P2 card capturing..

[Mj882]

I'm intending on buying a Panasonic HPX170, however, what I'd like to know is this; Would I be able to capture the footage directly onto Adobe Premiere CS3 using a firewire cable?

[Bimhpx170]

I just got a 170 and am really looking forward to just having some fun with it, right now it's a quagmire of info. 10?'s = 10answers! From what I'm getting, Final Cut is "THE" way to go for handling these files. Get a shareware copy of "P2 Contents Manager" to get viewing. I'm trying to figure out how to monitor on my MacBook.
All the best!

[Mj882]

Yeah I'm going to get an iMac in a few months time. Btw, what camera had you used before the 170? I've heard if you're not familiar with the HVX200 then it could be difficult.

[Jason Stewart]

Premiere CS3 has native support for P2 material so there is no rewraping or transcoding. Just click & drag into the timeline and edit. I'm assuming you mean importing footage recorded on a P2 card by hooking up the camera by USB or FW and transfering the contents to your computer. From my own experience, Premiere CS3 & CS4 handles P2 material very well on PC and mac.
As for the learning curve of the 170, for post workflow, as long as you practice good file management, you should be fine. For shooting, get to know the camera by practicing and experimenting with it before using it on your actual shoots. Oh, and have fun.

[dregenthal]

I'm intending on buying a Panasonic HPX170, however, what I'd like to know is this; Would I be able to capture the footage directly onto Adobe Premiere CS3 using a firewire cable?

You can not capture directly to Premiere CS3 (I don't think this has changed in CS4) but you can capture to CS3 ON LOCATION if you are buying/own the suite. I would presume the same applies to ON LOCATION in CS4 . . . the Adobe website would be a good resource to confirm this information.

Best.

[David Jimerson]

OK, clarification here -- Mj882, do you mean "capturing" from the P2 card, or "capturing" live footage directly in Premiere?

If you mean from the card, it's not like tape -- there is no "capturing." The video is already in ready-to-edit files on the card. It's a matter of transferring the files off the card and onto a hard drive. Then, you simply use the files in the timeline, just like you would video files you captured from tape. Think of the video as "pre-captured" as soon as it's recorded.

If you mean recording live footage from the camera, then dregenthal is correct; for that, you use OnLocation -- though with Dynamic Link it works pretty much like a live capture program within Premiere. You lose the P2 metadata when you do that, though.

[Mj882]

OK, clarification here -- Mj882, do you mean "capturing" from the P2 card, or "capturing" live footage directly in Premiere?

If you mean from the card, it's not like tape -- there is no "capturing." The video is already in ready-to-edit files on the card. It's a matter of transferring the files off the card and onto a hard drive. Then, you simply use the files in the timeline, just like you would video files you captured from tape. Think of the video as "pre-captured" as soon as it's recorded.

If you mean recording live footage from the camera, then dregenthal is correct; for that, you use OnLocation -- though with Dynamic Link it works pretty much like a live capture program within Premiere. You lose the P2 metadata when you do that, though.

What I mean is, transfer the raw footage I've shot into Adobe Premiere Pro so I can edit them. So via a Firewire cable, I just drag the files onto my computer. If that is the case, then all those times wasted waiting to capture the footage I shot on tape to Adobe Premiere is over!

So, let me confirm this...I literally transfer the files off the card onto my computer, via my firewire cable, correct?

[Mj882]

Premiere CS3 has native support for P2 material so there is no rewraping or transcoding. Just click & drag into the timeline and edit. I'm assuming you mean importing footage recorded on a P2 card by hooking up the camera by USB or FW and transfering the contents to your computer. From my own experience, Premiere CS3 & CS4 handles P2 material very well on PC and mac.
As for the learning curve of the 170, for post workflow, as long as you practice good file management, you should be fine. For shooting, get to know the camera by practicing and experimenting with it before using it on your actual shoots. Oh, and have fun.

Yeah, good advice Jason. Thanks!

[David Jimerson]

What I mean is, transfer the raw footage I've shot into Adobe Premiere Pro so I can edit them. So via a Firewire cable, I just drag the files onto my computer. If that is the case, then all those times wasted waiting to capture the footage I shot on tape to Adobe Premiere is over!

So, let me confirm this...I literally transfer the files off the card onto my computer, via my firewire cable, correct?

You can -- If you're using a Windows machine, use USB; if you're using a Mac, use firewire -- but the better way to do it is to use a PCMCIA slot if you can (many laptops have them).

The best way to transfer the footage, whether over firewire/USB or through a slot, is to use P2CMS or P2 Viewer. But if you want to drag/drop, make SURE you drag the complete Contents folder with the LastClip.txt file and do not change the file structure or delete or move any files out of their folders.

For what it's worth, Adobe CS3 and especially CS4 work with P2 material much better than FCP currently does. There's a lot which goes into a decision of what software to use, but in terms of P2 integration, CS3 and CS4 are well ahead of FCP.

[Mj882]

You can -- If you're using a Windows machine, use USB; if you're using a Mac, use firewire -- but the better way to do it is to use a PCMCIA slot if you can (many laptops have them).

The best way to transfer the footage, whether over firewire/USB or through a slot, is to use P2CMS or P2 Viewer. But if you want to drag/drop, make SURE you drag the complete Contents folder with the LastClip.txt file and do not change the file structure or delete or move any files out of their folders.

For what it's worth, Adobe CS3 and especially CS4 work with P2 material much better than FCP currently does. There's a lot which goes into a decision of what software to use, but in terms of P2 integration, CS3 and CS4 are well ahead of FCP.

I've previously used firewire with my PC and Adobe Premiere, is USB the preferred choice for P2 files?

[David Jimerson]

When you're using the camera as a card reader in Windows, you should use USB; that's what it's for, and that's what's guaranteed. You might be able to use firewire, but it's not guaranteed.

It's not the same as working with a DV camera.

[Mj882]

When you're using the camera as a card reader in Windows, you should use USB; that's what it's for, and that's what's guaranteed. You might be able to use firewire, but it's not guaranteed.

It's not the same as working with a DV camera.

Ah I see! Thanks a lot man