formatting P2 cards on a mac

[wgzn]

considering that ive been using P2 for about 5 years now. its kind of embarrassing to have to ask this question. but the way i shoot, ive just never had the need before...

is there a snow leopard friendly mac utility to format P2 cards?

ive searched around and tried the panasonic site, but all i can gather from their "engrish" page is that the formatter software must be used with the P2 drive hardware...

help? in-camera cant be the ONLY option...

[stefanhuberfilms]

doesn't panasonics program "P2CMS" support formatting p2 cards? i don't know but that program could help you out... http://eww.pass.panasonic.co.jp/p2ui/guest/TopLogin.do
cheers

[kgimedia]

I don't have a solution but I do have a question. Why? The only reason I know of to format the card is to use it in camera. As I typed I thought of a possible reason. Are you dumping footage during a continuous record?

[wgzn]

Are you dumping footage during a continuous record?

YEP! my work is usually tv spots, corporate or multi-camera events, so we fill a card, assistant hands the shooter a new card then offloads the full one. and then we reformat each card in camera. the 17 or so seconds to reformat in these cases isnt a big deal. production is stopped or there is always another camera rolling...

but i recently shot a one-camera situation where i wasnt told that id be continually rolling for nearly 4 hours. so i was hoping the assistant could simply stick a formatted card back in the second slot.

[wgzn]

doesn't panasonics program "P2CMS" support formatting p2 cards?

i'm not aware that p2cms has a format feature... i looked and didnt see anything. but that program is a UI clusterphoque, so maybe it does and i just didnt find it : (

[Steve Eisen]

ShotPut Pro has an option to reformat cards.

[tumbleweed]

And, if its a one time thing, you can download a demo of SPP. I love the program and would recommend it, but you've been happy without it for 5 yrs, so you probably don't need it. ;-)

[wgzn]

at $100, if it works - then its a steal. kinda sad though, i already own their p2 log pro and cant format a damned card : (

[Tom 4]

Sounds to me like a "budget driven" shoot/s, by that i mean why can't you get enough cards to use during the shoot, or record to a medium that will take all your expected vision run.
you could sack the assistant and use their pay to hire some cards, or use a Bigger P2 and have more slots in the camera.
EG, Who goes hiking with one shoe on ?. or half filling the tank in a race car ?. no doubt this point of view will offend someone.

you only have to buy P2 cards once, and the new E series are not expensive,
if your shooting TV, corporates, etc you may need to wack on some dollars to cover more cards for future shoots.

Cheers
Tom4

[Stephenh]

at $100, if it works - then its a steal. kinda sad though, i already own their p2 log pro and cant format a damned card : (

wgzn, Panasonic have a P2 Format program. I used it to format my P2 cards. I have sold my HVX202 some time ago. Check out Panasonic's software drivers web site. If no luck send me a message and I will see if I still have a copy on disc somewhere.