Barry_Green
Moderator
1. Trying to use a Duel Adapter and it won't mount the P2 cards on a PC like an HP9000? Duel needs to update their driver, but until they do, try using the write-protect tab. Sometimes the cards will mount when they're write-protected.
2. Copying P2 card contents onto your Mac dreadfully slow? You should be able to copy a card in no more than 1 minute per GB, and usually up to 2 GB per minute (i.e., copying a 16GB card in 8 minutes). If your transfer times are much longer than this, there are a few things you can try. First, try using P2CMS to copy the contents instead of doing a Finder drag 'n' drop. Second, if you insist on using the Finder to drag 'n' drop, don't copy the CONTENTS and LASTCLIP.TXT simultaneously. Copy the LASTCLIP.TXT file over, and then copy the CONTENTS folder over. You should see dramatically increased file transfer speed when using a 1394 drive.
3. Can't find the right firmware updates? Try using the Panasonic USA website's front end: http://panasonic.com/business/provideo/support/software_16gbp2.asp
4. Can't read or work with 16GB (or larger) cards? Make sure you update the firmware on every piece of equipment you use to work with the cards. That means you have to upgrade the USB/Firewire and PCMCIA drivers on your computer, and the firmware on your P2 Store, PCD20, HVX200, or any other device that looks at the P2 cards. If your hardware works with 16GB cards already, no further updates are needed.
5. Getting glitches in your footage after you transfer it to a Mac? Always write-protect the cards before ever letting the Mac have access to them.
6. Some of your clips failing to import in FCP? FCP's import window isn't the most robust tool and it sometimes doesn't work. You can frequently fix the issues by un-checking the "remove duplicate frames upon import" checkbox, or, if that doesn't work, upgrade to the latest version of FCP. For other times, consider ditching the FCP import window and using P2 Log Pro to import your footage or, better yet, ditch the whole import process and just use Raylight. Raylight lets you work with the native MXF data so you don't have to convert to Quicktime files at all, and lets you edit directly from the P2 cards or from your offloaded hard disks too. http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/mac/index.htm. HD Log also includes the same kind of functionality. Calibrated software offers the Calibrated MXF import plug-in, which lets you use MXF files directly in any Quicktime application.
7. Using a Windows program that doesn't recognize MXF files (like Sony Vegas, or older versions of After Effects)? You can use Raylight to install a DVCPRO-HD codec and convert your MXF files into .AVI files. http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/ Raylight also lets you directly import the MXF files into Sony Vegas.
8. Camera won't recognize your P2 card after erasing the P2 card on a Mac by deleting all the files on it? Stop deleting all the files, and don't delete the CONTENTS directory either. Either use the Mac P2 Card Formatter (download from https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm#p2pcdriver) or see http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=108454
9. Files won't import into FCP and you don't want to use Raylight or HD Log? Did you change the name of the CONTENTS directory? If so, don't do that. Don't rename it to CONTENTS1 or CONTENTS2 or anything like that. Also, don't put the CONTENTS directory inside any directory that uses special characters like #, $, @, etc. For example, don't name a directory "REEL #1" and then put the CONTENTS directory inside there; FCP won't read it. You could name the upper directory "REEL 1" and that'll work, but adding # or $ or & or * or any of those characters will "break" the P2 importer in FCP.
10. Windows systems can't see your exported Quicktime files from the Mac? That's right -- Apple won't make Quicktime Windows compatible with DVCPRO-HD Quicktime files from the Mac. So if you need to work cross-platform, you'll need to get a solution from DVFilm.com. Either use Raylight on your Mac and export a Windows-compatible MXF file structure, or install the Raylight Decoder on your Windows system (http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/decoder/index.htm) and you'll be able to work with those DVCPRO-HD Quicktime files on the Windows sytem in any application that supports Quicktime.
11. Can't get cards in the camera to show up on your computer's desktop? Be sure to set the PC MODE to the right format for your operating system (1394 for Mac OS, USB for Windows) and then push the HVX or HPX's MODE button to go to MCR mode, then HOLD THE BUTTON DOWN for about 3 more seconds until the camera goes into PC mode. Then the cards should pop up on your desktop. If they don't, make sure you've installed the P2 drivers on your computer.
12. All your clips from one particular card showing up with red "X"'s and unplayable in P2 Viewer and un-importable in FCP? It might be that you changed the directory structure. We've had reports from users who've accidentally moved one of the sub-directories inside another, and this is the result. So, if you end up with a directory that you can't import or view, go check the directory structure and make sure that the CONTENTS directory directly contains AUDIO, VIDEO, CLIP, and ICON directories.
13. Installed P2 Viewer (or P2CMS) on your computer, but can't see any AVC-Intra footage? You need to download the AVC-Intra codec separately. There's a codec for the Mac, and a separate P2 Viewer codec for Windows. Be sure to download and install the codec after installing P2 Viewer.
14. Installed P2 Viewer for Windows, but can't see the proxy files from your HPX300 or HPX2000/3000 series camera? Be sure to install the "MP4 Decoder" proxy codec from the P2 Viewer download site.
2. Copying P2 card contents onto your Mac dreadfully slow? You should be able to copy a card in no more than 1 minute per GB, and usually up to 2 GB per minute (i.e., copying a 16GB card in 8 minutes). If your transfer times are much longer than this, there are a few things you can try. First, try using P2CMS to copy the contents instead of doing a Finder drag 'n' drop. Second, if you insist on using the Finder to drag 'n' drop, don't copy the CONTENTS and LASTCLIP.TXT simultaneously. Copy the LASTCLIP.TXT file over, and then copy the CONTENTS folder over. You should see dramatically increased file transfer speed when using a 1394 drive.
3. Can't find the right firmware updates? Try using the Panasonic USA website's front end: http://panasonic.com/business/provideo/support/software_16gbp2.asp
4. Can't read or work with 16GB (or larger) cards? Make sure you update the firmware on every piece of equipment you use to work with the cards. That means you have to upgrade the USB/Firewire and PCMCIA drivers on your computer, and the firmware on your P2 Store, PCD20, HVX200, or any other device that looks at the P2 cards. If your hardware works with 16GB cards already, no further updates are needed.
5. Getting glitches in your footage after you transfer it to a Mac? Always write-protect the cards before ever letting the Mac have access to them.
6. Some of your clips failing to import in FCP? FCP's import window isn't the most robust tool and it sometimes doesn't work. You can frequently fix the issues by un-checking the "remove duplicate frames upon import" checkbox, or, if that doesn't work, upgrade to the latest version of FCP. For other times, consider ditching the FCP import window and using P2 Log Pro to import your footage or, better yet, ditch the whole import process and just use Raylight. Raylight lets you work with the native MXF data so you don't have to convert to Quicktime files at all, and lets you edit directly from the P2 cards or from your offloaded hard disks too. http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/mac/index.htm. HD Log also includes the same kind of functionality. Calibrated software offers the Calibrated MXF import plug-in, which lets you use MXF files directly in any Quicktime application.
7. Using a Windows program that doesn't recognize MXF files (like Sony Vegas, or older versions of After Effects)? You can use Raylight to install a DVCPRO-HD codec and convert your MXF files into .AVI files. http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/ Raylight also lets you directly import the MXF files into Sony Vegas.
8. Camera won't recognize your P2 card after erasing the P2 card on a Mac by deleting all the files on it? Stop deleting all the files, and don't delete the CONTENTS directory either. Either use the Mac P2 Card Formatter (download from https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm#p2pcdriver) or see http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=108454
9. Files won't import into FCP and you don't want to use Raylight or HD Log? Did you change the name of the CONTENTS directory? If so, don't do that. Don't rename it to CONTENTS1 or CONTENTS2 or anything like that. Also, don't put the CONTENTS directory inside any directory that uses special characters like #, $, @, etc. For example, don't name a directory "REEL #1" and then put the CONTENTS directory inside there; FCP won't read it. You could name the upper directory "REEL 1" and that'll work, but adding # or $ or & or * or any of those characters will "break" the P2 importer in FCP.
10. Windows systems can't see your exported Quicktime files from the Mac? That's right -- Apple won't make Quicktime Windows compatible with DVCPRO-HD Quicktime files from the Mac. So if you need to work cross-platform, you'll need to get a solution from DVFilm.com. Either use Raylight on your Mac and export a Windows-compatible MXF file structure, or install the Raylight Decoder on your Windows system (http://www.dvfilm.com/raylight/decoder/index.htm) and you'll be able to work with those DVCPRO-HD Quicktime files on the Windows sytem in any application that supports Quicktime.
11. Can't get cards in the camera to show up on your computer's desktop? Be sure to set the PC MODE to the right format for your operating system (1394 for Mac OS, USB for Windows) and then push the HVX or HPX's MODE button to go to MCR mode, then HOLD THE BUTTON DOWN for about 3 more seconds until the camera goes into PC mode. Then the cards should pop up on your desktop. If they don't, make sure you've installed the P2 drivers on your computer.
12. All your clips from one particular card showing up with red "X"'s and unplayable in P2 Viewer and un-importable in FCP? It might be that you changed the directory structure. We've had reports from users who've accidentally moved one of the sub-directories inside another, and this is the result. So, if you end up with a directory that you can't import or view, go check the directory structure and make sure that the CONTENTS directory directly contains AUDIO, VIDEO, CLIP, and ICON directories.
13. Installed P2 Viewer (or P2CMS) on your computer, but can't see any AVC-Intra footage? You need to download the AVC-Intra codec separately. There's a codec for the Mac, and a separate P2 Viewer codec for Windows. Be sure to download and install the codec after installing P2 Viewer.
14. Installed P2 Viewer for Windows, but can't see the proxy files from your HPX300 or HPX2000/3000 series camera? Be sure to install the "MP4 Decoder" proxy codec from the P2 Viewer download site.
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