P2 Store Help?

V

VaricamLife

Well-known member
Looks like the production is going to use a P2 store. It also seems as though it'll be rushed to location and into the hands of the DP before I'll even get to take a peak at it. I've only read the little bits here and there on it in this forum, but don't really know it well. So was wondering if anyone had any 'careful not to overlook' tips (especially any minor settings that might be easy to forget or such). I'll be loading it onto a G5 w/ FCP 5.1.1.

Also, now this is getting a lot more complicated, but if anyone has any insight I'd appreciate it...

We are a Varicam shoot. The HVX 200 is a secondary camera. So we are a tape, offline/online, workflow production. Up to this point I have been connecting the HVX 200 via firewire to my AJ 1200 and recording all materials from the P2 cards onto DVC Pro HD tapes. It seems to have all gone fine for me as far as I can tell. But now I'm being given a P2 store to deal with.... So now I have to deal with how am I going to be getting the materials onto tapes?

Does the P2 store have any kind of firewire and playback abilities natively? Thus allowing me to connect it directly to the AJ-1200?

Each 'card' on the P2 store, is it its own seperate folder then? So it'll have like Card 1, Card 2, Card 3, etc., folders each having inside a lastclip.txt and a 'Contents' folder? If that's the case can I then copy those back to a P2 card and then do my connection to the AJ-1200? I reckon I'll have to go to a PC to do this as I've yet to see anyone say they've got the mounted P2 cards on a Mac to write as if they were just a flash drive, but Barry said he's had no problem doing so on the PC side.

Anyway, as it seems like I'll just be given a full P2 store and couple of cards on Monday morning, I'd appreciate any feedback I can get so my blind adventure is a little less blind. Thanks in advance.

cheers.
 
We're using one on a feature im shooting next month. We will have a dedicated "Media Management Editor" on set dealing with the P2 Cards, P2 Store, etc, etc. A week ago, we rented the HVX and a P2Store for her to practice her workflow with. I wasn't there but she said simply going thru the manual answered all her questions.

so...... short version is see if you can get your hands on the manual.


found it. [download here]
 
Good idea

Good idea

Thanks for that, will definitely print out a copy and give it a read through to try and prepare for using it. Now just need to deal w/ the tape workflow aspect...

cheers.
 
there is no way to play back clips on p2 store w/out connecting it to a computer. Panasonic in it's infinite wisdom went with USB 2.0 as the only output on the p2 store. And it doesn't make folders as much as disk partitions- but essentially the same so yes you could copy the footage back to a card if that was helpful. (but seems like a lot of work)
 
Yah it does seem like a little too much. I think instead I'll end up dumping it into FCP and having to master off of that. Not exactly the most desirable choice (in my mind), but its what I was told to do by the powers that be, so well...

It would just be easier if not for the fact that its the mix of the tapless and tape workflows. That's really what's created the most headache on my end. But the HVX just happens to be a very affordable secondary solution that gives us a hell of a lot better look (and closer to the Varicam) than any of the Sony's we had been using.

cheers.
 
VaricamLife said:
. . . So was wondering if anyone had any 'careful not to overlook' tips (especially any minor settings that might be easy to forget or such).
Click to expand...

Yes . . . do not forget to install the drivers for the P2Store.

(and, P2Genie would make your life somewhat easier).
 
There's a lot here and there on this forum on work-flow with P2 Store - worth a rummage. A few pointers: off-load from P2 Store into FCP needs FCP 5.1 for safest operation and it's the quickest way to get the files into your Mac. BUT only for supported formats: 720/25P and PN are NOT supported. Occasionally, FCP reports file not imported, possible corruption. Don't panic. Select the file again and try - it usually comes in fine.

For safety, directly copy the P2 Store contents by drag and drop - however be warned this takes a long time but your keep the original files, and not the .mov wrapped files. Make sure you copy EVERYTHING or the .mxf files will not be recognied.

Consider using download utilities such as Imagine's P2 Log or P2 Genie to make things easier. P2 Log enables you to use 720/25 formats.

It's not too much hassle; main problem is that Panasonic is Windows biased and we Mac OS people have to put up with vagaries of FAT32 files.
 
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