Help Please!!! Viewing Video

[stenger]

I have a XF 300 camera. I have downloaded my video onto external hard drives from the CF card by using the supplied Canon XF software. My computers will not play the video that is stored on the hard drives. Can someone please help me get this worked out. I am new at this and have idea what I am doing.

Thank you.

[Tim]

Hello stenger, 

The XF Utility software should allow you to view the footage.  The use of a NLE (non-linear editor) is recommended for editing purposes.  

[stenger]

Everything is on hard drives and the Xf software will not view it off the hard drives.

[stenger]

I want to watch it or edit straight from the hard drives

[shadowsports]

strenger..

Can you be a little more specific?  We know what camera you own. 

What OS are you runnng, windows or MAC?

What does the file format of the movie show on your computer?

What happens when you try to play a clip?

Error message, black screen?

Have you tried playback in another program? 

[stenger]

Windows
Error message saying video can not be played. I tried it on two different. Windows computers and same message.

[stenger]

This is really frustrating it should be a plug and play system. Or easier for beginners to use.

[BurnUnit]

Are your files on the same hard drive as your OS and media player or editing software, or are they on a remote hard drive? Which media player software are you trying to use? Media Player Classic or VLC Media Player tend to play just about any video file format you can throw at them. Also, Irfanview includes a video player that covers a lot of different formats. And all of the software listed above has free downloads.

[IamintheUK]

The XF300 is a professional HD camera that records MPEG 2 50Mbps 10bit format video in an MXF container. Most everyday video players will not play MXF. You will need an NLE such as Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or Avid Media Composer to open and view these files.

This is not a consumer camera but a professional one for experienced users. So don't expect things like plug and play.

[CanonPhotoshop]

If this conversation isn't over...

I installed Canon XF hoping to view metadata, but I can't even see videos within the program.  I don't know if it will display the info I want to see in the metadata, but it sounded interesting enough to explore.  (I've been viewing and editing within Adobe Premiere without issues, so it's just a matter of understanding Canon XF).  

Question: Does the program want/need the correct file structure as it comes straight from the camera, or can I just put an MXF in a folder?  I know Sony XDCAM player is picky about the folder structure, so maybe Canon is too.  Premiere isn't picky, so i've been doing whatever is easiest.

I can't wrap my head around why I can't "set virtual media".  I get this message: "Cannot set the selected folder as virtual media."  (there are no special characters in folder or file names)

Thank you 

Equipment: C300 Mk2 & MacBook Pro (OS 11.5.2, 32GB, i9, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB)