XDCAM export - takes too long?

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Level 2

294 points

XDCAM export - takes too long?

Hi all. MacPro 5,1 dual 2.66 6-core, 16 gig RAM, OS 10.6.8.

Working doing a weekly half-hour show for a major Chicago media heavyweight. We shoot in XDCAM EX, edit on an XDCAM HD timeline, and export a final QT movie as our deliverable. Final finished "master" is 22:10:00...and characteristically this takes around 45 minutes to output, after rendering and mixdown.

Is this considered normal? Acceptable? I've been doing this for a couple of years now, and it seems to be taking longer and longer...I don't recall our 25th show taking this long to export, but our 75th...sheesh, this is painful.

Anyone got any tips on how to speed things up? And as a corollary question, why when I "Export" do all my previously rendered segments turn red again?

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 2:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Michael Grenadier

Level 7

20,374 points

Jun 12, 2012 3:14 PM in response to Mike Janowski

try changing your render settings to prores in sequence settings: render control.

And as per your other question, don't have a clue, but somethings wrong.

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Answer 2

Mike Janowski Author

Level 2

294 points

Jun 12, 2012 3:16 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Uh...confused. Do I not need to render in the codec I'm actually going to be outputting with?

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Answer 3

Jun 12, 2012 3:17 PM in response to Mike Janowski

try it. see what happens. It definitely speeds things up while your working. Not sure if it makes a difference on export.

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Answer 4

Jim Cookman

Level 7

23,435 points

Jun 12, 2012 3:19 PM in response to Mike Janowski

xdcam ex is a long gop format. All you've got to do is look at it funny and you've got to conform it. Yeah it looks great and you can work with it in the timeline, but renders always take forever. You could just plain ingest it as prorez and be done with it. Bigger file sizes though.

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Answer 5

Mike Janowski Author

Level 2

294 points

Jun 12, 2012 3:27 PM in response to Jim Cookman

Sorry, no can do. Suggested that a long time ago, technical brass say no way. And I don't ingest, I just edit. So I'm stuck with XDCAM. And stuck with long renders...which I realized from the get-go back in 2010. However, it seems to me that things are taking even longer than they used to (we have always posted and output the show this way.)

And besides, if they shoot in EX, then we transcode to ProRes, edit, output and then transcode again to XDCAM HD...that sounds like it could be a bit time-consuming...

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Answer 6

Jun 13, 2012 2:58 AM in response to Mike Janowski

Hi Mike,

Are you exporting Quick time movie , not quicktime conversion? If you're getting a red render line when you export it sounds like you have a mismatch somewhere and that could be the reason the export is taking so long. Also, do you have plenty of space on your drives?

DM

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Answer 7

Mike Janowski Author

Level 2

294 points

Jun 13, 2012 6:07 AM in response to David Mclaine

Always, splat-E. No conversion. No mismatch. XDCAM EX shooting, XDCAM HD timeline. Been this way since we started this show in Feb 2010. And yes, always plenty of space on drive.

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Answer 8

Jun 13, 2012 6:42 AM in response to Mike Janowski

Here are a bunch of troubleshooting tips

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2591

Try them all. In particular, I'd try disconnecting from the network (both airport and ethernet) and creating a new user for the workstation.

Also, have you tried running a speed test on your scratch disk? Could be a problem there.

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Answer 9

Jun 13, 2012 7:16 AM in response to Mike Janowski

You didn't mention what codec you are exporting as your final product. QT covers a lot of ground.

Your show is re-rendering (the return of the red lines) because your final output is not the same as your timeline.

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Answer 10

Jun 13, 2012 7:19 AM in response to Paul Cuciti

If I'm reading it correctly, the OP says the material is rendered before export and then goes unrendered after export. This is not normal fcp behavior.

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Answer 11

Mike Janowski Author

Level 2

294 points

Jun 13, 2012 7:36 AM in response to Paul Cuciti

re: Paul. Not true, or shouldn't be. XDCAM HD timeline, XDCAM HD output.

re: Michael. Well, close. I mixdown the edited timeline, then place that into another sequence where I apply a Broadcast Safe filter and hit it with a bit of audio compression. I render that, ridding myself of the dreaded "red lines". However, when I splat-E, I get red lines all over again while I'm exporting. When the export is done, the red lines disappear. Now as an aside, I do experience actual "missing" render files, but that occurs when I quit a project and then re-open it later...they sometimes don't seem to re-link. As I mentioned in this post, I have a feeling that's because this system is set up in the worst way possible (a single RAID5 which acts as system drive and media storage).

Don't blame me, I'm just trying to work within the confines of what I'm given. My major concern here is that it seems to be getting worse.

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Answer 12

Jun 13, 2012 7:42 AM in response to Mike Janowski

I wouldn't worry about the red lines while you're exporting. Probably just a function of the xdcam workflow. If you want, I'll run a test here with some xdcam footage and see if I see the same behavior.

I suggested in your other thread that you do a diskspeed test on the raid. If things are getting worse, that's the likeliest culprit. Also, since you're working in a corporate environment with IT controlling many factors, I'd try disconnecting from the network and creating a new user to see if either impacts this problem. Is there any antivirus software installed on the system. That can also cause serious problems.

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Answer 13

Mike Janowski Author

Level 2

294 points

Jun 13, 2012 8:06 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

Thank you, Michael. I'll try this and report back. Appreciate the test, if you have the time.

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Answer 14

Jun 13, 2012 8:24 AM in response to Mike Janowski

did a quick test and don't see the red line appear in the timeline while exporting, but I have a memory of seeing this just can't remember the circumstances. anyone?

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Answer 15

Jun 13, 2012 8:45 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

Just a minute,

You say you filmed in XDCAM EX and then edit in an XDCAM HD timeline. Why aren't you using am XDCAM EX timeline? I shoot EX and use an EX timeline, no rendering required because it matches. I just dropped an EX clip into a XDCAM HD timeline and got the red render bar. Is this what you are doing?

DM

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