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Connection to a Computer in AV HDD Mode
The AV HDD mode is where the DN-200 appears to the computer as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and
not as a video device. The connection to the computer is via the IEEE-1394 connector. The AVHDD
mode is entered by pressing the Menu key within the 5 seconds just after the DN-200 is powered on.
When connecting as an HDD the DN-200 volume name is shown as Mediapac_xx.
Note: Care must be taken when connecting the 6pin IEEE-1394 cable in the DN-200 when the other
end is already connected to the computer. Do not attempt to insert the connector backwards as DC
power from the computer is present on the cable and can damage the sensitive receiver circuits in the
DN-200. Note: No software drivers are necessary for the computer to recognize the DN-200 as an
HDD.
Preparation
Prior to using the DN-200 in the AV HDD mode and seeing your video as files instead of clips the
MAKING MEDIA FILES menu process must be undertaken.
MAKE MEDIA FILES
This menu operation prepares the recorded content to be seen by a computer by building pre-
selected file wrappers around the recorded content and emulating the computer's operating file
system. There are two choices available, FAT32 and NTFS and they are chosen within SYSTEM
SETUP MENU under the SETUP FAT32 / NTFS option.
Operating File System limitations
The FAT32 format is compatible with both Macs and PCs. However, this format limits the size of a file
to a maximum of 2GB, in DV that translates to approximately 9+ minutes of video. A clip that lasts
longer than 9min is broken into multiple files, each 2GB long, with the last one making up the
remaining time.
If this sequence of 2GB files are placed in the correct order and end to end on an editing time line no
frames are lost at the joins. In addition, FAT32 has a clip boundary that has a limit of 2 seconds so the
beginning of a clip other than the first in a bin is most likely to contain the end of the previous clip, up
to 2 seconds' worth. Conversely the end of a clip is most likely to be found in the first file of the next
clip. For an accurate correlation of clip numbers between the VTR and the HDD mode, it is best to
keep each clip longer than 2 seconds and to have fewer than 97 clips per bin.
The NTFS format is fully compatible with PCs and is read compatible with Macs. Its main advantage
is that it does not impose a file size limitation to the DN-200 resulting in one file per clip. NTFS' clip
boundary is frame accurate and therefore has perfect correlation with clip numbers in the VTR mode.
Note: Some NLEs cannot accept file sizes greater than 40GB, make sure your NLE is not one
of them if you plan on shooting one continuous take greater then 3 hours and using NTFS.
File Organization
After the media conversion is made, all bins that contained video will appear to the computer as
folders named BINxx where xx represents the BIN number ranging from 01 to 99. Inside each folder,
each clip will be represented as a file with an extension name .avi, .mov e.g. depending on the type
chosen prior to recording. Each file will be named BxxCnnyy where xx again represents the bin
number; nn represents the Clip number ranging from 01 to 97. The number yy is the number of the
spilt file caused by the FAT32 limitation
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