DEVA II file structure

In article ,
gs.TakeThisOut@zaxcom.com wrote:

> Deva II stores its internal files to its hard drive in a format we call
> MARF (Mobile audio recording format) . This format is very fault
> tolerant and created just for Deva. The DVD-RAM recordings are on a
> FAT16 file system. The file names consist of the Partition number, the
> segment number and the track number.

I will add that the production will almost surely not have any access to
the internal drive of the Deva II so for the sake of trying to "match"
what was done on the Deva II, the MARF recording system and file
management scheme will not come into play. It is true, as stated above,
that the MARF system is a benefit for the person using the Deva II for
the first part of the project but it will be most important for you and
the post people to focus on the the daily delivery disk. This is
probably a DVD-RAM disk and, as pointed out, will be FAT 16 format with
a very simple non-nested file/folder arrangement. There most probably
will not be any metadata beyond Roll number, Segment number and Timecode.

I have not used my SD 744T as primary recorder very much so I have not
had to deal with the way in which the 744T has nested folder
arrangement, but I believe all the principle machines in post (for
example, the Fostex DV40) can now deal with 3 levels of folders. You may
or may not put extended metadata (and I am not so sure how this is done
on the 744T anyway so I cannot really help here). So, the primary
consideration as I see it is to have the people in post be prepared to
accept both the FAT 16 format and the FAT 32 format from your SD 744T.
This should not be a problem as they are already geared up I would
assume to deal with FAT 16 and most all current systems have no trouble
with FAT 32. One additional note, do not get confused in this discussion
of FAT 16 and FAT 32 thinking that it has anything to do with the file
FORMAT or recording resolution (for example, 16-bit vs. 24-bit, 48K
sample rate, etc.). The recording format you use with your SD 744T
should match the settings used on the Deva II as to bit depth, sample
rate, mono or poly file, timecode reference and so forth.

Regards, Jeff Wexler
 >> Stay informed about: DEVA II file structure 

Jeff Wexler wrote:
> In article ,
> gs.RemoveThis@zaxcom.com wrote:
>
> > Deva II stores its internal files to its hard drive in a format we call
> > MARF (Mobile audio recording format) . This format is very fault
> > tolerant and created just for Deva. The DVD-RAM recordings are on a
> > FAT16 file system. The file names consist of the Partition number, the
> > segment number and the track number.
>
> I will add that the production will almost surely not have any access to
> the internal drive of the Deva II so for the sake of trying to "match"
> what was done on the Deva II, the MARF recording system and file
> management scheme will not come into play. It is true, as stated above,
> that the MARF system is a benefit for the person using the Deva II for
> the first part of the project but it will be most important for you and
> the post people to focus on the the daily delivery disk. This is
> probably a DVD-RAM disk and, as pointed out, will be FAT 16 format with
> a very simple non-nested file/folder arrangement. There most probably
> will not be any metadata beyond Roll number, Segment number and Timecode.
>
> I have not used my SD 744T as primary recorder very much so I have not
> had to deal with the way in which the 744T has nested folder
> arrangement, but I believe all the principle machines in post (for
> example, the Fostex DV40) can now deal with 3 levels of folders. You may
> or may not put extended metadata (and I am not so sure how this is done
> on the 744T anyway so I cannot really help here). So, the primary
> consideration as I see it is to have the people in post be prepared to
> accept both the FAT 16 format and the FAT 32 format from your SD 744T.
> This should not be a problem as they are already geared up I would
> assume to deal with FAT 16 and most all current systems have no trouble
> with FAT 32. One additional note, do not get confused in this discussion
> of FAT 16 and FAT 32 thinking that it has anything to do with the file
> FORMAT or recording resolution (for example, 16-bit vs. 24-bit, 48K
> sample rate, etc.). The recording format you use with your SD 744T
> should match the settings used on the Deva II as to bit depth, sample
> rate, mono or poly file, timecode reference and so forth.
>
> Regards, Jeff Wexler

Is this to say that the UDF 1.5 format for DVD's (RAM and -R) is not
neccasary? I know the latest firmware for the DV-40 enable the -R and
the 824 will take them as well, I thought that they still needed the
UDF format. Also bwff as the top folder for autoread? Would love to
hear that this is not needed!
 >> Stay informed about: DEVA II file structure 

Thanks Jeff, Glen.
This was something I count on. Until now I did hardly know anything
about DEVA files. Of course the file extension (type), TC frame rate,
sample rate and bit depth has to be the same. Maybe I'll give more
attention to the folders, not to save files under folders level 2-3.
Metadata in 744 is saved as it used to in the bwf chunk, and it cannot
be hurted by the recorder (God bless SD engineering...), and some part
of it cannot be changed nor w/Courtney's BWF Widget program.

Anyway thank you very much for the posts.

---Zoltan
 >> Stay informed about: DEVA II file structure