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P2 Media
Most of the footage for my documentary was shot as P2 files. I put the files on two 750 GB hard drives, downloaded an application, and then converted the media to Quicktime. I worked with this on my own.
I want to give the footage to an editor on one hard drive. So I bought a G-Tech 3 TB hard drive and moved all my files from the two hard drives over. So far so good.
Except my Quicktime files won’t access the P2 files on my 3 TB hard drive, even though they are the same files they were created from. I’ve been told by so many people that this shouldn’t be the case that it’s become annoying. That doesn’t offer me a solution. It just makes me feel stupid. Considering I’m not technical on computers, I already feel stupid.
I no longer have the application that I used to convert the media. I downloaded a trial version of an application to convert the files, but this was time consuming and it’d mean buying an application to do something I’ve already done.
On top of that this program produces huge files. That isn’t surprising, considering the HD the film was shot with. The files are way too big to Dropbox them. I’m sure there’s a way to compress the files, retain the quality, and make smaller files. I got instructions to do this last year and couldn’t figure it out.
I’m at the point where I want to hire someone skilled with handling these issues to spend an hour or two with me solving these problems. I’m in LA. Does anybody know anyone?
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3 Replies
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DO you have the original files? The original P2 backups…the full card backups?
What application did you use to convert?
Either way, if you have the original files, I suggest given them the originals. And no, you cannot deliver these files digitally via FTP or Dropbox. This will have to be done by shipping a drive.
Avid accesses these files natively as does Adobe Premiere…FCP via Log and Transfer. I have a tutorial for that: Tapeless Workflow for FCP 7 Tutorial
Shane
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I have the original files downloaded from the P2 cards, although I’ve moved the files from drive to drive as I accumulated more media. One is an original. The others are copies.
I don’t remember the name of the original application. I just dragged a P2 file onto the application and it output .mov files, albeit ones that relied on the original media to be viewed.
I believe I watched your tutorial and it was very easy to follow. I remember having problems because I’m using a Macbook, not a Macbook Pro and I have the Academic version of Final Cut Pro 6.0.6. And I’m not good with computers.
Converting all my files again would be a long tedious prospect, since I have so many. I have them converted and labelled how I want them. I’d only do that again as a last resort.
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Does “Raylight” ring a bell? It creates QT reference files from P2 media (card or disk). One thing that doesn’t match what you said, is that they are very small. But when you move the P2 files from the location they were in when the QT refs were made, it breaks. Need to rescan using Raylight again.
If you haven’t spent a huge amount of time editing the project, it would probably be better for you to go back & do a Log & Transfer in FCP. Otherwise get Raylight.
As for Dropbox & compression…. the short answer is “no”. You cannot make this stuff smaller (much) without sacrificing quality.
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