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P2 VIEWER FOR MAC!
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I’ve been working with HD Log for about three days now.
An impressive piece of software. It didn’t initially support 24P or 24pn, but the developer released an update.
There are additional features and enhancements expected reasonably soon.
I don’t know what the PC version does in comparison, but this is pretty slick, and promises to get slicker.
However, I believe Panasonic owes its Mac users with a fundamental P2 viewer to make it on par with the PC.
Why develop a PC only viewer and bundle it with the cam, but leave Mac users without any comparable version.
Maybe Panasonic might want to explain why it DID develop software, but only for ONE platform. Jan?
$700.00 isn’t cheap. But each of us has to determine what our workflow is, and how much we are willing to pay for it.
MTSC
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Once again,
I love the HVX. And HD log looks pretty good. But $700 is too steep for what is basically a utility.
I just want to respond to a few things here:
The workflow with P2 on MAC is not smooth as silk. It is frighteningly unpredictable. When I mount a P2 store (which I consider to be the only way to shoot with this camera in the field) The volumes all say no name. Sometimes they mount in different orders. My work flow is to back these partitions up to DVD immediately. Unfortunately it has to be done over a network because if I try to back up on a machine which the P2 store is plugged into, the dvd only sees the first partition, regardless of what “NO_NAME” partition I copy from. The chances of missing Data here are way too high.
Additionaly, not being able to view these files upon placing the DVD into the drive is downright dumb. It makes logging of information without putting the video on a hard disk impossible. This is not a convenient way to work. Copying to hard drive is not that much faster than digitizing, and at least digitizing I get to review the material in process.
This is something Panasonic needs to remedy. We need an affordable Viewer for Mac. For the sake of P2 as a format. I invested in this cool format. I like it. I LIKE THE CAMERA and DVCPROHD. I fear if Panasonic doesn’t get it’s act together P2 will die and those of us who invested in it will be left with a dead unsupported format. I’m not trying to be a doomsayer, It’s just the gut feeling I started to get watching an Apple rep demonstrate the elegant workflow of XDCAM at NAB.
A humble videographer and graphic artist,
David
david garcia
Halflife* Digital
albuquerque, nm -
David- your workflow’s complexity is more the issue here if I understand it correctly. Try this instead:
Attach an external FW800 drive to your ingest machine if it’s a Powerbook or add another internal SATA if it’s a desktop. Then copy each P2 into its own proper, sequentially named folder before going to DVD. And skip the network step entirely. Going from P2 to DVD-R over network is eating up a major chunk of your throughput because you’re bridging several huge bottlenecks together.
Going from P2 to hard drive first would give you an archival backup from the P2 cards and you could then go to DVD-R from the ingest machine if that were still neccesary for you. (Although my suggestion would be to back up the QuickTimes created by FCP after P2 Importing rather than the MXF’s because they can be viewed directly on the DVD.)
From the hard drive duplicates you could bring your footage directly into FCP too using File>Import Panasonic P2 and pointing it to the new directories you’ve just created rather than to the P2 mounted volumes. You can also sign up for this public beta software which can automate this process even further:
https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=52654
I’m currently working on a workflow article that will outline this process step by step. I’ll be sure to link to it from this forum when it’s completed.
-Noah
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I’m with Noah on this. Going directly from P2 to DVD isn’t the best option. Darn slow if you ask me. No, in the field we had several 60GB and 80GB bus powered drives that we’d copy the footage from the P2 hooked up to a laptop, or that we’d download off the P2 Store when it filled up. We then archived our footage onto another drive back at the company and freed up the portable drives for future field work.
At this point you could go to DVD, but I’d use them only as redundant backup. I am sticking with the hard drive option until Blu-Ray comes out. The data DVD is enclosed in a cartridge that human hands cannot touch, and scratch or smear. Backing up the imports is a good idea, as you can then view them right away, but I’d still keep the main MXF files, in case support for them comes down the pipe.
Shane
Alokut Productions
http://www.lfhd.net -
We’re getting a little off topic here, but…
From my tests, copying to DVD is the fastest way to get the footage in a box. I have a 1.25 TB Lacie esata and copying from the P2 store to it takes longer than burning on my powerbook over the network. Not to mention, if I’m not going to edit this stuff right away, why do I want: A-to put it on a hard drive or B-to copy it twice (once to hard drive then to DVD.)
I’m doing what I’m doing because it’s fastest and most efficient for us. I appreciate the friendly advice though. I will definitely take another look at our process.
I still want an affordable P2 viewer for Mac.
David
david garcia
Halflife* Digital
albuquerque, nm -
[david garcia] “if I try to back up on a machine which the P2 store is plugged into, the dvd only sees the first partition, regardless of what “NO_NAME” partition I copy from. The chances of missing Data here are way too high. “
David
why have you not named your cards? Pop them into a laptop and give each card it’s own individual name,
( or use the camera to mount them if your laptop does not have a card reader) it is a far better way to handle the media.I have to agree with Shane and Noah, I think your workflow is a tad cumbersome by initially burning to dvd to start.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Chicago, IL
gary@studio37.com -
[gary adcock] “why have you not named your cards?”
If I could butt in here, that’s one of the problems. In the field you format the cards in the P2 Store or in Camera. This looses the card name. So when you plug the P2 Store into the Mac all you get is “NO NAME”. There is no metadata to refer to only the Icons. It’s worse because the the drives never mount on the desktop the same way twice.
If you format on a PC you have the option of naming the card, not in a Mac.
Roddy Jamieson
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[RoddyJ] “If you format on a PC you have the option of naming the card, not in a Mac.”
you have the same options to keep the existing name or rename on the mac also, as I’ve been doing it for months with my HVX200s.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Chicago, IL
gary@studio37.com -
[gary adcock] “you have the same options to keep the existing name or rename on the mac also, as I’ve been doing it for months with my HVX200s. “
Sorry your right on the G4 Powerbook with card, but that does not help with the P2 store in the field, when you need to format the card. If there was time you could delete clips in camera to preserve the card name.Roddy Jamieson
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When I’m shooting in the field, There is no computer anywhere nearby, unless I have the luxury of doing a “cinema style shoot” where we are lighting etc.
Usually the P2 store is on my belt and I barely have enough time to switch cards and reformat (in P2 store.) True we are working with 4 gig cards. Forget about in camera formatting and naming cards etc. I don’t have the time when I need to keep coverage.If there is a way to have the P2 partitions on the store named, I am dying to know. From my experience, the P2 partitions on the Store are uneditable and locked.
On the issue of backing up to DVDs, I don’t understand how it could be considered less cumbersome to copy footage to a hard drive (When I’m not sure I’m even going to use it) then copy it to a DVD. That’s copying twice. When you come back to the office after shooting all day and have a hard drive with 60gigs of material that you can’t even review, you don’t want to copy it twice and there is no way to make decisions about what not to keep. Please tell me I’m missing something here. I want to find a better way.
I’m really hoping P2 genie can address som of this stuff. HDLOG could work well with P2 genie, but it costs 3/4 of what you pay for the entire Final Cut Studio.
I guess I’m just hoping that someone at Panasonic and/or Apple is listening to a loyal customer.
David
david garcia
Halflife* Digital
albuquerque, nm
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