ALEXA 65 Workflow

This page provides details on the ALEXA 65 Workflow using Device Manager on macOS. This functionality is available in Device Manager 7.0 and above, and works on both Intel and Apple silicon based Macs.

The latest version of Device Manager can be downloaded from the Software Downloads page.

Using the ALEXA 65 workflow requires a special licence for Device Manager. The licence can be requested by emailing the relevant ARRI Rental contact (depending on your location) found on their Contact page once you have found your System Key.

To find this key, first install the software and then open System Preferences/Settings > Codex and click on the Hardware Keys tab. Select the System Key and click ‘Copy to Clipboard’, and paste this in an email to your relevant ARRI Rental contact.

You will then be sent a licence that activates the ALEXA 65 workflow functionality. To install the licence use System Preferences/Settings > Codex and click on the Licensing tab. Click on the padlock to unlock the panel, then click Add Licence and copy/paste the provided licence key.

Device Manager can be used for ALEXA 65 workflow on Intel and Apple silicon based Macs. We recommend using at least a 16-core Intel Mac Pro 2019, 10-core M1 Max Mac Studio or MacBook Pro for good performance. The minimum supported OS version is macOS 11 Big Sur.

The workflow requires a new Transfer Drive and Dock:

There is a page on our Help Center with setup instructions for the new Transfer Drive Dock that can be found here.

Data is read from the Capture Drive in an SXR Capture Drive Dock and written to the new Transfer Drive/Dock.

It is recommended that you:

• Have the SXR Capture Drive Dock and the Transfer Drive Dock connected to different Thunderbolt buses. This will ensure there is no performance reduction caused by read and write happening simultaneously on the same bus. This is a concern on Intel Macs where two Thunderbolt ports can share the same bus, but not on Apple silicon Macs where each Thunderbolt port is on its own bus.
• Have the Transfer Drive Dock configured/connected in ‘Single Link’ mode. (As the SXR Capture DriveDock only has a single Thunderbolt connection, there is no benefit to using the Transfer Drive Dock in ‘Dual Link’ mode.)
• Use HDE mode for the most efficient workflow.

The option in Device Manager > Preferences > HDE to enable HDE mode for ARRIRAW affects the output of the Clone to the Transfer Drive and the type of files that are presented through the VFS.

If the HDE Preference is enabled then data is written as HDE on the Transfer Drive and .arx files will be presented with a known size and can be copied (or played back) from the Transfer Drive with any software. This is the recommended setup for the most efficient workflow.

If the HDE Preference is disabled then data is written as ARRIRAW on the Transfer Drive and .ari files will be presented.

If necessary, it is possible to ‘defer’ the application of HDE by performing a Clone with the HDE Preference disabled, and then enabling it later (or on another machine) before copying the data off the Transfer Drive. In this case the .arx files will be presented as zero-size and can be copied off with Pomfort Silverstack/Offload Manager, Hedge, Shotput Pro, or YoYotta.

The Transfer Drive needs to be put into a special mode for the ALEXA 65 workflow. This needs to be done before a Clone can be started.

From the Device Manager > Transfer Drive - TB menu, select the option to Enable Alexa65 Mode:

The Transfer Drive will then be reconfigured, so that it is presented as 4 slots:

Each Transfer Drive slot can store the data from a single Capture Drive.

From the Device Manager > CD2 - TB menu select the Clone option:

This will automatically format the first available free slot on the Transfer Drive, and begin Clone (and Process) of the ALEXA 65 data. The volume name will be the same as the Capture Drive, but appended with _P. If another Clone is started from the same Capture Drive, the next Transfer Drive slot would use the same name but with _P1, then _P2, etc. You can monitor the progress of the Clone from Device Manager:

If you need to cancel the Clone for any reason, open the CD2 -TB menu and click Advanced. The option to Cancel Clone is available in the menu at the bottom of this window:

Once the Clone has completed, the data will be available to copy from the _P volume.

When a Clone finishes a text report is written to /Users/<username>/Library/Logs/Codex/receipts/clone/

Note that /Users/<username>/Library is hidden in Finder by default, but can be revealed with the keyboard shortcut Cmd-Shift-. (period/full-stop)

The report files are named using the date, time, and destination slot name, e.g. 20231124_101437_A001R0EX_P.log

A notification is shown when the Clone finishes that includes a button to reveal the report in Finder.

The report includes details of:

• Start/Finish Time of Clone
• Source Volume
• Destination Volume
• Clip Names
• Number Of Frames
• CRC Status
• Duration Of Clone
• Speed Of Clone

The Transfer Drive front panel includes an eInk display that provides information about the contents of the Transfer Drive.

When the Transfer Drive is used for ALEXA 65 workflow, the display is divided into 4 rows with information about each of the slots, for example:

1: T007R0DY_P1 (1.1TB)
2: T008R0DY_P1 (468GB)
3: <NO VOLUME>
4: <NO VOLUME>

For each slot the volume name and the amount of used space is shown.

Note: HDE data on a Transfer Drive does not take up less space, so if the data is stored as HDE then the amount of space shown as used on the eInk display will be the same as if the data was standard ARRIRAW. To get an accurate size for the amount of HDE data in a slot, check the volume size in Finder.

To Eject a single slot of the Transfer Drive, use the Device Manager > Transfer Drive Slot > Eject option for that slot. This will just unmount the volume in that slot, but will not eject the whole Transfer Drive.

To Eject the whole Transfer Drive, prior to physically removing it from the Dock, use the hardware Eject button on the front of the Transfer Drive. The Transfer Drive is ready to be removed when the light stops flashing.

Similarly, to Erase a single slot of the Transfer Drive, use the Device Manager > Transfer Drive Slot > Erase option for that slot.

To Erase the whole Transfer Drive you can either Erase all slots individually or use the Disable Alexa65 Mode option, which will Erase all slots and return the Transfer Drive to a normal mode of operation.