[Adam Smith]

[quote] Did you try to install P2CMS? [/quote]

No, but I’m going to go find out what it is and get it! =)
Is it something I missed on my camera’s install disc?

Either way, thanks!

-Adam

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

That’s how I do it on my MacPro… Connect camera, switch to 1394 Device mode, P2’s show up as NO NAME, drag contents over. I’m not using any P2 software other than the drivers.

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

I’ll soon be testing my HPX500 in Firewire Host mode dumping P2 content (with verification) directly to a powered Firewire drive. It’ll tie up the camera so it’s not the best solution for everyone, but for me (and considering how infrequently I’ll need to do it) it’s a better solution than spending $2000 on a MPB.

—
Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

Whatever ripping software you find, it’ll never give you better quality than what’s been put on the disk… obviously some DVD footage can look pretty dang good, it’s all about how much time and effort was taken in the DVD encoding process.

Perhaps an easy step would be to find out how the post house is producing your DVDs… a good 2-pass encode should look a lot better than a fast encode or disk created on a realtime DVD burner. The tradeoff is more time (and probably money) required to make the DVDs, but the results could be much more favorable.

-Adam

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/494382-REG/Panasonic_BT_LH80W_BT_LH80W_7_9_Multi_Format_Color.html

That’s the new but apparently hard-to-find-in-stock 7.9″ portable viewfinder/monitor. At $2100 it’s actually a little lower than I’d remembered.

And yes the 17″Panasonic BT-LH1700W does all that in the monitor. The splitscreen is cool, you enter split mode, freeze the left side and continue to view the right side live. Works well for comparing color balance and image tweaks, not totally sure if you can compare separate sources.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/399256-REG/Panasonic_BTLH1700W_BT_LH1700W_17_Inch_Widescreen_HD_SD.html

-Adam

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

I believe he means the MacPro fan-speed update that just showed up a day or two ago… man I knew my MacPro was quiet, but I hadn’t realized just how LOUD it has the potential to be until that reboot (the fans go full bore for about 2 seconds as the firmware is applied).

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

I’m not super happy about the level of image noise in my 500 either… been reading the manual and trying various settings to lower the grain, although what I’m seeing isn’t related to 1080, seems to be essentially the same in all formats.

As far as a full-camera reset, I haven’t seen one mentioned so far.

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

It’s heavy and a little bit of work to pull it each time, but I do like that I have a rather large monitor to work with on-site. Has a built-in waveform and freezeframe+splitscreen feature that’s useful for comparing camera tweaks.

That being said, if I’d had the money I would have seriously considered an additional Panasonic 8″ LCD for run-and-gun shoots… more mobile, less obtrusive, lighter on battery consumption, easier to hood and view in sunlight, and I hear the focus assist is handy. Dang thing cost more than the 17″ tho, so I decided having a tripod was more important. =P

—
Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

Oh sure, there’s a definite benefit to having an off-camera P2 dump, I just can’t justify spending another $2000 or so on gear.

For now I don’t foresee many projects where my existing P2 storage will be inadequate… but on the off chance it does become an issue, this may be an affordable solution.

I was just surprised that I’d never heard anyone mention it.

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Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.

[Adam Smith]

Are you looking for a production monitor, or computer desktop monitor, or both?

If it’s the former, I’m really happy with my Panasonic 17″ BT-LH1700LW… I use it as a field monitor on shoots and as my dedicated video display in the edit station.

$2850 when I got it a few weeks ago, but if the resolution isn’t high enough and/or you want something bigger, they have a 26″ I believe that’s also built for field use, (but the 17″ is plenty heavy for me to be dragging around!)

—
Video Photographer / Avid Editor
Maximus Media Inc.