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P2 off loading as a career?
I hope I’ve posted this in the correct area of the forum. I’m a newbie looking to explore the possibility of doing P2 off loading for a living. I have an extensive audio background and some PA and pc experience and would like to know if any shooters or production companies would hire a person just for that task. I’ve been scouring this forum and other sites gleening all the info I can regarding the process and have a friend that does location audio who suggested there’s a need for this type of work, as cameramen may not want that responsibility in the field. I’m also wondering what the best gear would be for this purpose, Mac Book Pro with Final Cut Pro and multiple portable hard drives?
Also, what would companies be willing to pay for this service? I realize that many companies use whoever is available on the shoot. Would this service be of value to them? And what would be the longevity of this career as technology/demand may make current and future P2 cards cheaper, making it more affordable to just buy a bunch and download them after the shoot rather than rotating cards during the shoot? If anybody could offer any advice I’d be eternally grateful as I have to get out of the life-sucking job I currently have. Excuse my error if this should be in the jobs section.
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6 Replies
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I am not sure if this is something worth pursuing, when we do shoots with P2 generally we either don’t off load the P2 until the end of the day, or doing during lunch or some other necessary break. The only way I can see that working for you is if you offered something that a normal production company couldn’t get. I don’t really know what that would be but I think it would be important. Also, p2 sees like it might be dying fairly quickly so in a few years my guess is that we will be using some other type of digital storage for field use.
Something that you may be able to offer; create a system where you could copy onto a raid system as well as onto a tape master. The important part would be able to do this all in the field. The only reason why I could see a company hiring outside help for something like this would be to be completely sure that no data will be lost.
Still I don’t think you would be able to stay very busy. You should check with your local production companies and see if they may want a services such as you are thinking.
Brandon
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Agreed that I don’t think you’ll find much call for this, as a specific service. Disagree that P2 will be “dying” anytime soon, in fact, with the increasing capacity & decreasing cost, I think it’ll continue to do well for some time. But that increasing capacity means fewer times where field offloads need to be done. On top of that, I’d have an AC handle that duty. Or someone else who I can count on to fill in as gaffer, audio, etc.
“Constituo, ergo sum”
Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
http://www.CoolNewMedia.net
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
Panasonic HPX500 -
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate your time. I guess it’s back to the drawing board as they say.
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Again, thanks for the input, much appreciated.
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Dave,
I think that all here would agree, that the skill and competence to accurately offload and trouble shoot the P2 off load process is a great skill to have. If I had to choose between a grip that just hauled gear and set up lights …. and a grip that could off load and trouble shoot P2 … the P2 guy is the man….
Computers are funky, with every software upgrade they might work, they might not… knowing the current history and problems encountered with P2 on the Mac and the PC is very valuable info to know.. Add that knowledge with a comprehensive hands on understanding of the HPX3000 menus and you might soon find your self as the go to guy on all sorts of jobs….
Knowledge is a powerful thing to have…. learn all the P2 tech you can,,,, Just don’t list P2 guy on your mortgage application,,, yet..
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I would not lock yourself into a single technology…with P2 cards getting larger I’m not sure how much a dedicated off-loader would be needed in the long term.
If you are interested in the data side, I would not limit yourself to P2, but get to know all the data options, ie sony, red etc…Somebody who is able to work with all the cameras is far more valuable than someone limited to P2.
If you are in a larger market you might be able to stay busy as an ac/dit (assistant camera/digital interface tech)…but again don’t limit yourself to one camera type…learn it all and you will be the go to guy…
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