New P2 Log software for Macintosh users

Personaly I'm Well pleased Imagine released such an early version of the software.
With apple staying so quite about details of a pal 720p codec it's a breath of fresh air that imagine has steped in with their own "Tempory solution" to a massive problem.
Credit where credits due !
 
Anders Holck said:
Hi Gary.
Any chance of a Universal build of the Demo?

DVCPRO HD passthrough is a great feature.

Is there any upgrade path to HD log if I find P2log too limited?
Click to expand...

I did ask Dan about this before purchasing our copy of P2 log, and he did say that there was an upgrade path for owners of P2 Log. Best bet would be to contact Dan directly. He is pretty quick to respond.
 
Firstly, thanks to Dan, and the crew at Imagine for listening to the needs of the community and producing a great product. The response to our questions has always been prompt and courteous, and I am certainly grateful for being able to buy P2 Log for $99 vs $299-699 for HD Log.

I am a bit concerned with some of the posts so far in this thread regarding licensing for P2 Log. A few weeks ago, HD Log was the only product out there that would handle the P2 issues, and most people were complaining about how much that cost.

Imagine listened to the "feedback" and produced a product tailored to our needs and at a fraction of the cost. Despite this, there is still a group who are complaining that they cannot run it on two computers and that $200 is outrageous to spend on being able to run the software on two machines. $200 is still cheaper than one copy of HD Log. Stop being tight!!!

I suspect that if the licensing on this product were loosened, many would buy only one copy, (or "borrow" one off their friends) and run it on every machine they had in the building. How does this encourage companies like Imagine to continue creating products which solve massive holes in workflows? It doesn't.

We installed our copy of P2 Log on Friday, and had to make the decision. As we will not be editing in the field, we have P2 Log on the main G5 workstation, will use the laptops in the field only as data storage. If we get to a point where we need to edit in the field, then we will spend the extra $99 and get another copy. Easy.

Anyone on this thread has already spent a few grand on a camera, another few grand on some P2 cards, and another few grand on their laptops/desktops with FCP. I can't understand why there is so much complaint about a measly $99.

Apologies for the rant, but after reading this thread, I felt really ticked off by the attitudes of some.

Thanks

Alister
 
EVeryone has their opinions. THis is mine. I'm sure you've complained at one point about a product that you were not aligning with in terms of pricing, or logistical paths or something other than what I just mentioned, while others around you were on the other side of fence. Who's to say you were off on your opinion?

Fine if it works for you then great. The essence of the complaint was that apps rarely do a one computer license. Technology is moving so fast these days that a lot of people have more than one computer. I'm not tight either -- just voicing my thoughts on this so that others could maybe view it and look into it. Still think it should not be a one computer license or that it should be dependent on webaccess. It's not about money.
 
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Fair call. I do remember feeling concerned at the price of HD log when I was looking for a solution to the P2->FCP workflow, but then P2 Log was released, and all of my concerns abated.

As far as software that uses a one computer license there is heaps of software out there that licenses itself to one machine only. Apple Shake, AW Maya and all of the Macromedia software are some high profile examples. Many of the plugins for these apps also do one machine only licenses. All of the software sold via Kagi also uses a single machine license as well. Granted there are floating licenses available for some of this software, but almost all require additional expense for that priviledge as well as a license server active - which stuffs up an thought of using it remotely.

I respect your right to an opinion, and my post was not necessarily targeted at you. I just think that $99 is damn cheap for a piece of software that has saved me a hell of a lot more than $99 worth of my time.

Cheers

Al
 
I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other on this licensing debate, but I wanted to point out that the Macromedia license is not single machine. It specifically allows installation on a second computer if it is a laptop and the software is not used at the same time as the copy on the first machine.
 
I like the way After Effects has its license set up -- you can install on two machines. This comes in handy for me as I will depend on AE in the field to check composites as they're being shot.

However, AE is an application costing several hundred bucks. P2 Log is a fraction of that.

While it would be nice to have a similar licensing system for P2 Log, for me it's not a deal breaker as I'll make up for the cost in about an hour 's worth of editing time.

As for emergency installations in the field, if I were headed out to deepest, darkest nowhere and couldn't live without my computer, I'd have a second hard drive with a complete working system and applications. Should my primary system get hosed for whatever reason, I'd pull that hard drive and install the second one. Or boot up off an external drive via Firewire. If I'm working on site, there's no time to re-install anything. It has to be a plug-and-play backup option.
 
I bought P2 Log a few days ago and have been trying without success just to install it on my brand-new MacBook Pro (the online activation keeps failing). Unfortunately the support staff have not been very supportive so I may be forced to ask for a refund. I hope they'll prove me wrong and get on the ball soon, though.
 
Quite frankly all the people bitching about licensing should get back to making their amateur videos and leave the board discussion for sensible problems. Any true professional understands such issues. BenB I particularly liked your extended posts lambasting the developers for an 'issue' that, were you able to read and process information rationally, had no effect on you what so ever.

I am going to have to buy a copy of p2 log to use on a rental computer for a shoot. Sure I'll be emailing the developers to see if they'll let me transfer my license but I'm not going to whine about it here. I'm also not going to complain about the fact that hopefully Apple and Panasonic will pull their finger out and give full support to the PAL cameras and render P2 Log almost useless. As it is, I have to decide how many days before the shoot I need to buy the software and get someone up to speed on it, with the knowledge that Apple, who play their cards close, may release a software update to address 25p support a day later.

End of rant.

I would like to know if PAL users are finding P2Log solid enough to use in a production environment, particularly with off speed shots, but also just day to day 720 25Pn footage. I would rather do this than have to shoot 1080p and switch modes and resolution.

Cheers,

Toby
 
Also, we will be transferring the footage to a firewire drive via a powerbook, but cutting on a g5. A few people said they had problems working with the footage on a computer other than their capture station. Is this a kink that has been ironed out? Or is there a workflow solution to the problem (open FCP on the laptop, import and save or media manage).

Cheers,

Toby
 
That's what we call inferential reasoning. You're complaining and basically agreeing with what is being said about this faulty "single computer license," but you've decided to justify your disapproval of it by making your alignment covertly. Whether you complain, or diplomatically conplain directly to the developer, it's all the same at the end -- new pricing system please. Now go make my soup.

in other news, there's a new app that allows windows apps to run on OSx without installing windows, parallel etc., oh , it's 60 bucks and a single user app.

"CodeWeavers has announced that CrossOver Mac will be arriving this year in late July or early August 2006. Pricing will be at $59.95 for single-user licenses"
 
Actually I was saying that while I have a specific case that is unfortunate, I don't think this is the forum to whine about it.
I've never complained or heard anyone complain that shake or maya were serialized of the ethernet id of the motherboard. The only complaints that are made are about cheap software by cheapskates. To to be perfectly honest I'm impressed that such a 'why wont you let me pirate your software you cheap bastards' argument has been given such credence.

My real frustration is that yet again, PAL users have to wait longer for functionality, even though theoretically, there should be no significant difference in codecs.

Cheers,

Toby

PS. soup of the day is pea and ham. I'll snail mail it to you.
 
Hi Toby,

When you some to cut your 720p25 media using the Imagine passthrough codec, be aware that some effects, transfer modes and for some, the CC in FCP can cause the image to become garbled in the Canvas display. This appears to be an effects preview issue and is cleared up by rendering the clips.

Mark
 
Thanks Mark, I'll make sure I'm all rendered when I show the clients.

Are you having success with 50pn footage playing back at 25? I spoke to someone who said I have to conform all the off speed footage via cinema tools, but he didn't seem very up on the process.

I'm directing a Music clip and was planing to shoot most if not all of it at 50 but if it's a pain I'll do it in post....

Cheers,

Toby
 
Now I am getting a bit frustrated with this, so time to ask where I am going wrong. I installed the P2 log. I installed the 720P50 drivers successfully.

I shoot a clip, 720p50 25 Frames a sec.

I import the footage into P2 log. I shows the clips. I export the clip to my desktop. ( I can't see anywhere where you can chose the codec newly installed codec, it seems to do it automatically)

I open FCP. I grab the P2 log made MOV file. I drop it on the time line. It is garbled. I render.(orange bar above footage) It remains garbled after render.

So where did I go wrong? FCP is setup up for DCVPROHD 720P60
 
Hi Steve,
You're almost there, you need to duplicate the 720p60 sequence preset and change the frame-rate to 25 and the codec to 720p50. Save this new preset.
--
Mark
 
Hi Steve,

1 - Go to 'Final Cut Pro' menu and choose 'Audio/Video Settings'.
2 - Go to the 'Sequence Presets' tab.
3 - Highlight the 'DVCPRO HD - 720p60' preset and click 'Duplicate'.
4 - In the new window change the name to 'DVCPRO HD - 720p25'.
5 - Change the description to suit this.
6 - Change the 'Editing Timebase' to '25'.
7 - Change the 'Compressor' to 'DVCPRO HD 720p50'.
8 - Click 'OK'.

This preset will no be accessible when you create a new sequence.
--
Mark
 
Sequence/ sequence settings : in "quicktime video settings" select "adavanced", in the new window "choose compression type" and select "DVCPRO HD 720p50" and "frames per second" choose 25. ;)
 
Pull down the FCP menu bar and choose audio/video settings. Click on the sequence setting tab. Select the 720p60. Since it is locked duplicate it, change the settings as Mark outlined and save as a new preset.
 
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