P2 Genie Question

D

dcsla2000

New member
I'm shooting for a week on location and am bringing 2 HVX200s, 8 total 8 gig P2 cards, a P2 store, my macbook pro, and a GRAID 500 GIG firewire drive.
I'm just wondering what the most efficient (and fastest way) to get everything transferred and backed up to dvd-rs is. I checked out the P2 Genie and was a little confused as to what it actually does that Final Cut can't do. It looks like it just saves the time from a few extra clicks of copying, but does it do more? Ideally I'll transfer all my files from the p2 store to the firewire drive at the end of the day, back up the mxf files to multiple dvds (using disc spanning in Toast 7 or I think the .mac backup program may even do a better job), and make Quicktimes for Final Cut Pro. Once I make the quicktimes, is there any real need to keep the mxf files on the drive (if I've already backed them up on dvdrs?) I assume I'd only need them if a) i lose the quicktimes/drive crashes or b) I want to import a take that i didn't originally import.
Thanks for the help.
 
P2 genie is definitely worth the 30 bugs, if you count "some clicks" up to 100 cards it becomes a little more...!

I can tell you from my experience i had starting from april(first without p2 genie..!) that its a great tool(no, they dont pay me for saying it...) specially when you are stressed and shooting, it helps you a lot, it can automaticly names and creates your folders(you dont have to fiddle around with this while shooting) and does also a "backup" to a second destination if you want that.

Plus its doing a kind of confirmation(which takes less time then checking the whole content once again, you got to ask andreas or tony if you wanna hear in detail how it works..) of your copy...!

It wasnt me, but if you have a laptop, it somehow is like having a P2 store if you use P2 genie..i think thats quite true..! (ok, you use one, but it helps you anyway..)

p.s. despite the P2 thing: be aware of all the mac-problems when copying the cards to mac..!
I remember there is one big thread that barry started some time ago...definitly search for it to be awqare of problems..and ideally working around it without loosing footage..!

Good luck!
 
As for the verification - here's how it works in P2 Genie v. 1.1 (Windows):

As files are being copies P2 Genie will keep track of the number of files being copied, and the total filesize copied. If the number of files on the source directory and destination directory or the filesizes doesn't match then P2 Genie will throw an error. It's a kind of low-tech verification, but it gets the job done - and fast! MD5 verification (ensuring that filecontents are intact) will be implemented at a later stage - as will copy from first destination to second destination (which will allow for faster transfers if you're backing up first to an internal disk and then an external disk or two external disks on their own bus - and use the 'second destination' option).
 
Couple other questions before i purchase

- is it possible to accidently write over a directory if you are using the reel naming convention?

- is there a confirmation for deletion when first inserting the card?

- do the primary and secondary drives copy at the same time or sequentially?

thanks
 
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