rebuilding lastclip.txt?

A

Atima

New member
I've heard of this, I need to do it.

I have eight contents folders with everything except the lastclip.txt file. The folders were delivered to me from a PC hard drive. I copied and unlocked them and have tried to rebuild .txt's with corresponding info to no luck. FCP 5.0.4 cannot find the p2 volume...
 
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This procedure was posted on the Cinematographer's Mailing List by Randy Wedick. Seems like it should work...

If you are dragging the actual contents of the P2 card to your computer and not doing a "File:Import:panasonic P2" capture then make sure that you create a folder for each P2 card. Day 1 Card 1, Day 1 Card 2, or some other organization scheme of your own choice.

Each of these folders can then be imported as separate P2 cards.

If you neglected to copy the "lastclip.txt" file all is not lost. Much like the six million dollar man, we can rebuild him.

Lastclip.txt can be generated by any text editor. If you are using a mac then open up textedit.

Create a new txt file. It will have 3 lines to it.

The first line is the name of the last clip that was recorded.

Back to the finder. Open up your CONTENTS folder. In there, open up your VIDEO folder. Organize the folder by Date Last Modified. Find the name of the last file in this folder. If you have 16 clips in the folder is will be 0016ag.mxf or something like that. Four numbers and two letters followed by .mxf.

Take this name and place in the first line of your text file. On the next line of the text file type in "1.0" (don't include the quotes).

The third line is the number of clips in the folder +1. If you have 16 clips then the third line should read "17" (again no quotes).

I'm not 100% sure if the number on the third line is the number of clips left in the folder (after any on-set deletions) or if it is the total number of clips generated during this session with the card. Try both. Remember to add 1 to that number.

Your txt file should like something like this:

0016ab.mxf
1.0
17

That's it. You should be good to go. Put your CONTENTS folders in separate folders with separate LASTCLIP.txt folders and import them as separate P2 cards.

The annoying thing is that all of the various .mxf files in these 6 folders are locked items and they must all be unlocked manually to erase them.

It's much easier to import direct into FCP 5.0.4 or higher. It does so without leaving all of these locked files on your computer.

Hope this helps. Also, if you ever run across corrupted thumbnail images on your P2 card, they can be generated in photoshop. They are 80x60 8-bit BMP files, and can be filled with whatever image you want them to be.

All the best,

Randy Wedick
DP/LA
Click to expand...
 
On my first outing with my HVX - I never copied the LASTCLIP to my hard drive... and guess what... no problems with some 40+ folders. Hmmm.
 
Some editing systems don't need the LastClip.txt file, luckily it would seem you are using one of the more forgiving apps. I would recommend saving the file for future use in different systems.

-filmstox
 
No need to rebuild the lastclip.txt if you open the P2 volumes in HDLog. You can then export any clips or portions there of for FCP in XML form that is QT clips, no longer MXF. Problem solved.
 
Avid Needs Last clip?

Avid Needs Last clip?

Filmstox or someone else,

One of the editing apps that doesn't need lastclip folder is avid, by any chance?


Please someone answer fast, it would give me some peace of mind.

Thanx,

Pedro
 
i have run into the problem of not having the lastclip.txt file for some clips I recorded (first time using the HVX)...

i tried following the above instructions, and get the the point in final cut pro where i can see my thumbnails, but when i go to import, it tells me: "One or more P2 clips failed to import; probable incomplete or corrupt clips."

what are my options from here?
 
I think all the LASTCLIP.txt does is join two clips together if they spanned two P2 cards. So since you can only import one P2 at a time that is probably what is going on. Did the other clips import?
 
still having problems

still having problems

no i have not been able to get anything to import....i did just think that it might have something to do with my having recorded from one card to the other, continuously....should that change the way i make the lastclip.txt file? in total i have 3 files....the first is a short clip when i first recorded for 10 seconds, then there is the big one from the first card, then the big one from the second card...


i have been able to view the footage with HD Log but cannot export with the demo version...

any suggestions?
 
bhock,

Have you tried P2 Genie? It has a fully functional demo version. The only catch is it will only work 15 times before you have to pay. Additionally though, it is only $25, so a heck of a lot more affordable then HD Log/P2 Log.

As for the two P2 Card issue, yes that would impact your LastClip.txt for sure. I just ran into that whole issue. If the HVX 200 has recorded a single clip that spans two cards then for FCP ingestion (I can't speak for Avid) your one 'shot' will be broken into 2 clips. Then you simply butt the two clips together in the time line and they are seamless. But essentially, if the HVX 200 wrote across 2 cards then the first card's last clip will be part A and the second card's first clip will be part B. So if you shot say 12 clips, but one spanned two cards, the HVX and FCP will read it as 13 clips because one of them will be broken into two pieces.

I'm quite new to the HVX so I appologize if any of that explination doesn't make sense. I'm still familiarizing myself with certain aspects of the HVX workflow. As for know how to figure out what the Last Clip name would be for the 'part A', it should be there in the 'Video' folder if you can at least read/see that. Anyway, not sure if any of that will actually help, but thought I'd pass it along just incase.

cheers.

:Drogar-Smoke(DBG):
 
well, I got it to work with P2 Log software.....kind of...the first big clip from card #1 came out just fine (couldn't figure out the xml part, just dragged in the QT clip, think i had some sequence settings wrong) but i cannot seem to duplicate my success with the file from card #2....for some reason, every time i export out of P2 Log, i get an 8kb file, with a quicktime logo and the right name, but no data....

tried P2 Genie, but it only seems to work with P2 cards, not data on the hard drive....I can't seem to copy anything to the P2 card while using the HVX as a card reader...

any thoughts?
 
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bhockenstein said:
i tried following the above instructions, and get the the point in final cut pro where i can see my thumbnails, but when i go to import, it tells me: "One or more P2 clips failed to import; probable incomplete or corrupt clips."
Click to expand...

Most likely, there actually is something wrong with the clips, and there is nothing you can do about it. But you can be certain it has nothing to do with the LASTCLIP.TXT file. Reconstituing that will not help you.

Have you determined exactly which clip it is? I presume you have, since you say you can read it in HD Log. Can HD Log convert it?
 
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