GH2 File Management

Jim Simon said:
The Adobe forums are filled with folks using several versions of PP that have had issues when they didn't keep the full folder structure in tact, even without spanned clips.
Click to expand...

What issues are people having with clips that are NOT spanned? Outside of the bigger cameras, where metadata can be an issue (which is not part of the GH2 footage) I can't fathom what other issues there could be with that outside of spanning clips.
 
Even using proper folders, if you change the speed of a clip that contains multiple spanned files in it you are going to have problems. At least when you bypass the folder and import the spanned files individually you can trim around that problem.
 
I never use the original folders unless there are spanned clips involved. No problems. I make a new folder and rename the clips. I've been doing it this way since the GH1 with Premiere.
 
Cavemandude said:
I never use the original folders unless there are spanned clips involved. No problems. I make a new folder and rename the clips. I've been doing it this way since the GH1 with Premiere.
Click to expand...

I think you can run into metadata problems if you use one of the AVCCAMs like the AC130/160 and such. Outside of that, I doubt there's an issue, especially with GH footage.
 
For GH2 on PC I use Adobe Bridge to rename files. Most of my clips aren't long enough to span. If they are then I use the command line to join them into a single file first. I'm still looking for a good way to archive. I tried CatDV but it was a little clunky with the mts files. Right now files are organized into named folders and backed up to a couple of local drives and one I keep offsite.
 
Out of curiosity, what's the problem with spanned clips if you don't retain the full folder structure? They've always played back seamlessly on the timeline for me when you drop the two MTS files right next to eachother. Is the problem that there are dropped frames between files? I've dealt with a good 10+ terabytes of GH2 footage over the last year and a half and haven't seen so much as a hiccup. Probably close to a thousand spanned clips. Different patches. Different cards. Different GH2s.
 
What NLE do you use? In Premiere CS5 and Vegas 8 with spanned clips I've experienced little glitches where the video goes from the end of one file to the beginning of the next. Usually a couple of frames off with an audio hiccup. I believe the reason is that since the files use some form of GOP compression scheme the folder structure also contains info on where the I, B, P frames are at the point of the span. If you separate the clips from the folder structure you lose that information and the NLE has doesn't know the first part of that clip is put together until the next GOP comes along. Someone can correct me if I've got that wrong.
 
I'm on a pc and use a freeware utility called 'File Renamer' - you can batch re-name and renumber inside the folder structure to suit your own workflow.
 
This duplicate file name issue has caused us many problems with AC160 footage. SOP on our sets has always been to make multiple backup copies of all footage before doing anything else, so later renaming of clips will then cause different archives to be out of sync with one another and basically unusable.

There were also major metadata issues with the clips and CS5.5, to the point where metadata entry and clip rating in bins was not possible on the Panasonic clips. No problems whatsoever with Canon clips in the same project.

Cost us many hours in post this year. My (DGA non-techie) producer partner has vowed to never again use a Panasonic camera due to these issues - it's been futile so far to try and talk him out of this stance. No biggie for me, as I prefer other cameras anyway.
 
Last edited:
Automator (which is included on Mac computers) also does batch renaming if you program it that way.

Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocZJn6On2cw

However, the way this process is done is by renaming the MTS files, so if you intend on keeping the AVCHD file structure, renaming the MTS files is not an option. Your intent would be to use rewrapping software such as Clip Wrap or 5DtoRGB. If you intend on keeping the file structure, simply title the folder in which the file structure sits in accordingly to a roll number, date, or whatever you are most comfortable with to keep everything organized.
 
Last edited:
I've simply just done away with keeping the MTS files, at this point. Converting with 5DtoRGB and sometimes even just FCP, then renaming the files altogether.

Having similar file names has caused a lot of issues with projects in post, FCP gets confused with renders etc. It's been best to just move to an entirely different file name structure entirely for me.
 
Jimmy Pierce said:
Automator (which is included on Mac computers) also does batch renaming if you program it that way.

Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocZJn6On2cw

However, the way this process is done is by renaming the MTS files, so if you intend on keeping the AVCHD file structure, renaming the MTS files is not an option. Your intent would be to use rewrapping software such as Clip Wrap or 5DtoRGB. If you intend on keeping the file structure, simply title the folder in which the file structure sits in accordingly to a roll number, date, or whatever you are most comfortable with to keep everything organized.
Click to expand...

That has been my procedure for a very long time. Even the 'still' structure starting with DCIM, has the potential problem of colliding file names after one has shot tens of thousands images...

Then use a file management program to organize the set of images, and in this case videos.

The most unfortunate thing about the Panasonic use of the AVCHD format is the lack of any metadata beyond time stamp. It would have been nice to have the camera settings recorded... if only to answer the quesiton of 'what the hell???' when a clip looks totally botched...

Adding "GPS" data would help as well... well... if there was an accessory GPS device...
 
Fcpx actually does a fairly good job dealing with this. When it imports it makes use of a lot of the metadata for naming the files so even if you have two cards with the same names the content once imported into fcpx will have different names. The other nice part of fcpx is it will actually sort the clips in order of time shot. If you have two or more shooters this helps keep the clips together that were shot around the same time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top