Quickest way to import files into FCS2?

Grug

Grug

Veteran
Hey guys,

I'm running FCS2 on a Mac Pro, I've used P2CMS to copy my footage from the P2 cards to the HDD, but the only way that Final Cut seems to want to work with them is if I import them via "Log and Transfer" - which is duplicating all of the files on the HDD and taking a VERY long time as a result.

Is there a quicker way to do this? (i.e. without having to duplicate the files)

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Should take a "very long time." One my MBP once I've copied the P2 card contents to a Firewire 800 drive I get about 2x-3x realtime conversion to QuickTime from MXF. Just think of the old tape days. Shoot an hour, take an hour to capture :nads:

-Noah
 
Damn... I was kinda hoping I was just doing something stupid :badputer: - is the file duplication a necessary evil then?
 
No, because you can use Raylight for the Mac.

File duplication is only necessary if you want to use FCP by itself. Raylight lets you avoid the file duplication and have instantaneous importing.
 
Raylight pays for itself if you consider how much extra storage space you need for the repackaged Quicktime files...
 
Which is the workflow that you advice for Mac.

Using Raylight ?
What about the P2 backup between two shooting sessions ?
 
Thanks for the clarification guys, it's just very frustrating because it's actually taking longer than realtime to get the footage into FCP - it took me about 40 minutes to get 20 minutes worth of footage into FCP and start editing it.

Is this because I'm having to use the Firewire cable to transfer the files (as apposed to the PCMCIA port of a laptop)? As it is, I'm not really shooting on P2 cards regularly enough to justify Raylight.
 
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Sorry to gloat guys ( but I can not help myself)...

Premiere CS3 simply drag the mxf video file from the P2 Content Video Folder to the Project Bin and you are good to go. Audio is attached. Instant native mxf editing.

I have FCP as well if it is any consolation.
 
Grug said:
Thanks for the clarification guys, it's just very frustrating because it's actually taking longer than realtime to get the footage into FCP - it took me about 40 minutes to get 20 minutes worth of footage into FCP and start editing it.

Is this because I'm having to use the Firewire cable to transfer the files (as apposed to the PCMCIA port of a laptop)? As it is, I'm not really shooting on P2 cards regularly enough to justify Raylight.
Click to expand...


You mean from the camera- yes that makes it take forever. I'd get a Powerbook or a P2 Drive if you want it to go faster.

Noah
 
Shooter said:
Sorry to gloat guys ( but I can not help myself)...

Premiere CS3 simply drag the mxf video file from the P2 Content Video Folder to the Project Bin and you are good to go. Audio is attached. Instant native mxf editing.

I have FCP as well if it is any consolation.
Click to expand...

not really "instant" you still have to copy from the card to your hard drive. That is going to take time. As I said for me the bottle neck is getting it off the card. The transfer to QuickTime is pretty fast. Certainly not twice as long as real time.

Noah
 
Well everyone has to get if from the card to the HD. ... but not all of us have to live with the space wasting intermediate file and the clunky 'Log and Transfer' process.

BTW : my transfer from card to HD is approx 5-7 minutes for 16GB (never actually timed it )
 
William_Robinette said:
I edit off the card quite frequently actually. I love the instant access.
Click to expand...

wow- that is playing with fire my friend. :eek: Where's your backup if the card gets fried? Just as I would never edit off my master camera tapes without cloning and then digitizing them- I would never recommend cutting right off the cards.

Surely a few extra minutes of time making proper backups of your source footage to hard drive outweighs the cost of potentially losing valuable footage forever to a problem with a card? Especially if it's paid work for a client.

Noah
 
The cards were designed to be edited off of. I edit off them frequently, and news stations do it ALL the time.

There's nothing dangerous in it, that's what they're made to do.

Now, with that said, the common workflow is to copy to a hard drive first, if for no other reason than to free up the cards to get 'em back in the field quicker. But it's not a requirement; the cards were designed to support up to six streams of HD editing.
 
Barry_Green said:
The cards were designed to be edited off of. I edit off them frequently, and news stations do it ALL the time.

There's nothing dangerous in it, that's what they're made to do.

Now, with that said, the common workflow is to copy to a hard drive first, if for no other reason than to free up the cards to get 'em back in the field quicker. But it's not a requirement; the cards were designed to support up to six streams of HD editing.
Click to expand...

I'll second that. We sold a huge number of licenses of Raylight Mac to French television (TF1 and FR2) and all their reporters are doing precisely that, cutting straight off the cards with FCP. At least 4 months of that no reports to us yet of footage lost.

I suspect if the footage is worth saving they run backups afterwards.
 
I have both a Powerbook and a MacBook Pro.
I'd prefer to use the MBP ....is it possible to use the PCMCIA to Express Card adaptor, and have the same speed for backup?

And then use Raylight?
 
Barry_Green said:
The cards were designed to be edited off of. I edit off them frequently, and news stations do it ALL the time.

There's nothing dangerous in it, that's what they're made to do.

Now, with that said, the common workflow is to copy to a hard drive first, if for no other reason than to free up the cards to get 'em back in the field quicker. But it's not a requirement; the cards were designed to support up to six streams of HD editing.
Click to expand...

I've done it myself with the lovely P2 drive. :) That said it's not going to be a viable workflow for productions where P2 cards are being recycled on a daily basis or even more frequently. Or edits that go on for many months and tying up the cards for a lengthy post period is not possible. Point is you'll need to copy them onto a hard drive at some point and yes wait at least a little while before you start cutting whether in native MXF or not.

Noah
 
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gigionmac said:
I have both a Powerbook and a MacBook Pro.
I'd prefer to use the MBP ....is it possible to use the PCMCIA to Express Card adaptor, and have the same speed for backup?

And then use Raylight?
Click to expand...

Sure that's a good workflow. There's the Duel Adaptor which gives you PCMCIA to ExpressCard- reasonably fast though some folks have reported driver issues. Or the P2 Drive which is a lot more expensive but a bit more robust and gives you P2 card slots to Firewire 800. One nice advantage to staying MXF is that if you're going to exchange an edit with Avid, Premiere or other MXF users you won't have any file conversion issues as you you would QuickTime. DVCPROHD to PC QuickTime is not an easy thing either as the codec is not standard in QuickTime for Windows. SO there you go...

Noah
 
There is no way I would ever edit off a mounted p2 card.

That card immediately goes to a redundant backup in my workflow.

Then I used a second volume copy to edit from.

Perhaps my workflow isn't the same as some, including Barry's, but I don't have clients that demand that quick a turnaround. My process for each card takes about eight minutes.

As Noah opines, I perceive editing off a mounted card to be dangerous for my workflow.

But as Mom used to say, "we're just talking."
 
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