Long one-shot take in 2 P2cards

D

D.G.Pedrera

Member
Hello guys,

I've just started working with a HPX171 and P2 Cards. I work very much with long one shot takes and I have a doubt:

I have two 32GB Cards. Let's suppose that I am shooting in DVCProHD 720pN24, so I will have ca. 80 min per card. Let's say that my shoot will be 120 min. I would like to know if this is possible. And if it is, how it works when I import the content of the 2 cards to the computer.

Thanks very much in advance.

D.G.
 
Sure it would work fine- the takes are automatically spanned by most editing programs. Which editor are you using?

-Noah
 
Thanks Noah,

so if I understood it correctly, when the 80 min of the first card are "completed", it will automatically "change" to the other card and then my one take shoot will not be cut, yep?

And when I import it (I am using Final Cut), I will have 2 clips and it is just put them together in the time line, so my 120 min one shot will be ok?

Bests,

D.G.
 
Hi DG,

The camera will automatically start recording to the second card if your shot fills up the first card. The clip will be a 'spanned' clip and the editing software will/should 'stitch' the clip back together.

Make sure you write protect the cards before you mount them on your Mac desktop, this is really important as the Mac system could corrupt the data on the cards.

In order for FCP to stitch the clip back together it must be able to see both cards at the same time. So you need to either connect the camera with both cards installed or use one of the Panasonic devices that takes multiple cards. As long as both cards are mounted on the desktop, Log and Transfer in FCP should pick them up.

If you use the Panasonic P2CMS software you will have to offload one card at a time but if you use the same destination folder P2CMS will stitch the clip like Log and Transfer does in FCP.

I use FCP and have done for the last 16 months without any problems but I have also started to try out P2CMS for offloading.

Don't forget to write protect the cards.

Have a look at Barry's tips on offloading to the Mac platform.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=118672

Weenie
 
D.G.Pedrera said:
Thanks Noah,

so if I understood it correctly, when the 80 min of the first card are "completed", it will automatically "change" to the other card and then my one take shoot will not be cut, yep?

And when I import it (I am using Final Cut), I will have 2 clips and it is just put them together in the time line, so my 120 min one shot will be ok?

Bests,

D.G.
Click to expand...
but you will not have just two clips. since P2 cards are FAT32 and limited to 4GB (~12min of footage @720p24pn), a new clip will be created every ~12 min. but as mentioned above, this is not a problem, and each clip will import with a unique ID. FCP will show the clip as "incomplete".
 
It is true that long clips will be divided into 4GB sections on the cards but it's nothing to be concerned about.

FCP will 'stitch' all the parts of the clip back into one clip within Log-and-Transfer no matter how many sections it has. If all the parts of the clip are spanned across two cards, as long as FCP can see both the cards i.e they are both mounted on the desktop at the same time. FCP it will put the clip back together.

If it's not possible to mount both cards or you don't have access to FCP then you can use P2CMS software (free download from Panasonic) to offload the cards individually. Point each card to the same destination folder and P2CMS will put the clip back together.

Even if you bring the sections into FCP individually it's still not a problem as the sections will 'butt' up to each other seamlessly on the timeline. Having to do this will be a rare occurrence if you have the correct workflow.

This 'spanning' of clips is nothing to worry about and becomes invisible with the correct workflow.

Weenie
 
Weenie, when I use L&T in FCP for a long clip, it shows each segmented 4GB clip. I just select add clips to queue, and it imports each clip separately, but it does not "stitch" them together. So, there must be a different way of doing it?
 
Hi Dick,

When I open L&T it begins to load the cards automatically. It starts with one of the mounted cards and shows spanned clips as 'incomplete'. When it loads up the next card the 'incomplete' clip(s) disappear as it finds the rest of the clips and puts them back together.

If I only mount one card and the clip is spanned across to card two, the clip will show as incomplete.

If I have only one card mounted with a long clip made up of many 4GB segments (but all on one card) L&T stitches the clip together so fast that I never see the 'incomplete' statement.

If I have two cards mounted on the desktop (both containing footage, spanned or not) L&T will load all the footage from both cards into the top window (of L&T) all at the same time. As it does, it will 'stitch' all spanned clips back together (seamlessly) as it goes. The clips in the top window of L&T are 'stitched' in the top window before I select them to be added to the queue. They never show as 'incomplete' unless FCP can't find all the segments. This is how it works on my system.

Like I said before, even if I bring in clips that haven't been put back together they do line up back to back on the timeline. I just want to reiterate that point so that people new to this won't be too worried.

What OS version and FCP version are you using Dick?

Weenie
 
Last edited:
I'm using FCS 6.04, OSX 10.4. The difference must be that I do not mount my cards. I always transfer the P2 data to separate folders on a drive before selecting that folder in L&T. Part of the reason for this, is that I primarily dump cards in the field with a PC laptop to a USB drive, and then connect the USB drive to the Mac Pro back home.

Thanks for the input.
 
I use FCS 6 on a G4 Powerbook running 10.4.11 and the 4 GB clips never stitch themselves together automatically either. The "spanned" (across two cards) ones do, but not the 4 GB chunks that are about 10 minutes at 720/30p each, of which several are generated on a 16 GB card when shooting continuously. I always have to put them together in the FCP timeline manually. Once I do, they play seamlessly.

I'd like to know if there's a way I could get them to reassemble automatically. That would be quite convenient. All I do now is open FCP on the Powerbook, insert the P2 card, select L&T, see the clip list, select all and click "add to queue" (or whatever that button's called), which copies everything to the project's capture scratch folder. Am I missing something?
 
Since moving to P2 I have always been on 10.5 and I'm now running 10.5.7

I don't know if that has anything to do with how FCP works on my system.

Dick, I'm not sure what version of P2CMS is available for the PC but if it works the same as it does on my Mac you will be able to have it put the clips back together by selecting the same destination folder to offload the clips to.

Weenie
 
Deaniweenie said:
Hi DG,

The camera will automatically start recording to the second card if your shot fills up the first card. The clip will be a 'spanned' clip and the editing software will/should 'stitch' the clip back together.

Make sure you write protect the cards before you mount them on your Mac desktop, this is really important as the Mac system could corrupt the data on the cards.

In order for FCP to stitch the clip back together it must be able to see both cards at the same time. So you need to either connect the camera with both cards installed or use one of the Panasonic devices that takes multiple cards. As long as both cards are mounted on the desktop, Log and Transfer in FCP should pick them up.

If you use the Panasonic P2CMS software you will have to offload one card at a time but if you use the same destination folder P2CMS will stitch the clip like Log and Transfer does in FCP.

I use FCP and have done for the last 16 months without any problems but I have also started to try out P2CMS for offloading.

Don't forget to write protect the cards.

Have a look at Barry's tips on offloading to the Mac platform.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=118672

Weenie
Click to expand...


Hallo Weenie,

it worked very well. It was so fast that I couldn't see the 4GB segments separated.

I also started using P2CMS and I would like to know if is it normal that after offloading the files with this software, you will only see the CONTENT folder and not the LAST CLIP.txt file in the destination folder of your computer.

Thanks!
 
I haven't really seen the need for P2CMS, I'm perfectly happy with my workflow. As long as I understand whats happening, I'm OK.
 
That's all that counts Dick, we have to be happy with our own workflow and sometimes new methods upset the balance we have achieved.

Weigh up all the advice and information and decide what works best for you.

Weenie
 
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