Dumping P2 without PCIEX

KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

Veteran
Ok so I have a new MBP without the PCI Express slot. Buying an HVX might be possible soon...so how would I dump my P2 without hooking up the cam to the computer? There isn't really a way at all is there? No adapters, no PCIE readers that are FW800 or anything like that? What are the options.

- Kyle
 
Hmm...one more click in google and I found my answer. The Dual Adapter from Dual Systems. Sorry for the unneeded thread folks.
 
The MBP don't have a Type II PC Cardbus slot.

They do have an ExpressCard/34 slot, and the dual adapter works well for those part with it.

good luck
 
What did you mean by "for the most part" ? I can't have the thing craping out on me during the shoot....Does it work or not lol?
 
If ultimate reliability is important to you, get a $300 Windows PC to do the offloading. Don't fool around iwth adapters and drivers and whatnot.
 
KyleProhaska said:
Ok so I have a new MBP without the PCI Express slot. Buying an HVX might be possible soon...so how would I dump my P2 without hooking up the cam to the computer? There isn't really a way at all is there? No adapters, no PCIE readers that are FW800 or anything like that? What are the options.

- Kyle
Click to expand...


One option is to offload with the P2 card in the camera and the camera set to
1394 HOST mode and select COPY TO HDD and copy directly via Firewire to a dedicated hard drive like a Maxtor or whatever you like. The procedure is outlined in the Panasonic camera manual.

It does tie up the camera for about ten minutes but if you're shooting narrative type programs you'll probably have some time. When I offload this way, I usually sit with the camera and hard drive somewhere out of the way and have something to eat and use the time to think while the rest of the crew is either on break or setting up for a new scene.

Note: When I first went to do this, the camera had trouble seeing the hard drive. The cable checked out okay. Then, just as a test, I ran the Firewire from the camera into a port on a Belkin hub and then ran another Firewire from the hard drive to another port on the same hub. That's one more step than outlined in the manual but it worked and it's the way I've been doing it.

I like this method because it's simple and I'd rather not have the laptop on set just for offloading, especially if I'm going to be capturing through it to the same external hard drive anyway.

If you have the budget for a crew person to handle your P2 offloading then that person can worry about the laptop or whatever setup you choose.
 
Barry_Green said:
If ultimate reliability is important to you, get a $300 Windows PC to do the offloading. Don't fool around iwth adapters and drivers and whatnot.
Click to expand...


Going this route, what else would you need or use to capture through the laptop?
Would this be a use for P2 Genie to get the data to an external hard drive? I think that you're suggesting an inexpensive laptop and capturing without an NLE, is that right?

Thanks.
 
Yes, use an inexpensive laptop with a PCMCIA slot. Install the P2 drivers and -- well, that's all you need. You can download the free P2CMS software to manage your P2 clips, or you can just use Windows Explorer to drag 'n' drop the contents from the card to an external hard disk. Or you could use P2 Genie. It's all up to how you like to work.
 
no. you dont need p2 genie. in fact i dont really see the need for that at all.

its just a drag and drop situation. the p2 card (connected either via firewire or via pcmcia or various adapter) shows up just like any other external storage device.

select all. drag. drop. done.
 
Barry_Green said:
Yes, use an inexpensive laptop with a PCMCIA slot. Install the P2 drivers and -- well, that's all you need. You can download the free P2CMS software to manage your P2 clips, or you can just use Windows Explorer to drag 'n' drop the contents from the card to an external hard disk. Or you could use P2 Genie. It's all up to how you like to work.
Click to expand...


Thanks Barry and wzgn! I use a MacBookPro and have almost no experience with
Windows. That 's a big help for me. The drag and drop sounds like a great option.
 
KyleProhaska said:
What did you mean by "for the most part" ? I can't have the thing craping out on me during the shoot....Does it work or not lol?
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the Duel adaptor ? Any chance that you aren't following the proper usage procedure?

• power up laptop, wait for everything to completely load
• plug in adapter
• wait five seconds and put the card in
• if you unplug the adapter, you have to restart the process before downloading another card.


I use one with a MBP on Tiger, it works flawlessly.
 
Barry, you mentioned a $300 laptop. Who is the manufacturer. I googled and found one I've never heard of. Just curious about the make/model...I'll be in the market for a laptop soon. thx.

Oh, and another dumb question....when dumping from P2 via PCMCIA and P2 Genie, how does an eSATA connect to the laptop...what port? I have a HVX 200 but haven't upgraded my editing workstation, etc. May be doing this very soon. So I'm researching.
 
You probably can't buy a new laptop these days that has a PCMCIA slot, they all have Express slots. I believe a "$300 laptop" means used, cheap, old enough to have a PCMCIA slot. The only thing else to make things easy would be a USB 2.0 to connect external HDDs to drag n drop.
 
Dick Campbell said:
You probably can't buy a new laptop these days that has a PCMCIA slot, they all have Express slots.
Click to expand...
100% wrong. You can buy brand-new laptops with PCMCIA slots from many manufacturers, including the biggest names like Lenovo and Sony.

I believe a "$300 laptop" means used, cheap, old enough to have a PCMCIA slot.
Click to expand...
As stated already, brand new ones are available. You could get a brand-new Lenovo R61 for about $500 with a PCMCIA slot. But what I was referring to with the "$300" bit was the labor-day or memorial-day or 4th-of-July-day sales where places like Best Buy and OfficeMax and Staples usually have a super-blowout cheapo deal, and those usually have PCMCIA slots.
 
Thanks for the laptop clarification...now about my other question. Talk me thru how this works: I insert a P2 card into the lapatops PCMCIA slot...then via P2 Genie I dump footage from the card to a eSATA (or other device). How do I connect the eSATA? (Right now eSATA is my prefered method, but I'm open to other ideas)....so how does the eSATA connect?
 
Well, since few if any laptops include a SATA port, that obviously raises a question. You could get a laptop with two PCMCIA slots and use a PCMCIA->eSata board, or you could get a laptop with one PCMCIA and one ExpressCard slot and use an ExpressCard->eSata converter.
 
I haven't bought the system yet. So I'm open to all "cost effective" ideas. I'm basically a one-man-band, so simple workflow is preferred. I use freelancers when necessary.
 
Use the internal drive. It's one less thing to worry about or attach. If the laptop you're using is older or has a tiny HDD, you can upgrade for less than $100 from a company like NewEgg. If you want to integrate with Macs when you get back, get a NAS HDD. It can double as a backup drive if you keep the files locally on the Macs.

I also recommend using P2 viewer instead of drag-and-drop from explorer. It will let you create a virtual P2 card of any size and automatically combine files that were spanned over more than one physical card.

If you spend a little extra, you can get a laptop that can handle OnLocation and make it work double-duty as a monitor. I run a Dell that was $900, with a 120GB HDD, extra battery, and enough power to run OnLocation and Edius. It makes it much easier to do perfect keying. It's also awesome to be able to start editing in the field, in case you want to see how shots are going to work together before you leave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top