URGENT question about shooting P2 this Sunday!

filmtovideo

filmtovideo

Well-known member
I have a shoot Sunday that cannot be rescheduled. I have an HVX-200
with 8 GB card
but was supposed to also have Firestore and workflow tech. person. Now, I
have neither.

I can shoot tape if I have to but what about these options?

1. Shoot to P2 and buy a Lacie (I can swing a couple hundred $) 80 GB or
100 GB and offload
to that via Firewire when card is full. I'll have to learn how but I've read
up a bit and it seems
doable.

2. Shoot to P2, then downconvert to Mini-DV and re-use card? What's the
difference between that
and capturing HD footage and editing and then downcoverting to SD for
DVD copies? If I shoot
P2, downconvert and then capture that tape, in either case it's going to
be SD DVD as the
final product.

3. I have heard that one can shoot P2 and tape simultaneously (using tape
SD copy as a back-up)
but in reading the manuals this does not look possible. It seems to be an
either/or situation.
Anybody know?

Thanks!
 
Option 1). Is psosible. Downside is you have to stop shooting and use the camera to offload the footage and there is no way to verify if it offloaded OK.

Option 2). Possible but as in option one you have to stop shooting and use the camera as a dub station. Also you lose your HD master. Difference is you are now compressing HD footage in camera to Mini DV, then compressing again later to make DVD.

Option 3). Not possible.

Option 4). Rent another card and a P2 Store.
 
Option 4 may be best. Option 1 is cheapest; just be aware that you'll be putting the camera out of commission for 8 minutes every time you offload that card to the drive.
 
SurJones said:
why not shoot directly two NLE?
Click to expand...

That's a good point. If DV is acceptable quality, you could stream directly to any number of capture programs and record to a notebook (or an external drive attached to said notebook).

If DV is not acceptable, you'd have to stream to a NLE such as FCP, Edius Broadcast, etc.
 
ozduc said:
Option 1). Is psosible. Downside is you have to stop shooting and use the camera to offload the footage and there is no way to verify if it offloaded OK.

Option 2). Possible but as in option one you have to stop shooting and use the camera as a dub station. Also you lose your HD master. Difference is you are now compressing HD footage in camera to Mini DV, then compressing again later to make DVD.

Option 3). Not possible.

Option 4). Rent another card and a P2 Store.
Click to expand...

1. Sounds best. I bought a Lacie today so Ill see if I can test and figure it
out. According to the book, there is a way to "verify" although
supposedly it takes a lot longer. This shoot is only a couple of pages in
one small room so not a big production but the actors won't be available
again for months. So, we can afford the down time if we have to and
we should be able to get it done.

2. Forget that!

3. That's what i thought. The vendors don't know everything.

Thanks!
 
SurJones said:
why not shoot directly two NLE?
Click to expand...


The Final Cut Pro system that I can use is not portable. I have a MacBookPro
(which won't accept P2 cards) and running Final Cut Express which won't
capture 720 24P HD. Thanks though.
 
Barry_Green said:
Option 4 may be best. Option 1 is cheapest; just be aware that you'll be putting the camera out of commission for 8 minutes every time you offload that card to the drive.
Click to expand...



Out of money, so going to have to wait and offload with 1.
 
Final Cut Pro 5.1 or later may be legally installed on two computers; desktop and laptop both owned by you.

what is the issue?
 
TwistedLincoln said:
That's a good point. If DV is acceptable quality, you could stream directly to any number of capture programs and record to a notebook (or an external drive attached to said notebook).

If DV is not acceptable, you'd have to stream to a NLE such as FCP, Edius Broadcast, etc.
Click to expand...


Thanks.
 
Since you are probably going to deliver an SD DVD. Shoot 8 gigs of 420i on the P2 FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS for the extra color depth that DVCPRO50 will give you then switch to DV tape for the rest.

Shooting the whole event to one 8gig P2 card in HD or SD is impossible since you cant swap them out and would have to stop shooting. You could do it with 2 4gig P2 cards because the P2 cards take less time to offload than they do to shoot so you could offload one while recording to the other. The only time you would lose is P2 swapping and formatting every once in a while. Having 8 minute gaps in the action for the whole event will guarantee you miss important moments. Rent another p2 card maybe?

You probably DON'T want to record to an NLE because being tethered to a laptop is just plain lame. Unless its a wide shot and you have another roving camera for real time. A Static camera at an event like a wedding will feel like Security Camera footage and the bride's parents are probably expecting art from you.
 
Last edited:
David S. said:
Final Cut Pro 5.1 or later may be legally installed on two computers; desktop and laptop both owned by you.

what is the issue?
Click to expand...

The Final Cut Pro system that I use is at a school and I believe under a
special educational license but I'll look into it. Hadn't thought of that.
Thanks!
 
Arson said:
Since you are probably going to deliver an SD DVD. Shoot 8 gigs of 420i on the P2 FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS for the extra color depth that DVCPRO50 will give you then switch to DV tape for the rest.

Shooting the whole event to one 8gig P2 card in HD or SD is impossible since you cant swap them out and would have to stop shooting. You could do it with 2 4gig P2 cards because the P2 cards take less time to offload than they do to shoot so you could offload one while recording to the other. The only time you would lose is P2 swapping and formatting every once in a while. Having 8 minute gaps in the action for the whole event will guarantee you miss important moments. Rent another p2 card maybe?

You probably DON'T want to record to an NLE because being tethered to a laptop is just plain lame. Unless its a wide shot and you have another roving camera for real time. A Static camera at an event like a wedding will feel like Security Camera footage and the bride's parents are probably expecting art from you.
Click to expand...



Because we have the day to shoot a couple of pages, it may be more feasible
to wait to offload the card than it would be at an event but good tip about
using DVCPRO 50 for critcal moments, thanks!
 
I offload one card while shooting the other, thats the way your workflow is supposed to work. Thats why there are TWO P2 SLOTS in the back of your camera and not one. So you can hot swap them as you fill them.
 
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