Use p2cms in field to make database?

W

walnutcrunch

Well-known member
If I'm going to be transfering a bunch of cards on a shoot to a laptop am I better to copy the P2 cards structure and all to the hard drive or is it better to let p2cms ingest the cards into the database?

If I get p2cms to ingest the cards it means that the lastclip.txt file will disappear and I'll only have a series of clips, not the whole P2 structure yes?

Then it will be a simple matter of copying the folders in the database over to the edit machine. Am I thinking wrong about this?

We'll be shooting a bunch and archiving the clips to a server. I don't have a need for p2 card structure, I just have a need to keep clips in some kind of order.
 
Right, having just come back from an overland trip from Mexico City to Lima in Peru with my HVX I can give you my opinion i.e. 2 pence worth.....

I think that you'd be much better dumping off with P2cms.

I'm alomost sure but don't quote me on it that P2cms doesn't keep the lastclip.txt because it doesn't need it i.e. it reconnects the clips into 1 clip.

I've been travelling with my Mac laptop and an external drive with my P2cms database on. On my return I injested the 'travel' P2cms database into my work and archiving P2cms database (not a pretty thing to do but its worked)

I suggest you do some tests!
Regards

Indy....
 
P2 CMS gives two big advantages. #1 it does away with lastclip.txt as Indy says. #2 it gives you a verified copy which the OS X finder alone does not do. And that's just the tip of the iceberg compared to all of the metadata functions you gain. Highly recommended especially on complex shoots.

Noah
 
Getting rid of the lastclip.txt seems like a wise idea. It's interesting that every clip has that whole five or six folder structure of the p2 card minus the lastclip.txt

I'm about to read over the manual and try and make sense of p2cms, but so far I can't see where you can add metadata. Does that happen after you ingest the files?

So now say I'm out for a couple of days, ingesting the P2 cards into a folder called <october shoot> I get back to the office, transfer that folder to the media drive of the mac, and all the footage should be there.

At that point I log and transfer into FCP. Does it strip the metadata when it converts to QT?

I finish cutting my piece and it's time to media manage. At this point am I best to ditch the mxf files and just stick with the QT files for archiving? My concern is that if I don't keep those imported QT files I won't be able to relink the media in the project if I ever need to.

Once a project is done, the files get collected and the whole thing gets moved onto a server where it gets archived.

In that case it seems much better to keep the QT's and delete the mxf's. I know everyone says don't delete the mxf's but I don't see why. It seems to me that the QT's would archive just as well, and we don't have film insurance or broadcaster concerns where we need to turn over the masters.
 
Hi, Im not 100% sure on some of your questions so I wont try to answer them. However you do need to choose "Export" from P2CMS when dumping the footage over. Somehow this makes the footage "P2 Compatible" (i think thats how Barry G put it)
Im putting P2CMS through the paces right now for an upcoming shoot and it seems very robust (I also posted a similar thread like yours a few days back)
 
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