FCP P2 workflow – Organization, Storage, and AVID migration

[Shane Ross]

[Andrea Scott] “Well, I’m glad you’ve all come to some kind of agreeme”

Yeah…sorry about that. I would have done it in email, but discussions like this are good for people to see, so they can see benefits and drawbacks to things, and how we do things…thought processes…stuff like that. You’ll understand one day.

[Andrea Scott] “(Global ID – can you break this down?)”

This is a 32-character (numbers and letters) that is truly unique. This Global ID will not ever be replicated. In fact, the Global ID for P2 is generated by the P2 camera…you can see this with metadata editors like P2 Flow or MXF4QT. And it is something you cannot change. So FCP will track the clip by that number. So no matter what you name the clip, or where, FCP will always reference that number, that is buried in the Quicktime file, and in the clip in FCP. Even if you change the reel name, the global ID stays the same.

But if you change the reel, then FCP won’t look in the right folder for the footage. The REEL number will be the name you give the folder that you back up the P2 footage into. Here, just watch my tutorial.

P2 Workflow with FCP 6

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Jeremy Garchow]

Really sorry for changing the subject of this thread. I forgot to edit the subject when I edited a post. My bad.

[Andrea Scott] “You may see me again for questions about changing file and reel names, as I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the lingo (Global ID – can you break this down?) and the intricacies.”

When using Log and Transfer, FCP identifies the clips using Global ID so that it won’t mistake one file for another. Even though Panasonic says that it is very unlikely that you will get the same two MXF User Clip Names (such as 0001XS.MXF) it has happened on many occasion to me using the same camera on the same shoot, or different cameras on the same shoot. So, the global clip ID is a very unique number that can identify clips with the same User Clip Name.

When using P2Flow and MXF4mac, the Global Clip ID gets put the ‘reel’ column to really help identify what clip is where, no matter what drive the footage came from. This means you can spotlight (find) the Global Clip ID number and it will point to the appropriate XML file that is located within the CLIP folder of the P2 structure. The CLIP files are basically controlling the AUDIO and VIDEO folders within the p2 CONTENTS folder. It contains a lot of valuable information including timecode, clip length, Global Clip ID, spanned clip info, format, codec, and frame rate a plethora of user supplied metadata fields (if you choose to use them) and other information. FCP uses the information from the xml files located in the CLIP folder to identify all of the information within particular MXF files. Some of this information is stored within the ‘essence’ of the MXF file which is the actual MXF media files in the VIDEO and AUDIO folder, but not all of this information is stored there. That’s why holding on to the entire P2 CONTENTS folder is very crucial, whether using FCP or MXF4mac.

With Log and Transfer, the encompassing folder name of the CONTENTS folder is copied to the reel name, but that folder name could easily change. MXF4mac decided that the Global Clip ID was more like a reel number as it was a unique ID rather than an encompassing folder which could vary.

The log and transfer mechanism in FCP is relatively smart and works well, but you need the MXF files to use the system. If you don’t have the MXF files, those QT files you have are now your masters. Don’t lose them. If you had the MXF files, you could relog and transfer the material relatively easily in case the QT files go missing, a volume (i.e. a drive or even a whole raid) goes corrupt, or you feed Gizmo after midnight and Gremlins rob your machine of it’s logic and dignity.

By the way, here’s a primer on how MXF4mac works. This video was made before P2 Flow existed:

https://library.creativecow.net/articles/garchow_jeremy/dvc_pro_hd.php

With P2 Flow a few things have changed, but the concept is the same. You can see an MOS movie of P2 Flow in action here:

https://reels.creativecow.net/film/p2-flow-example

Jeremy

[Andrea Scott]

Thank you very much – I am beginning to have a MUCH better grasp on all of this.

Some follow-ups: As I mentioned before, I am most likely going to go into FCP and start changing reel names, in order to better organize the project. Don’t get upset, but as it stands now, there are duplicate reel names in the project – hence the need to implement a new system and start messing with the old stuff. Okay – so, my question: if I change reel names within FCP and then for some reason have to reconnect those files (whether the files are corrupt or lost or (most likely) moved to a larger RAID solution), will FCP have a hard time finding those files, even with the Global ID b/c it won’t be able to reference the reel name that was somehow imprinted in L&T? (Will I have to reconnect more manually?) And if this is the case, should I not mess with the file name, as well? Cause that would be the 2nd way of reconnecting the file?

I may be overthinking this, but let me know.

Also – ShotPut Pro – advantages?

Anyone know anything about the SataMax towers?
https://www.promax.com/Products/Storage/txtSearch/115038/List/1/productid/47713/?SortField=UnitCost+DESC%2cProductName

Thanks!!

[Shane Ross]

[Andrea Scott] “Also – ShotPut Pro – advantages? “

Automates the offload process, including creating new folders, naming them, using incremental naming (adding numbers, so FOLDER_01, FOLDER_02). And it does a verification of the data…making sure that every file matches what is on the P2 card is also on the drive.

[Andrea Scott] “if I change reel names within FCP and then for some reason have to reconnect those files (whether the files are corrupt or lost or (most likely) moved to a larger RAID solution), will FCP have a hard time finding those files, even with the Global ID b/c it won’t be able to reference the reel name that was somehow imprinted in L&T?”

If you change the name in the Browser, use the MODIFY>RENAME>FILE TO MATCH CLIP option. So the media file has the same name as the clip in the Browser.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Bjoern Adamski]

Hi,

P2 Flow is a workflow application, you can use the pure MXFs or you can use it with Log and Transfer. You can decide to work on the original MXFs with or without backups, you can even work straight on the P2 card. P2 Flow provides powerful workflow options for FC Studio that no other P2 aware NLE system offers. Time it can save, workflows it can improve and it is worth for those who require it. Many do, many don’t. All is good.

Why don’t you discuss in our beta forum btw.? 😉

Bjoern

———————
Product Manager
MXF4mac
https://mxf4mac.com