Using Two P2 Cards

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dmchord

Active member
I've been shooting with my HVX with a single 64GB card for a while now. If I got close to the limit, I'd have to stop for an hour and download the card to a computer. I've got another card now, just came today, and I'm wondering about the logistics.

For instance, can I say, I want shots 1-5 on the slot 1 card, shots 6-10 on the slot 2 card, and shots 11-15 on the slot 1 card, etc.? I don't see away to assign a card on the camera. Or does it just start recording on 1 and roll over to 2 when the first card gets full - and does it cut the file when that happens?

Also, When I mount the HVX to my Mac I've just been dragging the CONTENTS and LastClip files to a folder. If I have data on two cards, and do the firewire mount, are there going to be additional files involved, and if so, how do I handle that?

Thanks,

David
 
You can select the active card, so you can shoot shots 1-5 then switch if you want. Most of the time I don't bother because the answer to your second question about automatic rollover is yes. So usually I just let it roll over all by itself and not give it a thought. If there is a natural break in the action, then I might swap the active card and offload the one I've been using.

Pretty much I download each card to a different directory. I really haven't had much occasion to worry about end of card1 beginning of card 2 continuity, but I think you just have two clips you butt up and there you go.
 
From what I understand, all video cameras only record 4 gigabytes at a time, however, conventional video cameras will stitch the files together so that they play as a continuous clip for however long you "recorded," unlike Canon DSLR cameras which will only record the 4 gigabytes and automatically cut. So when you roll over onto another card, from my understanding the file is just stitched together in your editing program. This is all theoretical.

As far as practical application, I have shot a lot on the HVX and HPX series, rolling over onto cards and I have had no issues having my files perfectly synced together in post.

Now, as for your question about transferring files... Whenever I plug the camera in to capture from two individual cards, my mac shows that I have two different cards plugged in and I just transfer them over as "P2 A1" and "P2 A2" in their respective project file folder. It will move both cards at once without any problems, you just need to (as you said) pull over the content and last clip file.

I hope that answered your questions! If not, please ask me to elaborate. Best of luck!
 
Cameras record 4GB chunks because of the FAT32 disk/file format. They use FAT32 because it's fully compatible with both Windows and Mac. For files larger than 4GB, either NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) disk/file formats are necessary, and then you run into compatibility issues.

When transferring files from a P2 card, it's best to use P2 Viewer or some other software which can recognize single takes broken up into 4GB chunks and stitch them back into one file (even if spanned over multiple cards). Simply transferring the data off the cards using Explorer or Finder will not do this; the files will still be split up into those chunks.
 
Thanks guys! And David, I've never run into a split clip issue dragging with Finder. Mind you, I haven't checked the file size, but I've got to assume a 25 - 30 minute ceremony clip, even at 24pN is going to hit 4 gigs, but so far they've come through in one piece. (Knock on wood)
 
dmchord said:
Thanks guys! And David, I've never run into a split clip issue dragging with Finder. Mind you, I haven't checked the file size, but I've got to assume a 25 - 30 minute ceremony clip, even at 24pN is going to hit 4 gigs, but so far they've come through in one piece. (Knock on wood)
Click to expand...

I believe Log and Transfer can stitch clips, too, just as Premiere Pro can. If you were to look at the individual MXF files in the VIDEO folder that you transferred in through Finder, you'll most likely see they're all 4GB.
 
the thing to be aware of is that unless you go through some process of naming your cards. if you plug your camera into the computer, with two cards inserted. BOTH cards will come up as NONAME. that can get a little hard to manage if your are one prone to easy distraction ; )

my folder structure for multi-card shoots is:
PROJECT_NAME
--- P2
------ MM_DD_YYYY_01
------ MM_DD_YYYY_02
------ MM_DD_YYYY_03 and so on
 
Hmmm...and how do I go about naming a P2 card? (I am on a Mac.)

I'm thinking...plug in and both cards mount, both called "NONAME." Create two folders (p2one and p2two) and drag contents to each folder. Log and Transfer one at a time....
 
Chris S. Alexander said:
From what I understand, all video cameras only record 4 gigabytes at a time, however, conventional video cameras will stitch the files together so that they play as a continuous clip for however long you "recorded," unlike Canon DSLR cameras which will only record the 4 gigabytes and automatically cut.
Click to expand...
Complete aside, but Canon DSLR clip limits have nothing to do with FAT32 file size limits; its a purely artificial limit placed by the manufacturer so the cameras can be taxed lower when sold in Europe.Back to P2: if you're working on a mac, it may actually be cheaper/easier to find a used Windows laptop with a PCMCIA slot to use as a card offload station. It will be both faster and cheaper than Panasonics PCD2 USB card reader.
 
mcbob said:
, it may actually be cheaper/easier to find a used Windows laptop with a PCMCIA slot to use as a card offload station. It will be both faster and cheaper than Panasonics PCD2 USB card reader.
Click to expand...
+ 1 on the PCMCIA solution. I use an Addonics adapter that plugs into my Express Card slot and it transfers 2-3 times faster than USB direct from camera to PC. Huge difference when you are waiting to use that card again.

One note on selecting between slots, I believe you can only switch slots in between takes. If you are recording it will not switch unless the card fills up. You can assign Slot Sel to the User 1, 2or 3 buttons or just pop out the card you don't want to record on and switch them when you need to, assuming you have stopped recording of course. To clarify I don't mean remove the card entirely, just pop the button so it disengages and then slide it in all the way when it is time to switch.

Cole
 
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