Always test the full workflow pipeline with the preferred recording
format before shooting.
Media preparation
The typical usage cycle of recording media is:
1. Format
2. Record
3. Copy
4. Back up
5. Verify data
6. Format
Format Before recording, the drives/cards must be
formatted. The camera always performs a blank
format, which means that the media contain no
metadata and are not assigned a reel number
prior to recording the first clip. The camera auto-
detects media with an invalid file system and asks
the user to format the media. The ALEXA uses the
UDF file system for ProRes/DNxHD recording and
the Codex file system for ARRIRAW recording.
Both file systems are read-only for computer
systems, which minimizes the risk of data
corruption.
Record
When the REC button is pressed, the camera
starts to write a clip to the media. With the first
clip, the camera also assigns a reel number. There
is more information on file naming later in this
chapter.
Copy After recording is finished, the footage needs to
be copied to another device in order to free up the
media. The copy process should be verified using
checksum calculation to ensure that no errors
have occurred.
Backup The footage should ideally be copied to two
physically separate destinations. The first copy
should be the "working copy", and the second
copy should be the "backup copy". These tasks
can be done in parallel, as long as the end result
is verified data on two independent devices.
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