Gonna be shooting a bunch of cards in a couple days... working on my P2 workflow. Been successful with HVX200 over the last year or so... Now I have 8 16GB cards with my HPX500 to track, and although I've labelled the cards, is there anyway to rename them so that they don't pop up as 'no name' on my laptop? Figure there has to be a way of naming these things.
P2 card labelling
- Thread starter morgster
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
If you use a Mac, no, I don't think you can. But on Windows it's easy, you just rename the volumes by right-clicking on the icon and choosing "rename".
You can also assign a card name using the P2 Card Manager. But I don't know if that name shows up on the Mac.
You can also assign a card name using the P2 Card Manager. But I don't know if that name shows up on the Mac.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Okay, so here's where it gets weird... On the P2 Gear (the little deck/P2 Store replacement) you can use USB host mode, and in USB host mode you can actually name the volumes that get offloaded. And that name shows up on the Mac, but not on Windows!
So -- I don't know what to tell you on that one. Obviously the Mac supports named volumes, but it does it differently than Windows does. Windows supports named volumes, but the Windows name doesn't show up on the Mac.
Do you have the option of assigning a card name in P2CMS? If so, maybe that name would show up on your desktop?
So -- I don't know what to tell you on that one. Obviously the Mac supports named volumes, but it does it differently than Windows does. Windows supports named volumes, but the Windows name doesn't show up on the Mac.
Do you have the option of assigning a card name in P2CMS? If so, maybe that name would show up on your desktop?
P2CMS = P2 Content Management Software, free from Panny. ingest/database app. works great.
Barry, I just name the cards A,B,... on the Mac - necessary to edit off the camera via Raylight. Then I just don't reformat the cards. Think it's only "stuck" via naming on Mac. (Though names don't appear on PC.)
Barry, I just name the cards A,B,... on the Mac - necessary to edit off the camera via Raylight. Then I just don't reformat the cards. Think it's only "stuck" via naming on Mac. (Though names don't appear on PC.)
mvb
DVXuser Sponsor
Yes you CAN rename the card on the Mac. You must have write access to the card for example via the USB port to the camera or dual systems adaptor and the write protect tab off. When the card appears on your desktop, click, hit return and type in the new name. Then put the write protect back on.
Using the USB port on the Mac requires the camera have the updated (16GB) firmware.
Importing P2 Cards with Raylight/Mac is no problem through the USB port or Dual Systems Adaptor after it has been renamed and it's very reliable. Also Raylight can organize your clips automatically based on the card name or the ProgramName metadata item. It will also rename clips based on the UserClipName if you want and you can read metadata from within FCP. It works equally well with P2 Card images on hard drive. You can also author P2 Cards.
I suggest you NOT use FCP P2 Log and Transfer and use Raylight for all your import needs. You will avoid a lot of trouble. See http://dvfilm.com/raylight/mac
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cheezweezl
Veteran
wanna elaborate as to why log and transfer is trouble? i have never had any problems with it. i thought about getting raylight but the thing that threw me off is that i was handed a project to re-edit that had previously used raylight and i couldn't open anything because i don't have the plug. i had to have the client convert everything to quicktime. it made me realize that if i got raylight, then anyone i handed a project to that didn't have it would be coming to me for conversions. no thanks. i like that it saves the step of converting but ultimately that is part of my backup safety scheme. i keep my p2 data on one drive, and my converted qt files on another. any thoughts on this?
I don't see anything wrong with that workflow, but Raylight does make the process faster (no import), more organized (metadata), and adds a potentially huge feature set in being able to edit directly from the camera, followed by transferring the finished edit back to a P2 card in the camera. If you need "run n' gun n' edit", this is pretty amazing.
For me, I've never handed off an edit to anyone since being a freelancer, so plug-ins aren't an issue.
For me, I've never handed off an edit to anyone since being a freelancer, so plug-ins aren't an issue.
mvb
DVXuser Sponsor
Half the licenses we sell are because P2 Log and Transfer has failed in some way usually because part of the card image is missing, or it corrupts the video in the transfer process. I surprised you have never heard of anyone having trouble with Log and Transfer, it's about half the posts in the Cow P2 MXF forum for example.
Raylight links are indeed portable from one computer to another without Raylight installed. The links have to be created in the VIDEO folder with the MXF files and the disk volume moved over as-is.
If you have to create new links then yes, you have to buy Raylight to use it.
Yes, you're wasting time because your backup process could be running at the same time you are editing or afterwards at night.
Also if you have a camera person they could be backing up the P2 cards and naming the cards and clips for you, in the field, then Raylight can automatically organize your clips by project, scene, take number and rename each clip file for you accordingly. By not doing that you are wasting the editor's time doing it all in FCP.
Numerous other features save time like the metadata slates.
Apple is demoing Raylight for broadcasters now so that should tell you something.
Barry_Green
Moderator
I would hazard a guess that something on the order of 75% of all P2-related issues that we deal with here, on DVInfo, and on Creative Cow, all relate somehow or other back to Log & Transfer not working properly. Whether it's Apple breaking it again, or not importing spanned clips, or messing up the frame rates, or any of the other problems, it almost always goes back to Log & Transfer.
(and yes, many people have "never had a problem with it". Fine, happy for you, but it doesn't change that 75% of the problems we get reported are all directly related to it).
So I've started sounding like a broken record, I know, but Raylight makes all those hassles just disappear. I strongly recommend it to anyone who's using FCP & P2.
Until now I've always reformatted the P2 cards in the camera for ease... what are the other safe ways to delete contents on the cards? Can I just trash the contents folder & lastclip.txt on the P2 card on my laptop (after transferring and duplicating?) Or are there other ways to do this?
Barry_Green
Moderator
Trashing the folders is most definitely *not* recommended and, while it used to work before the firmware update, it no longer works.
The proper way to format a card outside the camera is to use P2CMS or P2 Viewer to format it. Not currently an option on the Mac version of P2CMS though.
The proper way to format a card outside the camera is to use P2CMS or P2 Viewer to format it. Not currently an option on the Mac version of P2CMS though.
cheezweezl
Veteran
hmmmm..... ok well i guess i've been lucky. that's good. so what about a fix for the issue of not being able to edit projects that used raylight if you don't have the plug? maybe it's not an issue for some people but it definitely is for me. i cut a lot of music vids and often times they will have someone else doing vfx or cc after i am done with it. i never know exactly who the project will go to so i have to be careful with 3rd party plugs especially one that would make the entire edit unaccessable to someone without the plug.
could a fix be implemented? maybe a "lite" version available for free download that would allow people that don't own the plug to use projects that used it but not create new projects with it. i'm thinking out loud here.
i wasn't trying to slam on raylight. i was very interested in purchasing it. however, as you can see it would cause problems in my editing workflow.
could a fix be implemented? maybe a "lite" version available for free download that would allow people that don't own the plug to use projects that used it but not create new projects with it. i'm thinking out loud here.
i wasn't trying to slam on raylight. i was very interested in purchasing it. however, as you can see it would cause problems in my editing workflow.
Barry_Green
Moderator
Marcus answered that. You don't need to have Raylight installed in order to edit a project that was created in Raylight. Someone would need to give you the files in the same order they're stored on their computer, and then the project could be edited on any computer.
cheezweezl
Veteran
but how does fcp recognize the mxf files without the plug? all the files showed up on the timeline but they were greyed out as if they were offline or something.
Barry_Green
Moderator
You need the tiny reference quicktimes that the plug-in generates.
mvb
DVXuser Sponsor
Once Raylight creates the link files it's job is done and the rest is done by Quicktime using the Alias Manager (a feature built in to Mac OS).
If the links looked greyed out it was probably because the MXF files were moved.
The whole volume must be moved to the other computer intact, as-is, with no changes to the structure of folders or volume name. In some cases you can open the link file, Quicktime will search for the MXF files, and if it finds them, it will update the links and you can then save it in the corrected state.
cheezweezl
Veteran
yeah i guess i would need to look into it more. funny thing is when i got this project they gave me the drive that it was on. no files were moved around or anything. in fact i opened it up on the client's machine just fine but no go on mine. same version of final cut, etc. hmmmmm....