P2 File Structure

Nascency Chris

Nascency Chris

Active member
I am trying to figure out what I can and can't do with P2 files once dumped to an external hard drive. I know you should not delete the lastclip.txt file but will it screw things up if I rename the Contents directory to whatever I need?

I am going to be working on a project after the first of the year where we will have multiple P2 dumps in a day and I am just trying to be as organized with all of the footage as possible.

Anyone have any tricks and tips when organizing your P2 files?

Thanks!
 
Do not rename any of the folders residing in the volume.

You can rename the actual volume you've copies that contains the six folders and the lastclip.txt file, but nothing else.
 
David S. said:
Do not rename any of the folders residing in the volume.

You can rename the actual volume you've copies that contains the six folders and the lastclip.txt file, but nothing else.
Click to expand...

Ok, thats kind of what I was looking for...I was wondering mainly about the lastclip.txt file because I did not want to overwrite one and screw everything up...
 
make a new folder for every card and you will never experience this problem. in every project folder i have a subfolder structure like the following:

PROJECTNAME
--P2
----CARD01
------CONTENTS
------lastclip.txt
----CARD02
------CONTENTS
------lastclip.txt
----CARD03
------CONTENTS
------lastclip.txt
 
We also use the same file structure wgzn mentioned.
Master folder with
"Client Name"
"Project Name"
"Card 001" - "Card 002" etc.

We will use dated folders for projects that span several days. It makes it easier for logging larger projects.
 
Hmmm...And those file set ups are not a pain when you go to edit large projects? That is what I have been doing with the test footage I have been shooting , I'm just not a fan of having tons of folders...Oh well, if it works why argue, right? Thanks for the input!
 
You don't have to separate the cards out into individual folders; you can use P2CMS or P2 Viewer to copy each card into one master project folder if you want. Just don't try doing it through Explorer or Finder, you'll drive yourself nuts and potentially make mistakes, but if you use a P2-aware application to do the copying (again, P2 Viewer or P2CMS) then you can easily consolidate cards into whatever file organization you want to use. By shooter, by day, by subject, by project, whatever.
 
Barry_Green said:
You don't have to separate the cards out into individual folders; you can use P2CMS or P2 Viewer to copy each card into one master project folder if you want. Just don't try doing it through Explorer or Finder, you'll drive yourself nuts and potentially make mistakes, but if you use a P2-aware application to do the copying (again, P2 Viewer or P2CMS) then you can easily consolidate cards into whatever file organization you want to use. By shooter, by day, by subject, by project, whatever.
Click to expand...

Really? Well I have shyed away from P2CMS based off of user comments on this site and others but I really, really like P2 Viewer, and it has worked well for me thus far.

Thanks Barry and now I am off to go play around with P2 Viewer and get this worked out!
 
Yeah, just register a "virtual card", and set your secondary bin to show that particular virtual card, and then you can have your primary bin show your P2 cards, and then you can just drag and drop the thumbnails from the primary bin down to the secondary bin and it'll automatically take care of copying all the associated directories and subdirectories and do any file fix-up for spanned clips, etc. It's really effortless once you set up the bins appropriately.

With P2CMS you can do the same thing but also have file verification performed. Just use "export" instead of "ingest", and tell it to export the card contents to one specific directory and it'll handle all the copy/directory hassles for you.
 
And those file set ups are not a pain when you go to edit large projects?
Click to expand...

pain? HECK NO! in fact its often a life saver. makes it easier to collect files if a project needs to be moved or handed off. and if i ever need to locate a file i know exactly where it will be as all my folders are generated as-needed and named for their content creator (illustrator = AI, after effects = AE, photoshop = PSD, etc...)
 
Barry_Green said:
Yeah, just register a "virtual card", and set your secondary bin to show that particular virtual card, and then you can have your primary bin show your P2 cards, and then you can just drag and drop the thumbnails from the primary bin down to the secondary bin and it'll automatically take care of copying all the associated directories and subdirectories and do any file fix-up for spanned clips, etc. It's really effortless once you set up the bins appropriately.

With P2CMS you can do the same thing but also have file verification performed. Just use "export" instead of "ingest", and tell it to export the card contents to one specific directory and it'll handle all the copy/directory hassles for you.
Click to expand...

He he, ummm, so yeah...how exactly do I set up a virtual P2 card?? I can see where I can pull it up in Viewer but I'm not sure how to set it up initially.

Thanks for all of the help and input everybody, it all helps tons!
 
Not a pain at all...and I don't use P2CMS. I label the P2 Dump folders with the location and date, and have a database of what is on each card. Very easy to find the footage we shot in Mumbai on August 8, 2008. MUM_080808_01.
 
Barry_Green said:
Yeah, just register a "virtual card", and set your secondary bin to show that particular virtual card, and then you can have your primary bin show your P2 cards, and then you can just drag and drop the thumbnails from the primary bin down to the secondary bin and it'll automatically take care of copying all the associated directories and subdirectories and do any file fix-up for spanned clips, etc. It's really effortless once you set up the bins appropriately.

With P2CMS you can do the same thing but also have file verification performed. Just use "export" instead of "ingest", and tell it to export the card contents to one specific directory and it'll handle all the copy/directory hassles for you.
Click to expand...

I have to say that this is an awesome way to keep everything organized, it was exactly what I was looking to achieve...Once you point the virtual P2 to the directory you want to drop all of your footage into it really is very effortless, P2 Viewer handles everything.

Thanks Barry!
 
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