How to Setup the Sony SR-PC4 for eSATA Transfer and How to Transfer Files
This information is accurate as of January 26, 2012.
Download this tutorial as a PDF.
Some setup needs to be performed on the SR-PC4 before taking the steps below. Please review our "Primer on Setting Up the Sony SR-PC4 and Choosing a Connection/Transfer Protocol" to make sure your device is ready for further setup.
eSATA File Transfer Setup (for Mac only)
The eSATA workflow functions by connecting an external eSATA drive directly to an eSATA card installed inside the SR-PC4 (not included). The user will use a computer to connect to the SR-PC4 via the NETWORK connection in order to use the interface, but the file transfer only takes place between the SR-PC4 and the attached eSATA drive.
The eSATA card currently recommended by Sony in the installation manual is the HighPoint RocketRAID 2314. For more details, see the “PCI-E Cards” section in our “Primer on Setting up the Sony SR-PC4”.
Prepping the SR-PC4 for eSATA
1) Turn off the SR-PC4 and unplug it from the power source.
2) Remove the chassis as described in the installation manual.
3) Install the eSATA card in to space provided.
4) Reattach the chassis (it assists airflow and will help keep the unit cool and clean).
Prepping the Target Drive (with a Mac only)
1) Connect the target drive to your computer.
2) Format it as HFS+ (non-journaled). Also referred to as Mac OS Extended. (Other partitioning methods are supported but are 1/2 to 1/4 as fast.)
3) Once the target drive is formatted, keep it attached to the Mac.
4) Change the name of the drive by right-clicking or Control-clicking on the drive in the Finder window and selecting “Get Info”.
5) Select the “Name and Extension” panel and change the name of the drive to something that makes sense for your production and does not include spaces.
Transferring Files
1) Power off the eSATA drive and the SR-PC4. Then, connect them to each other using the eSATA cable. Also, connect your Mac/PC via Ethernet to the SR-PC4. (You can leave your Mac/PC on during this process.)
2) Power on the eSATA drive and the SR-PC4.
3) Log in to the SR-PC4 by opening the web browser and typing ‘192.168.0.1’ into the address line.
4) Click on the “Disk Setup” tab. (There are 4 options for connecting drives here. NSFv3, NSFv2, CIFS and DEV. DEV (device-to-device connection) is used for eSATA. The other selection refer to network/server connections which is covered in the Ethernet section of this manual.)
5) For eSATA, click “DEV”. You should see the properly setup external drive that is connected to the SR-PC4.
6) Select the external drive from the drop-down menu and click “Mount”. (You will see a directory browser open and you can navigate to pre-existing folders or make a new directory.)
7) Make a new directory by using the interface labeled “MKDIR”, or select an pre-existing directory. Note: you have to type in a name first before clicking the “MKDIR” button.
8) Once the target directory is selected, click over to the “Import” tab.
9) Insert your SRMemory card into the SR-PC4 if you already haven't. A list of files will appear.
10) To select all files, Shift-Click on the first file in the list.
11) Below that, you will see a queue of files open, and below that is the transfer window. Now click 'START' and watch the progress meter transfer your files.
12) Once the process is completed you will receive a notification on the browser window of successful completion.
Writing Error·
If a writing error is displayed after you hit “Start”, it may be due to a lack of permissions on the target drive.· Please try the following sequence of commands.
This will require typing in some terminal commands, which require exact capitalization and spelling. In Terminal you can issue powerful commands but your only interface is text. Also, you will receive no confirmation from the computer for successfully entering a command, only an error if you entered a command improperly. You can copy the commands directly from this document to make sure they are accurate. Copy what is inside the “ “ quotation marks, but not the quotation marks.
1) Open the program Terminal (“Applications” -> “Utilities”).
2) Once the program is open you will be presented with a text prompt. Type in “ls /Volumes” and press <Enter>. This will show you the names of the drives mounted. (E.g. If you have a G-Raid attached it will show “Macintosh HD, G-Raid”. This is your boot drive and the G-Raid.)
3) Type in ‘'chmod 777 /Volumes/G-Raid”. This will change the permissions on the drive to allow full access. If it displays another text prompt, you were successful and can quit Terminal. If you receive an error message, check your spelling and capitalization and try again.
The Real Workflow Begins
Once successfully copied, these F65RAW files can be viewed in F65RAW Player. F65RAW Player can also output stills in DPX and OpenEXR format.
To manipulate, color and transcode the F65RAW footage, import them into a Baselight, Colorfront or YoDailies system to create dailies, color correct, and/or watch playback.· Blackmagic Resolve support should be available soon, as will other post production programs.
F65RAW Player
At the date of the publication of this manual, HD-SDI playback of F65RAW is not supported.· This will be enabled with the upcoming release of SR-PC4 firmware v1.1.
If requested, F65RAW Player will be provided to Band Pro customers. It is currently a beta version but will allow software playback of files and adjustment of metadata. Also, it allows F65RAW files to be output as DPX or OpenEXR stills. F65RAW Player is only compatible with Mac computers running Lion OS. Contact Randy Wedick for more information.
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This manual will be updated regularly in the coming weeks and more topics will be added as well. To stay updated please contact Randy Wedick.
Randy Wedick
Technical Consultant
Band Pro Film & Digital, Inc.
818.841.9655 x 119
randy.wedick@bandpro.com