Final Cut P2 import duration limit?

ImmixFilms

ImmixFilms

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I'm having a problem when I import P2's to final cut. It will only import 00:11:37:12 of my clips if they are longer than that. Clips shorter than that are imported completely.

I shot at 720p on an HVX200, during filming we copied the mxf files to a hard drive and I'm trying to import those files from the hard drive to final cut using "import panasonic p2".

Please let me know if you know what's happening and how to fix it.

Thanx.
 
Shot 720pN on two 8gb cards. Importing using FCP 5.1.2

Clips that are 00:11:37:12 are corrupted and won't play. Clips that are shorter, import and play just fine.
 
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And how do you get the number 11:37:12? Is this precise and tested, or just the longest clip that imports OK so far?


For 720pN (assuming 24p?), that works out to about 3.5 GB - not quite an interesting number.

(Had you been shooting 30pN, this would be close to a 4GB boundary... or, non-native, this would be right near an 8GB boundary.)

The other question is whether the clips in question spanned the 2 cards - do you know if they did?
 
If I import a clip that is, for example 00:15:00:00 it will stop at 00:11:37:12 and is corrupted. Any clip shorter than 00:11:37:12 imports and plays fine.

In the "Import Panasonic P2" window in FCP some of the clips are (incomplete) and some are (spanned). Both types of clips play fine in the "Import Panasonic P2" window but won't import.
 
When you import, just to try this as this is what hung ME up, in the sprocket looking menu in the P2 import window, select PREFERENCES and make sure REMOVE DUPLICATE FRAMES is not selected.
 
Upgrade to FCP 5.1.4 to begin with, it fixes bugs in 5.1.2. Then, like Shane says, be sure the advanced pulldown is NOT turned on.

And download my video on the FCP P2 import, listed below.
 
I'm waiting for FCP 6.0 in the mean time is there anyway to work around this problem?

Turning off "Remove Advanced Pulldown and Duplicate Frames" worked for the first clip but the others were still corrupted.

ullanta: I shot in 24pn

Could this be a problem due to bad P2 cards? They were rentals.
 
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Try importing just one at a time?

Run Disk Utility and Repair Whatever?

Run Disk Warrior?

Very strange. Can you Import just one take at a time, not selecting any more than just one to import at a time?

And very seriously, you need to get up to 5.1.4. You'll be happy you did.
 
Discovered a work around.

Thanx to my Cinematographer, who came up with the idea.

He let me use his G5 running FCP 5.1.4 but it still wouldn't import clips longer than 00:11:37:12 I was then glad I didn't spend the money to upgrade because it still didn't work.

In the P2 Import Window, I set an IN and OUT point that was shorter than 00:11:37:12 and that shorter clip imported flawlessly. I essentially made a 14min clip into two 7min clips and then stitched them back together on the timeline.

Yeah, it seems obvious now but where were you last week!

By my count that is a 6 step work around, that should be unncessary in 5.1.4, still have no idea what caused the problem.

Hope this helps anyone else with the same problem.
 
I just did a test on my G4 Powerbook and my QuadCore G5. Both import longer clips than this without problem. Its very interesting. I'll have to look into this some more.

Has anyone else found this limit?

Only thing I can think of is a problem with FCP's clip spanning. As any clip more than 2 minutes or so is spanned by FCP.
 
Maybe a problem with the p2 cards then...

But the upgrade to 5.1.4 is free if you come from 5.1.2

Just run the software upgrade utility and install that upgrade.
 
Sorry I'm late to the party, but was this problem resolved? Were P2 cards upgraded to latest firmware? I need to shoot some speeches continuously on 16gb cards. Should I actually roll continuously to create one long clip or start/stop judiciously to create multiple shorter clips?
 
Hello Ben,

I am also experiencing this issue. Last night I "transferred" some old 8mm film footage by shooting it with my HVX200 and an FS-100. I shot it at 720 24p out of the camera and pn set on the FS-100. When I look at the footage in the "Import P2" tool in FCP 5.1.4 on my Macbook Pro every clip shows up fine from start to finish. However if a clip passes the magic 11:37:11 mark in duration then it doesn't import any footage beyond that point and gives me a few frames of a multicolored mosaic pattern. The first time I try importing the "longer than 11:37:11" clips the progress bar acts like its doing something, however when it's done the clip isn't imported into my FCP bin. If I look in the folder where my imported mov files are stored I can see a 32KB file with the same name as the MXF file. I then immediately go back to FCP and import the same clip again and after the progress bar is done this time a clip shows up in my bin, however it's only 11:37:11 in duration and its name is the MXF filename with a 1 after it. The file size of this imported mov file in Finder shows up as 4GB. Final Cut seems to have a file size limit for importing P2 files. I haven't yet tried the multiple in and out point workaround but it sounds like it will work. If you have any ideas as to why Final Cut would be doing this, and especially if you have suggestions as to what checkboxes to check/uncheck to make it not do this, please let me know. In the preferences for the FCP P2 import tool the "Remove Duplicate Frames" checkbox is unchecked. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Andrew



BenB said:
I just did a test on my G4 Powerbook and my QuadCore G5. Both import longer clips than this without problem. Its very interesting. I'll have to look into this some more.

Has anyone else found this limit?

Only thing I can think of is a problem with FCP's clip spanning. As any clip more than 2 minutes or so is spanned by FCP.
Click to expand...
 
It can be a hard drive format issue. I have 300GB Seagate drives bought in mid-2006 that won't import anything larger than 4GB -- period. Doesn't matter if it's coming through P2 Import in FCP or a simple copy and paste. If I try to import a file larger than 4GB, I get an empty 32KB file or an error rejection. My workaround was to import the clip in smaller pieces. What FIXES the problem though is I now have a newer 500GB Seagate I formatted to Mac OS X. On the newer drive, I just imported an 11GB clip through P2 Import. I double-checked the old drive this morning, still can't move a file larger than 4GB. New drive? No problem. I don't know if it's the drives, how they're formatted, or a combination. But I can recommend getting a recent drive and formatting it to OS X.
 
Sounds like it's not the drive at all, but the formatting of the drives. That would perfectly explain why some people are seeing 4GB limits and others are not.... if anyone who experienced the problem and can reformat the drive and report back, it would be nice!
 
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