Formatting drive for Windows/Mac?

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Level 1

106 points

Formatting drive for Windows/Mac?

Client just sent an external hard drive on which she would like me to dump the FCP project. It has already been formatted. I can see it on my Power Mac desktop. There is a folder on the drive called 'Nero' ... and a file called Setupx.exe in the folder.

I can move single files over from my Mac drive, but when I try to move a folder I get an error message.

"The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code 0)."

I'm wondering if this is because the drive was probably formatted on a PC? So I'm contemplating reformatting the drive before I begin any transfers. I'm sure they are on PC's over there. I've made them an H.264 Quicktime so they can actually view their material (of course they don't have FCP or any plug-ins for XDCAM, the format of the film). They will be sending the drive on to their editor, who does.

I want to be able to format the drive so they can view their H.264 version on a PC, with Quicktime, and still be able to send the drive on to their editor, who will be working with a Mac.

What would you recommend as the best formatting to use?

All ears,

Ben

Posted on May 6, 2011 12:14 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

MadisonP

Level 5

4,832 points

May 6, 2011 2:11 PM in response to Ben Low

Greetings Ben,

I don't have a great answer for you as if the video you are putting on the drive is going to end up as the final copy used by the editor who is using a Mac, you do not want to save your movie files to a Windows formated drive. Copying a large very important file from 1 drive format to another and then back again is asking for trouble with your data. You can use MS-DOS which is about the only format you can use unless they have special software installed on their Windows systems to read Mac OS format or Unix/Linux/

If it were me I would format the drive Mac OS Extended, put the movies on it to send to the editor. Then burn the movies as a lower quality file (smaller) onto DVD for the client to view.

My 2 cents.

Cheers.

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Answer 2

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

May 7, 2011 7:36 AM in response to Ben Low

Format the drive as Fat32, (which is what you get if you choose MSDOS format in disk utility). This assumes that you have no individual files greater than 4GB.

Both windows and mac pc's can read/write to Fat32 with external assistance.

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Answer 3

May 7, 2011 8:08 AM in response to Csound1

FAT 32 has a 4 GB file size limit.

Many videos from Final Cut could exceed that size. It would also explain the error dialog.

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Answer 4

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,990 points

May 7, 2011 8:13 AM in response to Ben Low

Hi Ben,

As has been noted, the drive may be formatted FAT32, which may not hold files as large as you may be trying to write to it. It also may be formatted NTFS, in which case, you can't write to it at all without installing third party software. By default, OS X only reads NTFS.

What you can do to get around both issues is reformat the drive as ExFAT. Both OS X and Windows can read/write this format, and can easily handle any size file you need to write to the drive. ExFAT is supported natively in Windows 7. Users on their end on XP or Vista can download ExFAT drivers from Microsoft's site.

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Answer 5

Ben Low Author

Level 1

106 points

May 7, 2011 8:14 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

HI gang,

You were all correct. Thank you for the help, very much appreciated. I've got some very big files. I found the simplest of solutions. The client has a daughter who has a Mac. She can watch her footage on her daughter's machine. And then send the drive on to the editor.

Everything else was complicated. I think the alternate solution, for this situation, would have been to purchase:

http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/ ($49)

And then use this app to have the Windows able to read and write to the Mac drive.

Thank goodness for daughters ...

Thank you gang ...

Ben

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Answer 6

Ben Low Author

Level 1

106 points

May 7, 2011 8:22 AM in response to Kurt Lang

HI Kurt,

This sounds most interesting, and useful for future reference. I don't remember ever seeing the ExFat option in the Mac Disk Utility ... so I just went to look. There it is!!

This is most cool.

But I think I'll go with the 'daughter's Mac laptop' for this one, given the files are going on to their editor right after. And rather than cause any trouble for the editor ...

I'm wondering if one could edit with FCP using this formatting on the drive (ExFat)?

Thank you for this suggestion ... It's gone into my permanent notes.

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

57,990 points

May 7, 2011 8:32 AM in response to Ben Low

ExFAT was developed by Microsoft. I would have to imagine Apple licensed it for inclusion in Snow Leopard. You do have to be using Snow Leopard (and I imagine any version of the Mac OS going forward) to use it. Leopard or earlier won't be able to read such drives.

Yes, you should be able to use ExFAT for FCP editing. Snow Leopard can read and write this format. Haven't tested it myself, but I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

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Answer 8

Ben Low Author

Level 1

106 points

May 7, 2011 8:36 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Thank you Kurt,

Very useful. I won't forget this. The next clean drive I bring into the cutting room I'll do an experiment and see if I can edit this formatting using FCP. Just to be sure.

But it's great to know one CAN do this, theoretically at least.

Very much appreciated,

Ben

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