Splitting 8Gb P2 offloads for burning to 4.7GB dvds?

C

Can Scanner

Well-known member
Is this possible?
I have 6 offloaded folders, each containing the full contents of an 8GB P2 card.
We were hotswapping four different cards, so there a few cases of a shot spilling over onto the second card in the HVX. (And we definitely saved those lastclip files!)

Without hacking open the Contents folder, is there an easy way to break each offload in half so it can be burned to a 4.7GB DVD?

Thanks in advance!
 
probably not... I say this only because I wrestled with it for a short period of time. I mean, yes you can do it but it would be a lot less headache in the long run (if you are going to be doing this frequently) to upgrade to a dual layer burner. Because...it will depend on how long your clips are, right? and...you'll be dealing with those pesky little (4 each per clip) audio files, xml files, etc.
 
It should be easy, the cards are formatted using FAT32, so there are no files larger than 4GB on any P2 media, regardless of their capacity. If you copy all files that fit onto one DVD and repeat the process until you're done, you should have no problem.

Alternatively, archive to dual-layer DVDs.
 
this is the reason i prefer 4gb cards. its so much more cost effective to offload to single layer dvds, but it also depends on what type of shoots you do. i shoot mostly action sports and short segments for tv(promotions department stuff). but i have gone through a 8 gb card and split it up by audio and video clips and i put the same lastclip.txt file on both dvds(and made a note of it on the dvd) so i can just combine them together if i ever need to. single layer dvd, fitty cents, dual layer, around 2 bucks.
 
manglerBMX said:
i found these dual layer dvds this morning for a lot cheaper than most places

http://meritline.stores.yahoo.net/playo-dl-dvd-plus-r-dual-layer-blank-media.html
Click to expand...
I don't know who the actual manufacturer of those disks is, but I don't like super-cheap media. I have bought cheap dual-layer media in the past for archiving P2 footage, and the fact that at least half of the burns failed (during the burning itself) means that I don't trust the disks at all, and I abandoned the idea.


I now use hard drives (for quick access) and high-quality Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim DVDs (for archiving). I'd rather spend a little more and get these:
I prefer the inkjet-printable disks because I like neatly labelled disks, and even if you handwrite on them, the paper-like surface makes it easier than shiny tops. And while the inkjet-printable disks are more expensive, in this case the write speed is also higher.
 
WinRAR has proven itself to be very reliable, so I would have no issue with it from that perspective.
 
Slightly off topic, I backed up several P2 cards (well alot actually) to data DVD's. I just transfered the contents onto my hard drive from a certain project, but Avid doesnt recognize the files burned onto the dvd, and yes they are copied to a drive, not direct import from DVD. Can anyone troubleshoot?
 
Eric Papa said:
Slightly off topic, I backed up several P2 cards (well alot actually) to data DVD's. I just transfered the contents onto my hard drive from a certain project, but Avid doesnt recognize the files burned onto the dvd, and yes they are copied to a drive, not direct import from DVD. Can anyone troubleshoot?
Click to expand...

Don't know if this is your problem but sometimes when you copy files to a CD or DVD then write them back to a hard drive you need to make sure they are not marked "read only" (as they would have been on the plastic disc once you wrote them). Just right click on the card directory on your hard drive, then click on properties . . . if it is read only just uncheck the box and click okay (or apply . . .).

Let us know if that was it?
 
Thanks everyone! I went with Verbatim DVD+R DL.

Funkycoldg sent me a PM too, very helpful!
"We shoot on 8 gig cards and back up with Roxio Easy Cd Creator. It has an option to spit files over multiple discs. This was we can put one card on 2 discs with-out an hassle. After you go and try and pull it from the DVD it will ask you for the 2nd disc and put everything back on your drive like it originally was. We have had no problem after working this way for a little over a year now."

Sounds like with Roxio, you can archive to 4.7GB DVDs no matter how big your P2 cards are! Anyone else use this program? I'm using Nero Express, which came free with my burner, and it doesn't look like this option is available.
 
I have Roxio Easy CD Creator as well, and I have split projects that way -- the program does this automatically when the files don't fit on a single disk.

The downside with this is that it requires a program to reassemble the pieces. That program is placed on the disk, and while I haven't run into programs myself, I have read online about errors while trying to reassemble files. You could also run into issues when you try to access the files on a Mac, since the program is for Windows only.

I think it would be better if it could optionally merely optimize disk usage and not split files. I'm sure there is a program somewhere that will do this, I just don't know one off the top of my head.
 
THoff said:
WinRAR has proven itself to be very reliable, so I would have no issue with it from that perspective.
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Thanks. Doing some tests today.

Can a Mac open .exe files? Just wondering if I should make them self executable or not.

One drawback to this method I can see is that you'd need to copy each part of the file to the hard drive first and then extract. Rather than the method described by Can Scanner which just asks for the next disc.

Also, how would people recommend storing DVDs? I was thinking of just getting a bunch of plastic sleeves, or maybe a CD wallet... I don't really like the idea of them sitting bare on top of each other on a spindle...
 
No, the Mac OS doesn't support Windows executables. You could run them under Bootcamp, but when you run Windows under Bootcamp, you can't access drives formatted using the Macintosh file systems -- only FAT and NTFS volumes.

I store my archival DVDs in plastic sleeves from Staples inside a Pelican case with some desiccant in it.
 
peachy. I'm considering firing my clients, selling my stuff on eBay . . . and waiting for Jobs to introduce the "iCamera" Probably NAB '08 -- That should take care of everything.
 
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