HVX200 feasible for behind-the-scenes work?

J

JoshuaK

Member
[Revised for brevity]

Is the HXV200 and it's p2/firestore workflow feasible for behind-the-scenes work? If so, what workflow are people using?

Last BTS I shot 70 tapes. Sometimes its 40, other times as few as 11. Budgets (for now) usually cannot afford a media assistant everyday on set. The Torino Olympics article doesn't seem to be the same scenario. (Six 4gb cards emptied at the end of the day? That's frugal shooting. Two-three hours a day is normal but sometimes thirty-forty minutes straight without a chance to break)


Thanks,

J

P.S. I realize at the very least I could rely on the mini-dv tape transport and save the 720/1080 for interviews or special shots (or other shoots).
 
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I shoot onto the 8 gig cards and then use the P2 Store to off load the footage. The P2 Store holds roughly 7 loads (140 mins.) plus I get another 40 mins. if i fill up the 2 cards as well. I take it home/hotel and download all the p2 files to a hard drive and then erase the p2 store and cards and start fresh. (I make a BU of that drive too) Doesn't seem like much at just 3 hours per day, especially since I'm used to shooting 6 or 7 dv tapes a day when i'm doing behind the scenes... but I swear I don't really notice that big of a difference. I'm much more aware of when I'm recording and have been smarter and more efficient about what I shoot.

If I had more money or I got a big band DVD, I'd just buy another P2 Store. The P2 Stores are fantastic. Never (knock on wood) failed or corrupted data or lost anything once it's been offloaded. Rugged and easy to carry with you. I use a little sling backpack to carry the P2 Store and extra batterys and stuff when i'm shooting.

Honestly the big pain the ass about the whole workflow are the Hard Drives you have to eventually save all the p2 files to. And you really should make two copies of everything while you're on the road for peace of mind. I buy the raw ide or sata drives and swap them in and out of usb enclosures. They are pretty easy to find while you're out on the road at Best Buy or Comp USA if you run out and they are relatively cheap to buy (though dropping $100 a pop gets costly if you're not getting paid). When I get into the edit, and once I've converted all the files to quicktime, I can then recycle one of the copies of the hard drive (though I usually wait til i'm done with the project)
 
PK, do you transfer the footage from the 8gb cards to the p2 store yourself when you're on set? If so, have you found that it interferes with your ability to be ready to catch anything that happens on set? And have you found that relying on two 8gb cards ever gets you stuck in a situation where you can't break away long enough to swap out to the p2 store?
 
Well JoshuaK, yes I'm pretty paranoid so I do the transfer myself, it's pretty easy, just hit a button, when it's transfered hit two buttons and it's ready to go.

But first of all let me say that capturing footage on set is like capturing paint drying. The action is pretty slow and repetative... if you miss something you can probably get it again... there's a lot of setting up and alot of sitting around. And plus you can see the action coming a mile away, so you can be prepared... two 8 gigs cards are fine, it shoots 20 mins each... (three cards would be heaven) but I can't emphasis enough having the p2 store handy. I keep it on my person at all times (when it's loading it has to be on a stable surface) I carry the p2 store in my hand or put it some where close while it does the transfer. YOU HAVE TO BE DILIGENT ABOUT PULLING THE CARD OUT & STARTING THE TRANSFER AS SOON AS THE IT FILLS UP.
That said, if i was shooting on the set of LOST or 24, I'd probably double up everything (cards & p2 store) just so I can shoot more and worry less....
 
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