Using the Sony HVR-MRC1K Compact Flash memory recorder
Contents
1. additional software However this format has a maximum file size of 4GB which corresponds to approx 16 minutes of recording When the recording time is greater than this the memory recorder will automatically start a new file when the 4GB size is reached The files can then be seamlessly merged back together on a computer c Copying and backing up content It should be remembered that when using the memory recorder it is also possible to create an instant back up on the tape Many users find the idea of having a tape as back up and long term archive as their preferred solution For backing up the files there are varying tools that can help with copying and backing up content although these are not covered here When looking to remove or copy the content from the compact flash then it is important to copy all the files from the card It is recommended that the VIDEO folder is copied into a folder on the destination drive This will ensure that all the files including the index information are transferred and not just the video and audio These additional files may enable better integration with the editing system Issue 1 Page 6 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID d Timecode on compact flash Timecode is usually used to indicate a place on a linear medium such as tape As such it is worth reconsidering how timecode is used when recording onto compact flash If the content is also being recorded onto tape it2. bin Avid Media Composer can perform a quick import for HDV content and will extract the audio for editing More information on integrating with editing systems and links to the software downloads are available for download from our website Other information Further information on these products can be found on the Sony products in the HDV section at www sonybiz net hdv or from the HVR MRCI1 page Issue 1 Page 7 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID FAQs Some of the more frequently asked questions are included below For further questions about the HVR MRC1 memory recorder and HDV cameras you should contact your dealer For details of the accredited Sony Specialist Dealers please go to the Sony website Q What s the minimum specification of compact flash card that can be used A The minimum specifications are 2GB or greater and 133x speed or faster Q How long recording time will I get on a compact flash Does this change between HDV and DV DVCAM A The recording time on compact flash does not differ between HDV and DV DVCAM Recording times are SGB 36mins 16GB 72mins 32GB 144mins Moving to compact flash recording is a great way of getting longer recording times out of the small cameras Q Is there an advantage to using higher specification cards A As long as the CF card is a minimum of 133x speed then it won t make a difference to how the system behaves during recording However usi
3. is usually best to record the same timecode to the compact flash as is being recorded to tape This will help with the locating of content on the tapes at a later date Note The timecode recorded to tape and compact flash will match to within a few frames but will not be an exact match If just recording to compact flash then it is worth considering recording time of day timecode The main reason for this is that the filenames will then all contain the time and date that the clip was recorded This gives an easy way of identifying which clips are required and in multi camera shoots aligning the shots taken by multiple cameras on a NLE timeline Working with an NLE It is generally recommended that you run the latest version of the editing system that you have chosen The latest version will include all the updates available for bug fixes and support for newer products Many older versions of editing systems may not work or may not work as well with the content from the compact flash cards If you are running Apple Final Cut Pro then first you should install the Sony plug in which is available from the Sony website Once this is installed it will be possible to bring in the content off the compact flash using the Log and Transfer tool If you are working with Sony Vegas or Thomson Edius then it is possible to bring content in directly onto the timeline When using Avid Media Composer the content be imported into the media
4. HYBRID Using the Sony HVR MRC1 Compact Flash memory recorder This guide is designed for users and potential users of the HVR MRC1 with HDV cameras A lot of this information will also be useful to HVR DR60 users although that is not covered in detail here Likewise some information relating to using the memory recorder with DVCAM cameras is included but these are not fully discussed here This document is not designed to replace the product manuals as only the key features and settings are covered so it is also likely to be useful to have the user manuals for the HVR MRCI1 and the relevant camera to hand The level of integration between the memory recorder and the camera will largely depend on when the camera was introduced Older cameras were designed without knowledge of the memory recorder Newer cameras integrate more tightly and will include more features directly relevant to the memory recorder such as a dedicated status display screen Connecting the HVR MRC1 to the camera The HVR Z5E HVR Z7E and HVR S270E all feature direct connections for the memory recorder The memory recorder can be clipped directly to these cameras with no need for cables or batteries The memory recorder will use an internal 1 LINK connection to the camera so while the memory recorder is connected the main i LINK connection cannot be used Figure 1 Images of HVR MRCI1 on back of the HVR Z7E left and on the side of the HVR S270E right For a
5. cated control signals to the memory recorder and tell the memory recorder when to start and stop recording For use with these cameras SYNCHRO should be selected For older cameras the memory recorder needs to follow the action of the tape drive For these cameras FOLLOW should be selected Note When FOLLOW is being used a tape must be placed in the tape drive with enough time remaining to capture the clip SYNCHRO Follows controls from newer cameras Typically use with DSR 450 DSR 570 HVR V1IE HVR Z5E HVR Z7E and HVR S270E FOLLOW Follows the tape drive in the camera Use with older cameras such as DSR PD150 DSR PD170 DSR 250 HVR A1E and HVR Z1E Note Some of the older cameras can work with this setting set to SYNCHRO but will still require a tape to be in the camera so for reasons of simplicity the settings above are recommended The CAM LINK SEL setting is found in the menu of the HVR MRC1 Follow SETTINGS gt CAM LINK SEL to find these options Use the buttons indicated by 1 in Figure 4 to navigate the menus on the unit MEMORY RECORDING UNIT CAM LINK MENU REPEAT EXxEC y bed gt iP a STOP POWER OFF a a ON PROGRESSIVE FOR HDV7 DVCAM 7 DV Figure 4 Front view of the HVR MRC1 memory recorder Issue 1 Page 3 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID b Follow the record trigger button on the camera The next thing that needs to be decided is whether you would li
6. in the camera a short discontinuity occurs on the iLink output while the camera resets the video encoding structure for the tape The effect of this is that the memory recorder will start a new clip and about half a second of the content will not be recorded onto the compact flash This restarting does not occur when using DV DVCAM so a single seamless clip will be captured c Settings in the camera In order to get the greatest flexibility from the memory recorder it is also necessary to configure some settings in the camera For HDV cameras then the main setting to consider is the EXT REC CTRL This control is only found in the newer cameras and is in the menu under IN OUT REC gt EXT REC CTRL This setting will only have any effect if CAM LINK is ENABLED The options for this setting are below although not all options will be available in every camera OFF This setting will configure the camera not send control signals to the memory recorder The recorder will not follow the record trigger control and the camera will behave as a tape based camera Issue 1 Page 4 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID SYNCHRONOUS This will enable recording to both tape and compact flash The camera will still start recording if one media type is missing RELAY Will record only to tape until there is less than 5 minutes remaining on the tape At this point it will start recording to compact flash as well and the compact fla
7. ke the memory recorder to start and stop recording by following the record trigger button on the camera The alternative is for the recorder to operate independently from the camera The setting that relates to this is called CAM LINK and this is controlled by a button on the memory recorder see number 2 on Figure 4 When CAM LINK is ENABLED the memory recorder will look to take control from or follow the operation of the camera Exactly how it behaves will depend on which model of camera is being used and on the CAM LINK SEL setting When CAM LINK is enabled an offset arrow symbol will be displayed on the LCD see number 3 on Figure 4 Don t forget that if you are using an older camera you may need to have a tape in the camera to allow the memory recorder to operate with the record trigger button on the camera When CAM LINK is DISABLED the symbol will not be displayed and the recorder will operate independently from the camera In this mode the record and stop buttons on the memory should be used to trigger recording to the compact flash card CAM LINK ENABLED Memory recorder follows tape and or camera control CAM LINK DISABLED Memory recorder operates independently Use controls on back of the memory recorder Of course whether CAM LINK is enabled or not may change on a use by use basis but it is important to understand this function before looking at the next setting Note When using HDV each time the tape starts recording
8. ll other cameras the memory recorder needs to be connected to the included i LINK cradle and an L series battery same as HVR ZIE battery or DC power Issue 1 Page 1 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID supply connected to the cradle Figure 2 shows a rear view of the HVR MRCI1 with the 1 LINK cradle and a battery connected Figure 2 HVR MRCI1 with i LINK cradle and battery The combined recorder can then be mounted onto the camera using an optional mounting bracket or the supplied shoe adaptor Figure 3 Images of HVR MRC1 mounted on a HVR VIE using the supplied shoe adaptor left and the optional VCT 1BP mounting plate right Configuring the HVR MRC1 and the camera In this section we will look at the settings of the following controls CAM LINK This setting is on the memory recorder CAM LINK SEL This setting is in the menus of the memory recorder and only makes a difference when CAM LINK is enabled EXT REC CTRL This control is in the menu of newer HDV cameras and will only make a difference when CAM LINK is enabled and CAM LINK SEL is set to SYNCHRO Only supplied with the HVR MRC1 Not supplied as part of the HVR Z7E or HVR S270E Issue 1 Page 2 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID a Selecting the appropriate CAM LINK SEL setting for your camera In most situations the selection of this setting will depend on which camera is being used Newer cameras can send dedi
9. ng faster cards does enable faster file copying or ingest to the NLE assuming all the other parts of the system inter connection hard disc NLE software etc can handle the increased transfer rate Q Do I need to have a tape in the camera A If you are using the record control buttons on the memory recorder itself then it 1s not necessary to have a tape in the camera If you are looking to use the record trigger button on the camera then this will depend on the type of camera as described in 0 Q Does the memory recorder support cache pre recording A Yes The memory recorder can support 14 seconds cache recording This is configurable in the REC MODE setting on the memory recorder However if you are using HDV and are recording to tape as well there will be a break in the files at the point the tape starts recording This break will not occur if you are recording DV DVCAM or are recording only to the HVR MRC1 See the note on Page 4 for more details Issue 1 Page 8 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009
10. rding an SD signal it is possible to choose in the menu of the memory recorder SETTING gt DV FILETYPE whether to record dv files or avi files Generally avi files will work better on windows based systems and dv will work better on mac based systems although many NLEs and playback software will support both filetypes Issue 1 Page 5 Sony United Kingdom Ltd March 2009 HYBRID b File structure The camera will create a folder named VIDEO in the root directory of the compact flash card It will also create an HVR folder within the VIDEO folder and it is in this folder that the video content will be stored The file names will match the following convention XX _CCCC_YYYY MM DD_hhmmss ext where XX Camera number configurable in the memory recorder CCCC Clip number will increment by one for each new clip YYYY Year taken from timecode MM Month taken from timecode DD Day taken from timecode hh Hour taken from timecode mm Day taken from timecode SS Day taken from timecode ext File type m2t dv avi There are also other files stored on the compact flash eg 1dx files that contain further information about the content However all the audio and video is recorded within the m2t dv avi file Note The compact flash cards are formatted following the FAT32 specification This format can be read written on both Windows and Mac based platforms without the need to install
11. sh recording will continue after the tape runs out EXT ONLY The camera will disable recording to tape Recording will only occur onto compact flash Down converting prior to record to compact flash As the memory recorder uses the 1 LINK connection from the camera then by default it will record at the same resolution as the camera However if the camera 1s set to record to HDV then the 1 LINK down conversion settings can be used to configure the 1 LINK output to SD This will enable the recording of HD onto tape while recording SD onto compact flash Itis not possible to record SD onto tape while recording HD onto compact flash Status information The newer cameras can also display status information relating to the attached memory recorder The exact status information supported will depend on the camera Typically this will consist of some brief information in the main on screen display and an additional page in the status menu 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EAT DEVICE 2 2 REC FORMAT HDV1080i STATUS ALY 08D EXT CF HD our GLIP 0001 CAM LINK OFF LEIRE MA IN 36min CHA MIN CH III Figure 5 Screen shots from HVR Z7E showing main screen on screen display left and the additional page in the status menu right File structure and Timecode a File types The memory recorder can record 3 different file types m2t dv and avi m2t files will be created whenever an HDV signal is being recorded When reco
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