MAC users whove had footage corrupted - chime in!

wgzn

wgzn

Veteran
ok, barry and i keep arguing about this subject. and i think we need to redirect our energy to solving it rather than gumbling about it :]

FACT: there are a number of people on this forum who use mac computers and have had their P2 footage end up corrupted.

barry's stance: there is something inherent in the mac workflow that causes this problem as he hears it time and time and time again.

my stance: the problem is possibly self created. that there is some little thing that people are doing that causes the problem. as ive been using macs and P2 cards for 3 years with no problems whatsoever.

so, those of you who have had problems. could you chime in here and detail your shooting/offloading process as well as some general machine info.

i'll start with a few questions:
- do you write protect your cards? and have you done so from day 1?
- do you use a utility (like p2cms or shotput) to offload your footage?
- do you just do a drag and drop/copy and paste to offload your footage?
- when offloading, are you using:
a. duel adapter to macbook pro
b. pcmcia with older powerbook
c. connecting your camera directly to your computer
- do you connect your camera to the computer via firewire or usb
- do you offload:
a. to the computers internal drive
b. an external drive connected to your computer - and if so. is it fw or usb (or other)
c. direct to a drive connected to your camera
d. if you are using an external drive - what brand is it?
- does your screensaver typically come on during a transfer
- are you running any virus protection or drive maintenance programs
- are you running any system modification programs (things that effect the user interface)
- is the drive you offload to journaled
- do you use your cards with both mac AND windows computers
- are you using FCP or premiere or both

- what version P2 cards are you using
- how and where do you store your P2 cards
- do you keep the cards in their original plastic cases
- do you replace the black rubber endcaps on them after use
- do your store them near speakers, crt monitors, in the garage or in your car

let's hear from you guys so we can help to stop these problems for you and others in the future!
 
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Thanks for starting this thread. Yes, please, let's solve this once and for all so we have definitive answers for anyone who gets affected in the future!
 
ill get the ball rolling. as one of the lucky folks whove never had a problem:

- i do simple drag and drops to transfer footage
create new folder on my storage destination for each card. label them CARD_01, CARD_02, and so on. no spaces or odd characters
- have used both usb and firewire direct from camera to computer. usb is faster on my macpro
- typically use the pcmcia slot on an old powerbook 17" 1.0ghz
- have used macbook pro and duel adapter with 100% success
- have NEVER EVER write protected a card
- typically use macs for transfers. have used windows like 4 times
- have no antivirus programs
- all my cards are R series
- store my cards in original plastic cases. if the card isnt in the cam its in the case - PERIOD. no pockets, no dashboards
- never used the black rubber caps. discarded them in fact
- cards are stored indoors in the case with my camera
- card slot on camera is closed at all times unless changing cards
- i do not typically shoot in dirty, wet or hostile conditions
- dont use drives that can be purchased at office supply stores (i.e. lacie, wd, maxtor, etc...)
 
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Two year P2/Mac user here. I've never had a problem with footage, ever.

Gear:
HVX200
2 16GB R Series Cards
MacBook Pro (with eSata port)
Duel Adapter

Answers to questions:
1. Yes, I write protect a card after it's full, before it is offloaded.
2. I use P2CMS mostly to view files, not really to offload or transfer footage.
3. Yes, I drag and drop to either my desktop or to an external drive (USB or Firewire).
4. When offloading, I am using a Duel Adapter to MacBook Pro.
5. I rarely ever connect the camera to computer, but when I do it is with firewire.
6. I sometimes offload to the computer's internal drive if I can't plug a drive in (for run and gun reasons). Other than that, I offload to both firewire and USB hard drives. The brands I have used are LaCie, Iomega, and Western Digital.
7. My screen saver does not typically come on, no.
8. NO virus protection or drive maintenance.
9. No system modification programs.
10. The firewire drives are Journaled, yes. Usually not the USB drives.
11. I have not used cards with both Windows and Mac. I tested an offload on a Windows computer one time, that was it.
12. I am using Final Cut Pro.
13. R series cards
14. The cards are stored either in their cases or in the camera's p2 slots.
15. Yes, original cases, see above.
16. Try to put the rubber ends on before storage in the cases.
17. The cards usually sit in a closet, on a computer desk, or near a computer desk in a pelican or camera backpack.


There's my story guys. No problems here so far.
 
I basically use WGZN's procedure exactly, although I sometimes use P2CMS to get footage onto an external OWC Mercury Elite Pro FW800 drive. I also keep the P2 card in my camera if I am shooting almost daily and only remove it during 4 to 5 days downtime. Only used this HVX for 8 months now, but NEVER had an issue transferring to my MAC.

System is a 5 year old Mac G5 dual 2.5 GHZ 5.0MB ram OSX Tiger 10.4.11 ATI 9800XT Pro graphics card FCP 6.06. 6 TB of storage with OWC RAID 0 7200 RPM drives.

Also used it with FCP 5.14 no problem. Using "R" series card. I maintain my OS religiously.
 
Luckily after 3 years still no footage lost ... touch wood...

Numbered my card dumps from day one... up to 805 and have not lost a clip yet...

Tend to still use the old 1.67 and dump to lacie rugged hard drive... although now with 64gb cards I'm not off loading in the field anymore...

Cheers

PS... I always write protect the card when I take it out of a camera....

Also I use DiscCatalouge maker to take snapshots of my P2 hard drive in storage... works pretty sweet...

I've got 36 working hard drives and 14 P2 Hard Drives... (all firewire/USB) as back up drives...
 
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My responses:

1. Yes, I write protect a card after it's full, before it is offloaded.

2. Don't use any offloading apps, even though I have several.

3. Drag and drop to either my desktop or to an external drive (USB or Firewire).

4. Used to use DA, but now use USB2 transfers to MBP or MP.

5. Camera is used to transfer, usually by USB2.

6. Offloads directly to media drives via USB2 to Seagate or Hitachis.

7. Never run background utilities.

8. NO virus protection or drive maintenance.

9. No system modification programs.

10. The media drives are not journaled, yes.

11. I have not used cards with both Windows and Mac. I tested an offload on a Windows computer one time, that was it.

12. I am using Final Cut Pro.

13. 3 R series cards and 1 E series

14. The cards are stored either in their cases.

15. Yes, original cases, see above.

16. Try to put the rubber ends on before storage in the cases.

17. The cards usually sit in a closet, on a computer desk, or near a computer desk in a case.

In four plus years, we have never had a problem.

But we take pains to run a very clean updated system
 
I haven't had any issues with offloading my footage with p2, and have been using p2 for about 4 years. I'm a firm believer that the HD you offload your footage onto is of enormous importance.

I also organize separate folders for each card before I offload the card.


Here is my method

- I don't write protect my cards

- Drag and drop my footage

- When offloading I use:
a. duel adapter to macbook pro
b. pcmcia with older powerbook
c. connecting your camera directly to your computer

both firewire and usb connected

I've offloaded to the computer's internal drive and external drive

I've connected

usb

fw400 + 800

external drives are always [wiebetech] I have one portable g-tech

screensaver has turned on during a transfer

Not running any virus programs or maintenance

not running any system modification programs

drives are journaled

cards are NOT used with both mac and pc

using FCP

both r and e series card used

I keep the cards in orginal cases with black booty attached.

My equipment is stored in my KATA HB-207 pack.



I love my wiebe drives, I just wish they had a better warranty.
 
When I have a small amount, I go straight to my Mac Pro from the camera via Firewire, when the card(s) mount in the Finder, I drag and drop.

My normal worklflow is an XP laptop with Duel Adaptor on the set, drag and drop to a WD USB portable hdd (hey, I had the PC before the camera). I verify the footage with P2 Viewer before reformatting the card. I then swap the hdd over to the Mac and D&D.

In both cases, I always Write Protect until the transfered footage is verified (just better safe than sorry, I say).

Haven't lost any footage I can recall.
 
I apologize if this is Off Topic for this thread, but I hope someone has seen or solved my problem.
I'm new to this group and this thread. I hope to gain some insight and help as I talk to you all. Thanks in advance for sharing your valuable knowledge.
I am doing a three day shoot in studio. Not much camera movement. We are shooting 1080i and using 16GB P2 cards on a HVX200 camera.
Four times - randomly, (but it seems to be time related), the clip will stop and immediately start a new clip. When we later take the card out of the camera and put it in try to download through our PB to an external Lacie hard drive, the second clip is fine, but the first one shows as being corrupt.
It seems to split at around 4:55.

The first time it happened, we brought the camera to our edit suite and we could get the clip to come in using P2 Log and see it as a Quicktime file. At the very end of the clip right before it stops, it sorta skips and stutters and then stops. Then you can see that the next clip, when opened, starts right at that point. Problem is, it happened right in the middle of a statement by our talent and is unusable. Also, that quicktime can't be converted like it is. if I try to put it into Compressor or Episode, I get an error message.

I can put it into FCP and then trim the problem areas at the end of the clip and export it as a Quicktime and then it will convert to almost anything.
This seems to be a camera problem, but we can't figure out why. In each case, it has just happened without us knowing until we check the footage later. We are now checking the entire clips after each take to make sure of no breaks etc... and trying to keep everything under 4 minutes. We have used this camera and cards for much longer continuous clips before with no problems. We are kinda stumped.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of this post.
 
I just looked at the panasonic manual, as far as downloading... did any of you attach the ferrite core pieces that the camera came with?

The picture on page 77 of the hpx170 camera says to attach the ferrite core.

I have no idea what this does, and I don't have them attached to my camera offload cords. Would this create any sort of issue if they were bumped during transfer?
 
if they arent permanently attached to something when its purchased - ive never used them...
 
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