During P2 Feature MacBook Pros failed to be compatible with P2 software

chwfilms

chwfilms

New member
I recently wrapped shooting a feature using 3 HVX 202 cameras shooting in 108025P. I own and have operated an HVX 202 for over a year now and have faultlessly used the P2 software to injest footage. At any time I can play footage with the P2 data manager. The Director on this feature chose to cut this film on final cut so I decided to hire three macbookpros to handle the footage. There was an understanding that the P2 software was compatible with Mac. My goal of using the P2 software was so that I could call up at any time any shot and play the rushes.

While using the p2 software - What a disaster! The Macbook pros repeatedly crashed during the 16 gig injest- also the PMCIA adapters are extremely fragile and unreliable - we had two fail - they are large and chunky and also require the mac to reboot each time in order for recognition. I almost pulled the pin on Mac and reverted to PC right there and then - had it not been from the brilliant work from my data team.

We were forced to drag and drop the files directly to the hard drives. The only way I could access and view any of the rushes was to open final cut and then seek the video files and drag them onto the time line. Nontheless - the feature is in the can or should I say hardrive - all four terrabytes of it.

The drag drop work flow was effective and proved 100% reliable for the feature production requirements. I would of preferred to have the easy viewing feature of the p2 software - despite this we got the sucker in the can!

My advice, opinion to anyone out there - only use PC for file injesting (if you want to use the P2 software) - when you come to the edit and want to use final cut, then simply convert the files to the Mac Platfrom prior to cutting - stick to a PC with an onboard PMCIA.

CHW
 
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chwfilms said:
My advice, opinion to anyone out there - only use PC for file injesting (if you want to use the P2 software) - when you come to the edit and want to use final cut, then simply convert the files to the Mac Platfrom prior to cutting - stick to a PC with an onboard PMCIA.
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Agreed. That's what I advise all my clients.
 
That's what I was thinking
Use a PC machine to empty my P2 card and a mac to edit with FCP
But is it easy to put the files from the PC to the Mac
Somebody give a workflow connected to this subject
 
In this scenario, how would one format the hard drive? Can you format it for the Mac and use it on the PC, or do you need to use a PC formatted HD? Gonna shot on an HVX for the first time, and I want to make sure I get as many of the kinks out of my workflow ahead of time as possible.
Thanks. :)
 
All external hard drives come preformatted as FAT32, which is compatible with both platforms, so just leave it as FAT32.
 
I use a MBP, OS Tiger and a Duel reader to ingest through P2CMS- works like butta...

What OS are you using?
 
Barry_Green said:
All external hard drives come preformatted as FAT32, which is compatible with both platforms, so just leave it as FAT32.
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Barry - that's not always true! Certainly some Glyph drives and some OWC drives come formatted fas Mac HFS+.... always a good idea to chaeck any new drive for formatting before use!

-Barry
 
I bought a Western Digital drive that was pre formatted for Mac. It was invisible
to my PC, so I got "Macdrive" software and it took care of the problem - drive
appears normally on the PC.
 
I never had an issue with the Duel Adapter and ingesting to a MBP.

Sorry it didn't work for you. However, we tested workflow with optimal settings before we went in the field.

And yes, you do need the DVCProHD codecs for viewing the footage, except if you use P2CMS for the Mac.

I think that is universal on both platforms.

In other words, to edit the footage you need an NLE that supports the codec.
 
hotchkiss said:
I use a MBP, OS Tiger and a Duel reader to ingest through P2CMS- works like butta...

What OS are you using?
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Hey that could be the thing - using the right OS yes! tell me more! Hey my next client might want mac ingesting as well so fill me with the info please!
 
powerbook g4 has pcmcia, runs fcp, and works flawlessly for ingesting p2. and since they are last generation, they can be had used on ebay for under $500. pc will work but makes way more sense to do it this way if you plan to edit in fcp.
 
Ok guy's
How will this work on the field with a drive
I'm not sure but I thought the drive has to need a power and not power by the firewire cable.
So it will be useless on the field or .....???
 
cane said:
Ok guy's
How will this work on the field with a drive
I'm not sure but I thought the drive has to need a power and not power by the firewire cable.
So it will be useless on the field or .....???
Click to expand...

not true. i have captured to bus powered drives. even crappy mini usb ones work. it's just that you will have to transfer to a real drive at some point to edit. small bus powered drives are not fast enough to edit with.
 
cheezweezl said:
powerbook g4 has pcmcia, runs fcp, and works flawlessly for ingesting p2. and since they are last generation, they can be had used on ebay for under $500. pc will work but makes way more sense to do it this way if you plan to edit in fcp.
Click to expand...

Yup, thats why I kept the G4 powerbook. Got p2 Genie on it....works flawlessly.
 
cheezweezl said:
powerbook g4 has pcmcia, runs fcp, and works flawlessly for ingesting p2. and since they are last generation, they can be had used on ebay for under $500. pc will work but makes way more sense to do it this way if you plan to edit in fcp.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I just did to fill in for my MBP (w/ 2 failed duel adapters).

Just used this set up (PB G4 hooked up to a firewire drive) on a shoot and it's just as fast transferring as the duel adapter into MBP - considering the duel adapters aren't working anyway!
 
quicklad said:
Just used this set up (PB G4 hooked up to a firewire drive) on a shoot and it's just as fast transferring as the duel adapter into MBP - considering the duel adapters aren't working anyway!
Click to expand...

My Duel has worked consistently with several iterations of MacBook Pro's, within it's limitations- after removal the computer MUST be rebooted or there will be a nasty crash on reinsertion.

That being said, I hate dongles, they are a failure point. Thinking of finding a PowerBook G4 with PCMCIA slot and running it bare bones for the express purpose of ingesting P2 cards- as previously mentioned, they are inexpensive now. The caveats are that they are also OLD, with all that entails. Typically the battery on a machine that old will be shot and the screen will be a bit dim. Be that as it may, as an AC powered ingestion station it sure is cheaper than the 5 slot Panasonic solution (where is the simple 1 or 2 slot reader for $499, Panasonic?)

I know Barry and others suggest a cheap PC laptop for this purpose and it's a good arguement. I'm just in favor of having a Mac with FCP on it in the field for those times when you need that, but quite possibly a Windows laptop is the better tool in this case.

I'm going to try to find a lightly used late generation 15" PowerBook for the purpose, Memory and hard drives are cheap, and with 2 Gb (the max) and a 320 Gb 7200 RPM drive I think an older PowerBook would be well suited to the task. My favorite feature on the Mac side: It's nice to have a connected FireWire 800 bus powered drive for the redundant P2 backup.

Caveat- replacing a hard drive in those machines is a bit of a task but here is a link to how to do it:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/powerbook_g4/PB_G4_HD_upgrade/pb_g4_hd_upgrade.html
 
Get yourself Lacie Rugged drives.. the firewire 800 bus is plenty fast enough to edit in the field off bus power...

Also look for the 17" powerbooks G4... the extra screen real estate comes in handy.. although the 15" versions are a little more robust..

Mac's are notorious for screens going bad... and they are hell expensive to fix...
 
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