I don't like the idea of stripping out the video and audio MXF files and copying them into the Avid MediaFiles\1 directory. You lose the metadata, and you split the clips that go across P2 cards. Also, I would like a way to keep track of all the material from any given shoot, and have a sane way to archive and keep track of my stuff.
With my tape cameras, I use a simple naming convention (0001, 0002, 0003, etc.) for miniDV, and a variation of that (A0001, A0002, etc.) for large DVCAM tapes. I keep a spreadsheet to keep track of what is on each tape, and what the ending timecode is. If I lose a media drive or delete the captures for a project, I can always do a batch capture to recover the data.
I wanted something like that for the P2 data, but without the restriction of one-card-one-name. I decided to use the date as the basis for a naming convention. Everything I shot last Saturday is called 2006.06.17-00. Sunday's shoot is 2006.06.18-00. If I had more cameras, or did multiple shoots on the same day, the data could be called 2006.06.18-01, 2006.06.18-02, and so on. That way I have packages that can be managed and archived via normal IT means.
The trick is to use the P2 viewer and create a virtual P2 card that has the data from all the P2 cards shot with a particular camera at a particular shoot.
Here's how to do it:
Bring a laptop and a couple of big external USB or 1394 drives to your shoot. You'll only use one of them, the second one is a backup. Create directories P2\1, P2\2, P2\3, p2\4, up to as many as you think you will need.
When you need to unload a card, put it into the PCMCIA slot, and then navigate to the P2 "drive" using the explorer or whatever is your favorite way. Do a "select all" and a "cut" (ctrl-A, ctrl-X). Navigate to your first empty P2 directory (the first time this will be P2\1), and do a paste (ctrl-V). This will copy everything from your P2 card to the directory, and then clear the P2 card so that it is empty for the camera to fill up again. With mine, an 8 gb P2 card takes 8-10 minutes, but the ctrl-A, ctrl-X, ctrl-V is very low maintenence and in a pinch can be done even while shooting, without an assistant.
At the end of the day, bring up the P2 viewer and make each P2 directory into a virtual P2 card. Then define a brand new virtual P2 card that will eventually contain all the material from your shoot. If you were doing it today you could create an empty directory called 2006.06.21-00, and identify it as a virtual P2 card. In the P2 viewer, set up your primary bin to show all virtual P2 cards. Set up the secondary bin to show the new empty virtual P2 card, in this case 2006.06.21-00. In the primary bin, do a "select all" (ctrl-A), and drag the files down into the secondary bin. The copy will take a long time, but you will end up with all the clips and all the data under one big ass Contents directory.
When you want to access the clips in Avid, just share the directory 2006.06.21-00, and then mount it on the same computer as a network drive. Then bring up Avid. Avid will recognize the network drive with the Contents directory at its root, and do its thing. You can use the Media Tool to find your clips and drag them into a bin in Avid.
I have been doing it this way for a few weeks, and so far it has been working great!
geo.
With my tape cameras, I use a simple naming convention (0001, 0002, 0003, etc.) for miniDV, and a variation of that (A0001, A0002, etc.) for large DVCAM tapes. I keep a spreadsheet to keep track of what is on each tape, and what the ending timecode is. If I lose a media drive or delete the captures for a project, I can always do a batch capture to recover the data.
I wanted something like that for the P2 data, but without the restriction of one-card-one-name. I decided to use the date as the basis for a naming convention. Everything I shot last Saturday is called 2006.06.17-00. Sunday's shoot is 2006.06.18-00. If I had more cameras, or did multiple shoots on the same day, the data could be called 2006.06.18-01, 2006.06.18-02, and so on. That way I have packages that can be managed and archived via normal IT means.
The trick is to use the P2 viewer and create a virtual P2 card that has the data from all the P2 cards shot with a particular camera at a particular shoot.
Here's how to do it:
Bring a laptop and a couple of big external USB or 1394 drives to your shoot. You'll only use one of them, the second one is a backup. Create directories P2\1, P2\2, P2\3, p2\4, up to as many as you think you will need.
When you need to unload a card, put it into the PCMCIA slot, and then navigate to the P2 "drive" using the explorer or whatever is your favorite way. Do a "select all" and a "cut" (ctrl-A, ctrl-X). Navigate to your first empty P2 directory (the first time this will be P2\1), and do a paste (ctrl-V). This will copy everything from your P2 card to the directory, and then clear the P2 card so that it is empty for the camera to fill up again. With mine, an 8 gb P2 card takes 8-10 minutes, but the ctrl-A, ctrl-X, ctrl-V is very low maintenence and in a pinch can be done even while shooting, without an assistant.
At the end of the day, bring up the P2 viewer and make each P2 directory into a virtual P2 card. Then define a brand new virtual P2 card that will eventually contain all the material from your shoot. If you were doing it today you could create an empty directory called 2006.06.21-00, and identify it as a virtual P2 card. In the P2 viewer, set up your primary bin to show all virtual P2 cards. Set up the secondary bin to show the new empty virtual P2 card, in this case 2006.06.21-00. In the primary bin, do a "select all" (ctrl-A), and drag the files down into the secondary bin. The copy will take a long time, but you will end up with all the clips and all the data under one big ass Contents directory.
When you want to access the clips in Avid, just share the directory 2006.06.21-00, and then mount it on the same computer as a network drive. Then bring up Avid. Avid will recognize the network drive with the Contents directory at its root, and do its thing. You can use the Media Tool to find your clips and drag them into a bin in Avid.
I have been doing it this way for a few weeks, and so far it has been working great!
geo.
