log & transfer FCP6 vs P2CMS kernel panic?

M

mlemaudit

Member
in the thread " Proper P2 Offloading Procedure For A Mac" it is highly recommended to transfer via the P2CMS application but when I am trying to follow the instruction with my Macbook pro with an express card 10.5.5 connected to a dual adaptor I have everytime a kernel panic!

I used instead the log & transfer in final cut 6.0.5 and I have no more kernel panic. I also did a drag and drop via the finder to directly copy the mounted p2 cards and after import into Final cut via log & transfer without any kernel panics.

My question is there a quality difference by transferring the p2 via P2CMS versus Final cut 6 via log & transfer? I was told that you can't have a native p2 data by going into the log & transfer in FCP... If that's true how it can be?

Thanks
 
I'd be interested if anyone has an answer to this tread.
I've just downloaded P2CMS which seems to be a longer way around than using Log and Transfer in FCP6 direct when transferring files direct from the P2 cards in the HVX200.
Is one way more reliable than the other?
 
You don't have to use P2CMS. Most people use it to manipulate the metadata to help organize their footage, but you don't need it to bring footage into FCP.

Copying the footage to your harddrive and importing via log and transfer is all you need to do to get the p2 footage into FCP or you can use a program like Raylight for Mac which lets you skip the log and transfer step. You can use P2CMS with Raylight for Mac to use the metadata to name your clips so they aren't just the random characters. Here's a Raylight for Mac Tutorial that shows you a little about how to use P2cms as well as Raylight.

Technically, you can't have native p2 data in FCP and that is why you have to use log and transfer which converts the mxfs to movs so FCP can use them.

Best,
Andy
 
If you are using L&T and then simply saving your capture scratch you are asking for trouble down the road.

I've had projects where the capture scratch data gets corrupt (very rare, in fact I dont think I've had it happen in FCP 5.1.4 and above, but still) or where I have to open files from people who only kept the .mov files and not the .mxf files in a different computer and due to FCP differences I was unable to review footage.

You should treat your .mxf files as your master files. These are the files as they come out of the P2 camera.

P2CMS, or simply drag/dropping the p2 cards into their own folder preserves the .mxf files and insures that the files will be recongnizable by the largest amount of NLEs. While P2CMS may seem slow, one of the things that it can allow you to do is verify bit by bit that the data copied over to your harddrive is identical to the P2 card.

Again there are extremly small chances that using the OSX Finder to drag and drop the P2 cards that one of the files does not copy over correctly.

One of the other reasons to use P2CMS is the ability to recall and sort by metadata. An extremely usefull feature in troubleshooting. I had a producer attempt to not pay me once in a multi camera shoot. He accused me of having bad framing, bad focus, and the wrong color balance. Thankfully the production that hired me with my camera package. I went over to the edit bay, met with the producer, showed him my camera's SN, and then had the editor pull up all the p2 cards shot with my camera. Lo and behold no focus problems, no white balance problems, no bad framing. I got my check soon after.

FCP does not save this meta data after you log and transfer. Without it I would have had a hard time proving that my footage was fine.

Basically what I'm trying to say is : save your MXF file. You can use P2CMS to help organize the data, or use other methods but your .mov files are not your masters.
 
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