Oct
Taking advantage of the fact that Blackmagic has added exFAT support to its Hyperdeck recorders, we are going to explain what this disk format is all about, which although it is not so new, it may still be unknown.
Basically it is a disk formatting system, especially for flash memories, introduced by Windows in 2006. Among its features is the fact that it is cross-platform, it can be used on both Mac OS and Windows.
What does this mean? Well, if we format a disk in exFAT we can read and write to it from both Mac and PC… well, as before, right? Yes and no, let’s take a look at the possible options to do this operation before the exFAT system.
The first and classic one is to use FAT32 format, the default format for pendrives, “domestic” disks that advertise compatibility with Mac and PC, Panasonic P2 cards, Sony SxS cards, Compact Flash cards, etc. With no need to do anything both Mac and PC are able to read and write on these disks (practically all versions of both operating systems for a few years now). The maximum file size on these disks will be 4GB. This means that if we have a QT video (or any other file) that weighs more than 4GB it will simply not be copied. On Mac it announces that there is not enough space (although there is) and on PC it comes out an error with a little number that I can’t remember right now. Both situations are puzzling and unclear if you don’t know what is going on.
Does that mean that if I am recording with a Panasonic P2 with the DVCPRO HD codec at 100Mb/s (approx. 1GB per minute) the longest shot I will be able to make will be 4 minutes? No, the camera structure plays with metadata and averaging. If I record a shot of, for example, 8 minutes the camera viewer or the computer will show me only one clip without cuts, however when I press play the program will be calling two different media files, each of 4GB. The impossibility to do this is the reason why in the Canon DSLR 7D (as in others) the maximum shot lasts about 11 minutes. This kind of difference between media and metadata is also used by Avid since the 80’s when OMF media files could only be up to 2GB. But of course, if we simply want to copy a large file (larger than 4GB) we cannot do this operation and the only option with FAT32 would be to split it.
Are there more options for compatibilities? Yes, but you have to go through the cash register. If our disk is formatted in HFS or HFS+ (the usual Mac OS systems) to be able to read and write on them from a Windows PC we will have to install MacDrive, a practical and well-known tool that will do the job from $50. But keep in mind that you can download a free two-week trial, so if you are in a hurry you can save the situation (it has helped me many times).
What about the opposite? Read and write Windows NTFS disks on Mac OS? Well, the first thing to say is that since several versions of Mac OS, this operating system is able to read NTFS disks without installing anything. And write? For Leopard (I will not go further back) there is NTFS 3G free. Snow Leopard has the feature to write to these disks natively (among other things to be able to run Bootcamp), although not released by Apple. Nn internet circular commands to run in terminal or simple programs like NTFS Mounter, which release it. My personal experience is that these systems are quite unstable, even damaging files, so I do not recommend them. The classic here is Paragon NTFS which costs 20$ and also has a trial, it works on Lion and Snow Lion and is quite stable. NTFS 3G was also updated to run on the latest Mac OS systems, and although I’m sure it’s generally fine, I’ve heard that it’s more unstable when formatting in NTFS from Mac (but it’s free).
So if you have multi-platform Mac and PC it is better to format the external drives in NTFS and use the programs on Mac. Unless of course you don’t mind paying for MacDrive, in which case it is always better to format in the native system of the platform you are going to use the most. Another option that I do a lot is to have a couple of partitions on the disk, in my case the main one is HFS+ (Mac) and there is another small one in NTFS in case I carry (or get) something on the fly on PC And what is safe in the NTFS partition? MacDrive 🙂
Well, if you have read all this mess you understand now the importance of a system like exFAT that without installing anything just WORKS….peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebut (there is always a but with the computer %$&//**) is not compatible with ALL versions of Windows and Mac OS so be careful. Windows reads and writes from XP SP2 (after all they invented it) and in Mac OS it allows reading from Snow Leopard 10.6.4, writing from 10.6.6.6 and formatting from 10.6.8. Lion and Snow Lion have it already integrated. Although there are still some snowless leopards running around in the savannah, I’m sure they will soon be extinct and exFAT will be the most recommended system for disks to be moved.
I hope you find this information useful and you know that if you want to learn more about these topics in our codecs, formats and workflows course we talk about these and many other things.
Should we professional video technicians know this kind of stuff? Well, obviously this is in the realm of computer science, but I guess you don’t want to see the face of the person who hired you when you plug in a disk to copy material and suddenly you can’t use it 🙁
