Urgent advice - P2 storage

[taylormade]

I'm off to a shoot this weekend and need to download my P2 cards into my laptop each evening to clear space. I haven't had to do this on a project before. Can I just tranfer the files from the camera into the laptop via USB and get usable data? In the past I always loaded the files into Avid via USB but they come in as editable files. I did a test and the files will go into the laptop fine, but I get a bunch of folders with video, audio, voice. Will I be able to get this info back into Avid when I get home or do I need some sort of software program to store the files correctly? I hope this makes sense.

 

[ggrantly]

Probably the most reliable method is to capture the footage using the Panna P2 software. You can verify the files with it. It is available on the Panna website.

Grant

 

[Cole]

Can I just tranfer the files from the camera into the laptop via USB and get usable data?

Just make sure you copy the Contents folder and the LASTCLIP.TEXT file together and label the new folder you drop them in accrding to the contents. If you are only dumping 1 card per day use the date to label the folder. If it is multiple cards you might want to number them by date (Sept 10 2010 Card 1). If you offload from your laptop to another drive make sure you copy the whole folder with the Contents and text file in it.

Will I be able to get this info back into Avid when I get home or do I need some sort of software program to store the files correctly? I hope this makes sense.

I have zero experience editing on AVID, does it require any conversion? Like how you have to convert the MXF to Quicktime for FCP? If not you are good to go. I use Premiere and I love the p2 workflow. I usually make sure I have the card data copied into two locations before wiping the card unless I am on location and need the resume shooting. In that case I make my back ups once we get home. My laptop has Premiere so I usually open the footgae before wiping the card if I can just to be sure. I still miss the safety blanket of having raw footage on tape but I am getting better at dealing with it.

Hope this helps a little.

Cole

 

[Cole]

TaylorMade- I assume by your name that you play golf? If so do you play at Forest Park there in St. Louis?

 

[taylormade]

Since my last name is Taylor, Taylormade Films was a natural. I've played Forest Park, but my golf game leaves a lot to be desired.

As for the P2 software, I installed it, but the instruction manual is useless, I can't get it to hook up with the camera. As I said before, I can import from the P2 card and I get a CONTENTS folder that contains AUDIO, CLIP, ICON, PROXY, VIDEO, VOICE and a LAST CLIP. But what I do with this information is a mystery to me. When I try to drag it into Avid it doesn't accept any of the formats. I normally just hook up the camera to my editing computer via USB and Avid takes the files in with no problem. I can edit them from the card or transcode the files to store them on my hard drive. Looks like I'm just going to use my Canon 7D and forget about P2. The separate sound system is a pain, but the ease of transferring files and the superior storage on cheap Scandisk cards is just becoming too much of an advantage over the clunky Panny system. I've always loved Panasonic cameras, but the expense and pain of P2 is driving me away. I'm leaving for the shoot tomorrow and have no time to screw around with this any longer.

 

[Cole]

I used to work at Forest Park Golf Course (the 27 hole not AAA) before the redesign.

I am not sure what the Avid workflow is for importing but in Premiere I simply select FILE- IMPORT and go to the folder I created for that specific job. Then go into CONTENTS- VIDEO and all of the MXF files are listed. I then select 1, a few or all of the MXF files and click open. All of the data (audio, metadata,etc) comes over with the file from the video folder. I don't drag and drop anything until they are in my project bin in Premiere so I am not sure if that is the issue or not. Did you try asking in the AVID section?

It's too bad you can't get it to work because I imagine the MXF format would be easier than the DSLR route. Good luck on the shoot.

Cole

 

[Philip Bast]

I'm having a similar problem with Final Cut. I use firewire (1394) to connect directly to my MacPro and capture straight into FCP through log and transfer. I have a project that didn't allow transfer that way, but I was able to pull the contents to the desktop.

When I try to import to FCP, it brings in the contents folder, but only one subfolder, the icon folder, then bombs out.

I should note that my "Card 2" folder has a LAST CLIP.TXT file at the same level as the CONTENTS folder, but there's a duplicate of that file in the CONTENTS folder, which is locked ... I thought trashing that might help.

Any suggestions for importing these files properly to FCP?

Thanks

 

[Cole]

I'm having a similar problem with Final Cut. I use firewire (1394) to connect directly to my MacPro and capture straight into FCP through log and transfer. I have a project that didn't allow transfer that way, but I was able to pull the contents to the desktop.

When I try to import to FCP, it brings in the contents folder, but only one subfolder, the icon folder, then bombs out.

I should note that my "Card 2" folder has a LAST CLIP.TXT file at the same level as the CONTENTS folder, but there's a duplicate of that file in the CONTENTS folder, which is locked ... I thought trashing that might help.

Any suggestions for importing these files properly to FCP?

Thanks

I assume you saw this Sticky in the Workflow section.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=118672

 

[wgzn]

I get a CONTENTS folder that contains AUDIO, CLIP, ICON, PROXY, VIDEO, VOICE and a LAST CLIP. But what I do with this information is a mystery to me.

yeah. everybody gets that. thats how a P2 card is organized. but you really dont need to (and in most cases SHOULDNT) be noodling around in those folders.

different people have different preferences as to how they transfer cards. some use tools like shotput or p2cms and others simply drag and drop.

if you drag and drop (as i do) do like cole said above. create a new folder on your computer (or external hard drive) for every P2 card you fill. for example:

091010_CARD_01
---CONTENTS
---lastclip.txt

091010_CARD_02
---CONTENTS
---lastclip.txt

all you have to do is point your NLE to the folder that contains the CONTENTS and lastclip files and do whatever process they suggest for injesting P2

philip, its generally advisable to copy your cards to your computer and log and transfer from that. as opposed to doing it directly from the camera. and its also advisable to use NO SPACES and no special characters in the names of the folders you create for your cards. your folders should look something like this ABCD_1234. there are people who have experienced glitches with P2 and final cut. and i have a theory that they are using multiple spaces in their file naming convention...

I assume you saw this Sticky in the Workflow section.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=118672

i have an ongoing debate with barry about the validity of that sticky. there is emprirical evidence that if you follow that process you will avoid issues. but i also have some evidence that its sloppy file management practices (as i mentioned above in suggesting the naming convention) by the user that causes issues in the first place.

 

[Philip Bast]

I had put this on the back shelf thinking it was a write-off, and fortunately it wasn't a critical item ... I'd just shot extra footage for a friend's project but it wasn't crucial for him that my footage was lost.

Reading taylormade's question just reminded me of my similar problem and caused me to revisit the project today.


Cole:
I remember checking out the P2 offload Sticky at the time (weeks ago), tried downloading the software and could not seem to get it to work. Emailed help desk at Panasonic but never got a reply. Eventually had to clear the P2 card to get on with other work, so did the simple drag and drop to the hard drive.

wgzn:
I tried renaming my card 2 folder as card_2 in case that helps, didn't seem to make a difference. I unlocked the LAST CLIP.TXT in the Contents folder and moved it to the desktop, in case that impacted the process. Didn't make any difference.

And then I re-read your first sentence to me and realized my brain fart.

At that time, and again today, when I tried to import to FCP, I literally used the File>Import function rather than Log&Transfer from the hard drive folder. Just tried L&T and it works fine.

Another example of how the weakest link in the system is the part with the most flaws ... and the most reason to stay humble rather than rant about equipment.

Thanks to both for your input.

 

[wgzn]

I unlocked the LAST CLIP.TXT in the Contents folder

there is almost never any reason (or benefit) for the user to go in and mess around in the folders/files on a P2 card.

 

[taylormade]

Well, thanks to some other threads here I figured it out. In Avid you drag the video and audio files only from the VIDEO and AUDIO folders in CONTENTS into the AVID MEDIA FILES>MXF>1 (Or another newly created and labled folder), start AVID and use the Media Tool to drag those files into the desired bin. I still have to take it for granted that the files are okay on my laptop as I can't get the P2 viewing software to work on the laptop, but all my tests worked flawlessly so I'll go int this shoot with fingers crossed.

Working with Canon DSLR files is a snap. They are Quicktime files that I drag directly into the desired Avid bin from the Scandisk reader and then transcode into the format I'm working in.

 

[Barry_Green]

there is almost never any reason (or benefit) for the user to go in and mess around in the folders/files on a P2 card.

+1. Actually, +1000. Leave the contents intact, stay out of the folders, and use properly-P2-aware software to view or manipulate the footage. If you need to move or delete a clip, use P2 Viewer or P2CMS to do it.