AX53 Folder and file structure

[nhmorris]

I have just bought an AX53 and notice that it writes a number of different folders, sub-folders and files to the flash card. Whilst I can find the video clips I would like to understand what all the other items are for. I can find no description of this. Can someone explain or point me to a document which does?

[IamNic]

Hello @nhmorris,

would you mind to be more specific about which files you want to know the purpose for or post a screenshot of the exact file structure in question?

I don't want to explain everything there is about each file the camcorder creates in case you only want to know about certain files, in which case I would have spend a whole lot of my free-time for nothing.

- Nic

[nhmorris]

Below is a screen shot of the folders created on my flash card. At this stage I've just taken a few test videos which appear in the 'Clip' folder, and a single still which is in the '100MSDCF' folder. All the other folders are empty except  for some thumbnails, and index files which I can't read. I assume if I take more shots in different formats there may be more folders appearing? This whole complex structure presumably fulfills some function and I wanted to better understand what might be useful to me and what is simply useful to the camera's operating system. When I have several hundred video clips on the card I will need to be able to find my way around!

[darkframe · Accepted solution]

Hi @nhmorris,

I'm not a 100% sure but this is what I (believe to) know:

•  DCIM stands for Digital Camera IMage, you'll always find your stills here in different sub-folders
•  Within PRIVATE -> AVCHD -> BDMV -> STREAM you should find videos taken in MTS or M2TS format, most likely when you've chosen "HD AVCHD" for your movies
•  Within M4ROOT -> CLIP you'll find the XAVCS movies (XAVCS HD and XAVCS 4K) as those are normally stored into MP4 files. M4ROOT -> THMBNL takes preview stills of the movies (if you're camera creates them, mine does). However, I don't know what GENERAL and SUB are used for (maybe for some feature? SUB sounds like subtitles though...)
•  I cannot tell you what the MP_ROOT folder is used for. On my A6500 camera it's full of empty folders which in number and creation date correspond to the sub-folders within my DCIM folder. Maybe PlayMemories home uses those empty folders to create the destination folders when copying content to harddisk. Just a guess.

Those XML files carry information which is used by the camera and/or PlayMemories like GPS data (if available), date/time stamp, video resolution, used CODEC and more.

Some of the folders may be there just for compatibility reasons like PLAYLIST within BDMV. However, they may be filled with content once you're using features like the creation of a highlight movie.

Whatsoever, you should neither delete nor rename any of those folders.

Hint: If you're deleting stills/movies by means of a cardreader, after you've transferred them to your PC, you'll need to re-build the camera's database by following this guide. Otherwise the camera will either indicate that its database is corrupt or still indicate stills/movies which however cannot be displayed because they've been deleted (outside of the camera).

Hope this clarifies at least a few points.

Cheers

darkframe

[nhmorris]

Hi darkframe!

Many thanks - that ties in nicely with what I was guessing and gives me greater confidence in using the camera. As you wisely caution, I would not plan to start messing with the camera's folder structure and intend to delete files via the camera, but importing directly from the cards seems simpler provided you know what you need.

I am surprised that Sony think it is ok to leave it to the likes of you and I as their customers to try to work out the way their file structure operates. Someone in the know could surely produce a proper guide in a couple of hours and publish it on line - it's hardly going to break the bank given what the hardware costs!

Happy filming,

nhm.

[darkframe]

Hi @nhmorris,

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@nhmorris  wrote:

I am surprised that Sony think it is ok to leave it to the likes of you and I as their customers to try to work out the way their file structure operates. Someone in the know could surely produce a proper guide in a couple of hours and publish it on line - it's hardly going to break the bank given what the hardware costs!

well, I agree.

It would be easy to publish a guide describing the folder structure. It could be part of an appendix to the manual for instance. I'm anyhow somewhat annoyed by the policy of many companies regarding their handling of manuals. Either you end up with a big heap of paper containing the manual in almost 40 different languages or you're left behind with a "quick guide" and a note to go online for the full manual, which in many cases is an electronic version of the "quick guide" in 40 languages again. Sigh...

However, there may be a reason for not explaining the folder structure. I could imagine that simply most developers may not even think it might be of interest to anyone. Well, in case you're using PlayMemories Home for copying your content this might be correct. And actually I do know more people who not care about folder structures on SD cards than people that do. So maybe people shall not be confused hence there's no more information. Additionally those structures vary from camera to camera.

Oh, in case you're interested: I've found a document "Design rule for camera file systems" which at least explains the DCIM folder. I've not found a document treating the other folders though.

Cheers

darkframe

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