c, nope, same problem.

So, I've downgraded to 8.0b until SCS can fix this. Most of my work is in XDCAM DVCAM MXFs, and I can't lose support for those.

I have informed SCS of this problem.

Have any of the other XDCAM users on the forum hit this yet?

Thanks.

Comments

Marco. wrote on 9/28/2008, 3:00 AM
Is this reproducable by creating/rendering any kind of media to such a DVCAM MXF file within Vegas?

Marco
richard-courtney wrote on 9/28/2008, 6:40 AM
Please keep us informed. I have yet to upgrade to version 8.
We only use the xdcam for HD projects so may not be much of an
issue for me.
erikd wrote on 9/28/2008, 10:44 AM
I have many hundreds of XDCAM MXF DVCAM 25mb files that are mostly 31 minutes in length. I am running 8c and none of the clips as far as I have seen are exhibiting the problem you described. Does the video thumbnail after 17 minutes 40 seconds turn to red on your timeline? I have a problem when I copy over MJPEG AVIs from another edit system that the files will only copy so much of the video before dropping out to a red thumbnail. But, the XDCAM DVCAM MXFs look fine here.

Erik
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 9/28/2008, 5:11 PM
Hey Scorpio,

Can I get my hands on your file? ( are you having problems with the proxy file or the swapped one? Or for that matter are you usingn the are you even using the proxy?

I realize that you probably don't really want to shoot out an umpteen GB file on some server, but unfortunately I don't have any long SD XDCam files handy.

Dave
ScorpioProd wrote on 9/28/2008, 7:56 PM
Marco, no, I didn't try rendering out to a DVCAM MXF since it wouldn't read my source files properly. But that is an interesting idea, to see if the smart rendering of it would actually restore it. If I catch up on my work and have a chance to load 8.0c again, I will try that, but I'm hoping SCS can come up with a new dll for me to try before that.

Dave, the problem shows up with any XDCAM DVCAM MXF clips that long, I had tried it with clips on my hard drive that had been there for months, new ones through the U1 drive, and new ones straight from the camera, same results with all.

And again, all those clips work correctly in 8.0b, or in the Sony XDCAM Viewer software provided by Sony.

SCS asked me the same question, about ftping a file, but it's honestly not practical for me to upload that many GB. I've got pretty fast DSL, but not for uploads, and not "that" fast.

The problem is with the full resolution file, I don't normally use the proxy file. Though I will be sure to check the proxy, if I load 8.0c again.

The majority of my work is in the performing arts, where most of my source clips aren't under an hour long. If I had been doing work with shorter clips, I wouldn't even have noticed this problem was there. Actually, even weddings I do in continuous clip mode, so the vast majority of my work is in long clips. Only my corporate work is in shorter clips, and that's all in HD.

I'm just hoping it can be fixed quickly, I count on SCS to support Sony formats better than anyone else, and they do. If only I hadn't upgraded my U1's firmware to the latest version to add writing ability, I would be set with 8.0b. Unfortunately, that firmware update broke 8.0b's ability to read the XDCAM HD brought in through the U1! Not SCS fault that a Sony firmware change broke it, but still a real pain for someone working in both SD and HD, as I do.
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 9/29/2008, 12:55 PM
I suppose that only leaves you with the camera as your drive?

I had some files that were 20 some min long, but I've since deleted them and I don't think I needed to back them up so I fear I'm not going to be a great deal of support to you on this one, but I'm sure it's going to hit sony's ears pretty loudly if the broadcasters I trained with do any kind of upgrading of their software since they all shot with 350's or 355's in SD, and sometimes they had 20+ minute clips from interviews etc...

There will be a fix that will likely be made but only time will tell if it will make it out or not. however I've heard some people say that they were given a fix by sony support to test if they reported it to SCS, so I'm guessing if they do have a fix for it, they will probably get you a patch job for the time being, but that's not something I know much about since I usually have very few problems with my software.

Dave
ScorpioProd wrote on 9/29/2008, 2:21 PM
In terms of getting XDCAM HD into Vegas 8.0b, yes, only my camera since the updated firmware U1 won't work with "b".

I'm really hoping for a patch soon. And oh yes, beyond this Vegas is rock solid for me. And like I said, it really does give excellent XDCAM support, so I would think it's important for SCS/Sony to keep that reputation with Sony high-end gear going.
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 9/29/2008, 8:37 PM
I hope you've reported the bug via the proper channels, or it may not even be to the right person to know about it.

Dave
ScorpioProd wrote on 9/29/2008, 8:48 PM
Good news, SCS has confirmed it as a bug.

They don't know how soon it will be fixed, but for any problem like this, having the bug confirmed is at least half way towards getting it fixed.

Yes, agreed, proper channels are important for bug reporting.