What should I do? P2 8GB question.

jdorsey

jdorsey

Active member
I think I know the answer to this question...I'm just finding it hard to stomach.

I just purchased my HVX200 and M2 and I'm waiting (and waiting) for my rebate 8GB P2 card. In the meantime, I landed a great project that will begin shooting in the next couple of weeks. I NEED MY P2 CARD!

So I'm going to have to buy one to start the project and probably a second one or the P2 Store.

I can't wait until May for the 16 GB.... so I've got my mouse finger about to click away $2600 to B&H for a 8 GB card and P2 Store. It's KILLING ME.

Any advise? Other options? Encouragement that this is the right/only thing to do??

Thanks.
 
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Unfortunately, I don't know anybody and I live on an island (literally)...but I'll explore the option a little more vigorously. Thanks.
 
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Hilton Head Island, SC. It's not really that remote, but remote enough....Savannah, GA is 45 min. away and the Savannah College of Art and Design is there, so ther may be some connection there.
 
P2 store is a good thing to have anyway if you're using P2 cards. We are running a special on them now.

Call Jasmine on Monday, she'll fill you in. 800-359-1858

David
 
You could buy 1 p2 card and dump to a OTG drive. Thing is you can't use the camera while dumping.
 
Thanks cre8tive...I toyed with the rental idea, but it's about a month-long project and it would severly eat into my next-to-nothing margins. Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet on this one. At least I can use the second P2 card and P2 Store on future jobs...and hopefully pay for itself. I think what's killing me the most is that the 16 GB is coming so soon...but if it's not now, it's not doing me any good. Thanks again.
 
Thanks, David. Does that mean that the Spec-Comm special is better than what is currently showing on the website?
 
Stream baby, stream

Stream baby, stream

Don't go and buy the P2 store. Not a good deal. Have you considered streaming into FCP via firewire and using Capture Now ? If you get a 7200 RPM drive ($117 @ MacMall), you have a low cost way to shoot lots of footage. You can rent a P2 card to record in loopmode, to ensure your data is there if FCP crashes.
 
I've gone down the 3 card route and offload to a laptop. The P2store is a specific device to my mind. When you are working alone, for a long period, with no mains power or vehicle, thats when I would NEED the P2 store. I elected to buy 3 cards and offload 1 whilst shooting to the other 2.
 
I am editing on a Mac G5. Can I off-load to a PC laptop and then get the footage from there to my mac?

We may be onto something.
 
You may want to consider 2 4GB cards instead of 1 8 GB - or not. But you can shoot continuously with 2 4GB cards if a swapping approach will work for you; with 1 8GB expect 8-10 minute pauses for downloading.
 
If I get an 8 GB now and the other 8 GB on the way from the rebate...that should do it. I can live with only one for now, on this project anyway.

Richard, Thanks...I looked on the Workflow forum and noticed that all of them have an external harddrive attached to the PC. I don't have an available external harddrive...and I haven't found any info whether it can go directly onto the PC internal harddrive. Then I'd have the problem of getting it from the PC to the Mac. Right now, I'm only connected through my network. That would take FOREVER to offload to the Mac (??). Being new to the whole process, I might be safer--and more confortable---with the P2 Store, one 8 GB p2 now...adding the other in 5-6 weeks (ugh!). And since the budget was busted a LONG time ago, I might as well smash it all to pieces.
 
Workflows have to adapt to your scenario and your hardware setup. Some are riskier than others. We all use an external drive at some point in the process but not necessarily as the initial destination drive. I just completed a three day shoot following an adventure race. I shot to P2, offloaded cards to my powerbook during downtime and at the end of the day I copied the footage to firewire drives and prepared the laptop for the next days shoot. This could be considered risky as I only had a single copy of the footage in the event of a disaster but it was the most practical solution andI was comfortable with the risk.

With an 80-120gb drive I'm not likely to fill it during a single day so it works for me.

Re the network - ethernet should give you acceptable transfer times (by my standards). It works for us.
 
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