P2 Viewer for Mac

B

Brian Petersen

Well-known member
Sorry if this was answered already, but I can't seem to find the answer while searching for it. I'm wondering if Jan has addressed if Panasonic plans on releasing the P2 viewer for Mac? Myself, along with many others, asked the question in a thread she was responding to, and while she answered a lot of our questions, I never seemed to get an answer on this topic. Has there been any word that a Mac version of the P2 Viewer is even forthcoming? If not, I'd say that's pretty lame of panasonic, seeing as how they talk about how much they work with Apple and FCP and stuff.
 
Well it's free if your on the PC. If your on the Mac I believe that you must pay for it from a 3rd party. Lame, lame, lame! I won't drop a dime on it. I guess lets hope someone in the 4% mac world develops the Panasonic viewer for the Mac.

Better yet, how about Apple jest step up to the plate and make FCP support MXF. Jeez what a concept, support for MXF...
 
4% in the computer world total, but what is the percentage in the indie film world? Everyone that I work with in the independent film community is on a Mac. I know a lot of the higher-ups are still on Avid and other systems, but every low budget film I have been on in the last 5 years utilizes Mac and edits on FCP. So for Panasonic's target market for this camera, I would have to think that 4% is a grossly inaccurate number and that there are a LOT of people out there that are having to figure out workarounds.
 
Absolutely, this is hilarious!

Actualy it's not even funny, it's worth signing an HVX user complain and send it to dear ol' Pany.

What's the case? I believe the fact is they know that the MAJORITY of users out there is editing Panasonic-shot stuff on a Mac, so probably the've sold the license to someone or something for somebody to develop and sell.

Kind of sad and I hope that's not the case and that all that is pillow talk since it's getting kinda late in this part of the world, so I hope that Pana will step up to the throne they own in the Indy world and bless us with a free P2 viwer on the mac
 
Surely a big issue here aswell is P2 card firmware upgrades for Mac users aswell, like the current one that Panasonic would likely recommend we all install?

I don't even know anybody who owns a PC in order to 'do my upgrade'.


ho, hum...
 
Seriously! According to their brochure, Apple is one of their "P2 Partners" They even show an Final Cut Pro System. They make it sound like there should be no problem, yet it's been how long and not even a word if we will get what PC users are getting for free. Give me a break?!? And if it's Apple's fault and they aren't letting Panasonic do something, then someone should let us know because it seem like Panny's just not caring about it.
 
www.ImagineProducts.com is where you'll find the "P2 Viewer for Mac". Panasonic encouraged us to support the P2 format in our logging products because they DO care about Mac users.

HD Log is a deluxe application that does much much more than simple viewing that you'd find in the freebie Windows software. HDLog is a gateway product into managing a digital workflow. It speeds the P2 workflow of being able to instantly view clips, sure, but it also lets you:

edit metadata, name clips, add notes, sub-clip, export only desired clips to FCP with metadata you can't get by simply importing into FCP, edit SD card data, archives the volumes in QT format, lets you cross file search to find clips shot any time, is media format independent meaning you can index all your video whether P2, BetaCam, Vericam, etc., you can also transcode clips to lower resolution for web sharing or index storage (H264 anyone?), upload your clips to a central database (Mac Clip Library) and share it with anyone across the LAN or across the world,....and many more features too numerous to list here.

If you want to "just view P2 clips", get the Bronze version. Our cheapest logger.

This may not be the answer you'd like, but Panasonic has delivered a terrific, feature rich, true HD camera at an incredible price. Critizing them for not giving you more for free strikes me as ridiculous. Doesn't it make sense for them to encourage as many applications and other products to be compatible with the new format than trying to create them themselves? I mean really... following that logic, why not suggest Panasonic screwed you somehow by not making their own FCP editor for P2 media and delivering it to you for free?
 
Dan:

All due respect, but what you're selling is a utility for $700. Good as it is for media management, it's a UTILITY. Give us a break. At least a little bit of opportunistic gouging going on there.

All that's being suggested is that Panasonic and Apple ought to have worked together to at least provide parity for what's available as a FREE utility on the other platform. Honestly, what is so ridiculous about that?
 
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dj gern said:
Dan:

All due respect, but what you're selling is a utility for $700. Good as it is for media management, it's a UTILITY. Give us a break. At least a little but of opportunistic gouging going on there.

All that's being suggested is that Panasonic and Apple ought to have worked together to at least provide parity for what's available as a FREE utility on the other platform. Honestly, what is so ridiculous about that?
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You're out of line.

If you can think YOU can come up with an app that has a FRACTION of the functionality of HDLOG, and do it for free, then be my guest.

Price is set by market demand, not by what YOU think it should be.
 
Regrets, my point is simply that Panasonic should provide a basic P2 viewer that runs on the Mac...and that the expectation for such a tool isn't unrealistic or ridiculous, but would simply make sense from the standpoint of customer service.

Many people shooting with this camera will not need the features of HDLog...even the bronze version at half the price. And it's silly to excuse the lack of a P2 viewer for Mac by saying, "Panasonic gave you a great camera at a great price...stop whining, what more could you want."
 
Dan,

HDLog does some great stuff, and it's a good product. But all I really want is the freebie thing they are giving away to PC users. Sounds fair enough to me.

So no one has heard any word from Panasonic either way? Barry, have you heard anything? Jan, any word?
 
$199 for the full UB version of Final Cut Studio from FCP4 . . . That spoiled me forever!

(So $700 sounds a little out of line to me as well. )

This was the kind of software that Apple used to buy up and then bundle with the next version, makes me wonder what they may have planned.
 
Only thing I've heard is that Panasonic is not in the software business, they're in the camera business. They did provide rudimentary applications on the PC side, but I doubt they have any intention of developing Mac-based software.

The P2 Viewer on the PC is a fairly awful application, actually. If someone were to offer a dual-platform proper P2 Viewer, let's just say that there's enormous room for improvement.
 
Barry_Green said:
Only thing I've heard is that Panasonic is not in the software business, they're in the camera business. They did provide rudimentary applications on the PC side, but I doubt they have any intention of developing Mac-based software.
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So sad. But I guess I don't really know what I'm missing. I don't know how bad the P2 Viewer is because I've never seen the program. And now that I think about it. When I think of the P2 Viewer, I'm actually thinking of the P2 Store Manager.

I have a P2 Store and not being able to install the P2 Store Manager made me more upset than the P2 Viewer. I mean, I know they're not in the software business, but they did make the P2 Store. Bummer I can't use that software with it either.
 
In the pdf of the users manual for the P2 Store is says next to P2 Store Manager "There is no Mac version at the moment"

There's a little glimmer of hope in that statement, right? No Mac version "at the moment" But who knows about future moments.

I would be willing to go without the P2 viewer if they would give me the P2 Store Manager. How's that for a compromise.
 
I think more important is the point that FCP doesn't support MXF yet.
What the hell happened to the close relationship between Apple and Panny?
I would think that native MXF editing in FCP would at the TOP of their priority list when it comes to supporting Panny... There are PC apps that support native MXF editing right NOW.
Think of how great of an improvement in workflow that would be to skip the P2 import step. (not to mention saving LOTS of harddrive space)
Whats the deal Apple?
 
I think more important is the point that FCP doesn't support MXF yet.
What the hell happened to the close relationship between Apple and Panny?
I would think that native MXF editing in FCP would at the TOP of their priority list when it comes to supporting Panny... There are PC apps that support native MXF editing right NOW.
Think of how great of an improvement in workflow that would be to skip the P2 import step. (not to mention saving LOTS of harddrive space)
Whats the deal Apple?
 
Apple will support MXF but remember, Apple is currently in the process of completing a NEW G5, updating their software to work on INTEL chips and putting out brand new laptops, not to mention a major system upgrade coming.

I hate to say it but at this point, MXF support (or lack of support) is not the driving wheel behind Apple's strategy. They'll support MXF when it makes sense to release a version of FCP that has enough new features to get people to by it (not just the relative few of us with HVX camera's).

Avid will support MXF ON THE MAC in the next couple of months.
 
Ask Apple that. Go to FCP, and click on the menu that lets you send a suggestion to them, and suggest that they get on board with offering native MXF support on the timeline. If they get, say, 200,000 requests for it, maybe they'll implement it!
 
There seems to be two issues here: (1) a P2 viewer application for the Mac so we can look at the footage we shot, and (2) direct support for MXF in Final Cut, rather than having to convert the files to QuickTime. (1) is easy, (2) is a little harder.

I've used HD Log for P2 viewing, and it's an amazing program, but it's overkill for simply viewing clips. I'd like to see Imagine Products come out with HD Log Lite for something like $49.95 for P2 Mac users with simple viewing and rudimentary metadata editing capabilities (like user clip name). It would sell like hotcakes, and establish a large user base quckly, before other tools come out. It could be a gateway for Imagine Products to sell upgrades to other editions in the future as a user's needs grow. This is a software marketing model that has proven itself with many tools, you give away or sell at a low price-point a totally usable but limited Lite version. This helps to build a maket for the Pro versions of the software, because lots of people will know the program and word of mouth spreads. There's a window of opportunity for this now, and this board is teeming with users in need!

I'm sure there's a third-party software developer out there right now developing a killer lean-and-mean P2 viewer utility right now that will sell at a under $100 price point and if you're out there, I'd like to hear from you. I want to be on the list for beta testing, in fact, I want to be on the list for alpha testing.

Bring it on! The marketplace is waiting.
 
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