RedHat File Naming Types

[BadgerBrian]

Ok I have a strange problem - maybe someone can help

I am running Adobe After Effects 6 on Several Windows XP machines and MAc OSX machines.

These Store Files on a RedHat File Server -

We are having trouble trying to Import files into the XP machines from the Linux server directly into After Effects.

Particually .PIC files and .Tiff files - (sequences mainly)

When we access the same folder on the file server from the Macs these read that they are .PIC sequences straight away , however when we access it from a Windows machine they cannot identify the file type nd therefore do not give us the option to import as a sequence.

First we thought it was a problem with the actual files however -

If we move the same folder with the .Pic Sequence to another XP machine - then another XP machine running After effects can import and recognises the file type straight away.
If we move that same folder to a mac machine and try to read it from a mac - we efefctivly get the same problem - that after effects cannot see the filetype and therefore cannot import it as a sequence.

The macs can read the filetype from other macs/the linux server and the XP machines.

We have come to the conclusion that it is how the XP mchines are passed the file type information from the linux server...(we think)

Therefore we really need to know how to make the server pass out the specific file types (kind of like where you add the filetypes in window)

Please Help we are deperate

 

[stefanwagner]

I'm only used to see '.pic' and '.tiff'-files.
On Linux, filenames distinguish between upper and lowercase.
Windows has some intermediate concept: Often you will not know, whether the name is shown in upper- or lowercase, but sometimes it is shown the way you store it, which means, if you save as 'Foo.bar' you see 'Foo.bar', and if you save as 'foo.BAR' you see 'foo.BAR'.
But you may only have one file foo.bar in the directory, not both in different writing.

Perhaps when file-types are matched to applications in the system, or searched by your application, the question of upper-lowercase plays a role.

I would try it out.

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[thedaver]

Stefan failed to mention that linux doesn't do any value-added activity with regard to file extensions and how windows could/would/should interpret them. I agree that you may have a filename UPPER/lower/Mixed case name problem.

Linux is relatively "dumb" from a windows perspective in how it handles files. It does what it's told, nothing more. That's fine for linux/unix folks but it sometimes goofs up the Windows tribe.

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[Zech]

I am thinking that you may be having an endian problem. Macs and other Unix systems typically use a big endian system, whereas MS Windows uses small endian. Big and small endians differ in their byte arrangements and typically their proper byte rearrangement is done by the respective client programs. So my thinking is that perhaps Adobe 'forgot' to add big-to-small endian conversion in its Windows program. If this is the problem, then there is nothing much you can do except to complain to Adobe for not providing proper endian conversion in its Windows program.

Try contacting Adobe's customer support and see what their response is. Perhaps they have users having similar problems before.

Also, I am not sure which Mac OS you are running but the recent Mac OS is derived from BSD (still a cousin to Linux). So, I wouldn't be surprised to see that Macs having no problem to read the file from Linux. However, with the Macs being able to read the files properly from Windows XP as well, I would say that the problem most likely lie with the Windows XP (or more specifically with the Adobe After Effect on Win XP).

 

[stefanwagner]

Well, Zech, I share a lot of files between linux and I guess I would have mentioned, if there was a problem between different endians.

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[Zech]

I am not sure whether endian is the problem. I said it may be the problem.

Try this method to test whether it's endian conversion problem:

Instead of directly opening/importing the file, use window explorer, find and copy the file from the Linux server to the local XP machine. Then, use Adobe After Effects to open/import the file that has been copied to the local machine (note: open the file that has been copied to the local machine, not the one at the server).

If you can read the copied file properly using this method it means the problem is that Adobe does not handle its endian conversion properly.

The logic behind the above method is this:

By using window explorer to locate and copy the file, you are letting the window explorer to handle the endian conversion for you. Whereas if you try to open/import the file at the server directly from Adobe, you are basically letting the Adobe to do the conversion. In the above method, we are trying to compare how well Adobe does its endian conversion, and whether endian conversion is the problem.

 

[BadgerBrian]

Thanks guys for the help -

Ok here is where i am now with this....

I called Adobe Expert support who basically gave me the "duh" answer and that they dont support After effects over networks except for the render engine.

We kinda came to the conclusion that it was AE due to several tests.

We ran Apple Quicktime Pro on the Win XP machines and imported the .Tif sequences -this had no problem opening up the files as a sequence.
We also ran SOftimage XSI and imported the same files. neitehr of these products seemed to have a problem importing the files wetehr they were stored locally on the XP , on another XP or on the linux server or a mac running osx.

I had also tested Zechs theroy, having some idea it may be a compatibility issue (but not as mch knollege as you gave zach).
Yes if we copy the file locally to any xp machine then it is able to be opened by ae without a problem.

We have also noticed that this affects .pic files and .psd files as well - AE project files seem to be ok.

Now i assume if it is the endian problem that you point out this would happen if a After effects file composited a group of sequences on a XP machine, and moved those files to a network linux server, then in order to open them from there - it would need the endian support that you mentioned -(as linux would have converted them already?)

thanks for your time guys...

 

[clonny2]

Also if there is information stored in the file as filestreams, SAMBA does not utlize these. Some windows files do utilize filestreams, so you get extra tabs in the properties of the file if stored on NTFS instead of samba.



>---------------------------------------Lawrence Feldman
SR. QA. Engineer SNAP Appliance
lfeldman@snapappliance.com