Scene files and swapping/formatting cards

[MichaelA]

Hi all,
Kind of a dumb question, and one that I THINK I figured out once, but am getting confused between cameras I shoot with. On the DVX I am using TDCats scene file. Loaded it off a card and it lives as scene file 1. When it's loaded onto the camera as such, and the card is either replaced or formatted, the file will be "gone" from the card. Since it was loaded in as scene file 1, does it still reside in the camera or do I have to reload it again? I do have a copy in my hard drive at home, so it certainly won't be "lost" forever (I also wrote the recipe down on paper in the event I had to recreate it in the field, but what a pain). So does the DVX remember a custom scene file loaded from the card if THAT card is otherwise removed or reformatted?

 

[Vardalos]

This is the pdf Information I used to load the “Still Like” scene file; https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/products/ag-dvx200/pdf/dvx200_still_like_scene_guide.pdf it’s the scene file Panasonic developed for matching the DVX200 to the GH4. BTW, it also matches the GH5. This is a test I made to confirm that. https://vimeo.com/244372863 I'm not familiar with the TDCats scene file.

 

[MichaelA]

I may have answered my own question... I took the existing cards out of the DVX and placed in some others which I formatted. Indeed, the custom scene file seemed to be retained in the cameras apparently non-volatile memory. Scene file 1 is TDCats; and scene file 4 is the Panasonic GH4 like; both seemed unaffected by swapping out the cards. So it appears the camera DOES remember the scene files and specific scene file tweaks irrespective of those files happening to be on a card (well, except for loading them). Is my assumption right? Am I missing something? (most likely....)

 

[Barry_Green]

There is internal non-volatile memory in the camera. When you load a scene file, it goes from the card to that internal permanent storage. It will stay there until you modify it, re-initialize the scene file, or load another scene file and overwrite the existing one.

So no, it is not necessary to keep the scene files on your recording cards, unless you want easy access to a large library of them that you intend to swap between.

 

[MichaelA]

Thanks Barry! :thumbup:

 

[jadesroom]

There is internal non-volatile memory in the camera. When you load a scene file, it goes from the card to that internal permanent storage. It will stay there until you modify it, re-initialize the scene file, or load another scene file and overwrite the existing one.

So no, it is not necessary to keep the scene files on your recording cards, unless you want easy access to a large library of them that you intend to swap between.

Thanks for the info, but I want to make sure I am understanding correctly. If I load a scene file and modify it, I am modifying the scene file that's in the internal storage and not the scene file that is on the card. Therefore, if I were to reload the scene file from the card, I would need to make the modifications once again. Is this correct?

 

[Barry_Green]

Yes, correct.

 

[Greg Smith]

I keep one SD card in the card case in my camera bag that only contains my collection of scene files. I keep the write-protect tab engaged and never try to use it for recording video. My "live" cards get reformatted in the camera before any shoot, so they are not a safe place to keep scene files that I want to preserve. This is an excellent way to utilize an older memory card that is now too slow or too small for actual recording - I think mine for the DVX is 8 GB, still many times larger than necessary for my scene files.

- Greg

 

[Vardalos]

When I bought my DVX200 I had a couple of Panasonic reps help install the scene file I wanted i.e. the new scene file 4 that matched my GH4 Natural Scene File. One of the Reps, Bernie Mitchell, wrote Working With Scene Files On The DVX200 Camera. I’ve saved a copy and thought I would share it with you. ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/provideo/agdvx200pj/ag-dvx200_scenefile_installation_instruction.pdf

 

[MichaelA]

Thanks for all the feedback, tips and confirmation guys! Now that I recall, I think I got my scene files all sorted out and saved just before I put in a firmware update a few months ago. That seemed to reset everything and made me a bit paranoid!

 

[Barry_Green]

Yes, a firmware update will wipe the internal memory and you'd have to re-load scene files after that.

 

[MichaelA]

Yeah... I think that's gone over in the fine print somewhere.. but still caught me out! Live and learn! Now carrying backups on a card AND a printed paper recipe (backups to the backup...)!

 

[Vardalos]

Yeah... I think that's gone over in the fine print somewhere.. but still caught me out! Live and learn! Now carrying backups on a card AND a printed paper recipe (backups to the backup...)!

Please publish your "Printed Paper Recipe" doing that, would be a big help for those of us struggling with the same problem.

 

[MichaelA]

Recipe

Recipe

View attachment DVX200 Custom Skin Tone Profile Reference Cheat Sheet.pdf

Attached (I hope) is the PDF recipe for a custom profile created originally by TDCat. There are references to his sites at the bottom if you want to research further. As the stock picture profiles can be restored by just resetting everything I haven't bothered to save them in a print out. I've been using this picture profile for about a year, and it has become my go-to for baked in work. I can also pretty well match my Canon's to it with some minor tweaking of the Canon's picture profile. As such, there are some comments or notes I made where I have deviated from TDCats original settings. I probably use this 80% of the time for baked in fast turn around stuff; and the GH4 like profile (#4) which seems to work better in low light. If you use these settings, be advised that the image will be very sensitive to correct white balance and if indoors using practical lights you really need to do a manual WB, or it looks like poo. Especially under florescents.