Barry Green
Forum Replies Created
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[Skelmose TV] “wonder what the “ingest” buttom are for”
P2CMS can make a large master database of your clips, and “ingest” is how you copy those clips off of your cards or hard disks and into that database.
You don’t have to do that, but it’s a way of working if you want to keep all your footage in one big large database.
[Skelmose TV] “Why can’t the panasonic software copy the files to a specified directory and the delete the files on the P2 cards ?”
It can. If you plug a card in and select the contents, you can tell it to “export” (not “ingest”) those files into a specified directory. Then you can either tell it to delete those files off the card, or (on the Windows version) you can tell it to format the card.
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Busted in FCP. User Clip Name is the one field they don’t allow you access to. You can get it by using Raylight though.
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[P2 Shooter] “Why does the HDX900 produce a better image?”
Because it costs twice as much. There’s probably better higher-quality circuitry throughout — better DSP, better chip block, better everything. But I don’t really know, I mainly work with the 500/200/100 series, I haven’t dealt all that much with the 2000/900/3000 yet.
I had a 2000 and a prototype 500 side-by-side up in Alaska, and between the two I’d say the 500 was about the same sensitivity and maybe 1/2 to 1 stop more dynamic range (bigger pixels, etc) but the 2000 was cleaner. Not night and day different, but definitely cleaner.
It all depends on the 500 — if you know how to manage the noise, it’s never much of a big deal at all. But in the cases where it manifests itself (such as in a red brick wall, etc) then you’d notice cleaner noiselessness from the 2000/900.
[P2 Shooter] “my darker blues, grays, and blacks always going to have some noise?”
Yes. It’s not noise-free, there will always be some crawling noise. Try using the B.Press gamma and turning the color saturation and detail level controls down, and the coring up, and that should mask or minimize any noise. But you’ll never get it spotlessly noise-free.
[P2 Shooter] “why do I still feel like the 500 is just not as fast in low light as I want it?”
Because it’s high-def. All high-def cameras are slower than their standard-def counterparts. Try putting the 500 up against a Sony F350 if you want to really see how poor an HD camera can be in low light; the F350 is about on par with the HVX/HD100/XHA1. The HPX500 is 1.5 to two stops faster. But it’s still not as fast as a good 2/3″ standard-def camcorder.
[P2 Shooter] “In standard CineD and CineV scenes @ 24 fps what is the speed of this camera?”
In normal gamma it’s 960. In cine gammas it responds a tad slower, my guess offhand is 800.
[P2 Shooter] “I have the hardest time focusing with the SD viewfinder…”
Embrace the Focus Assist, it makes a world of difference — and be sure to turn up the peaking in your viewfinder too. But if at all possible, run (don’t walk) to get the Panasonic 8″ monitor, the LH80. It’s *fantastic* with the HPX500, the HPX500 can power the monitor so you don’t need a separate battery, and the monitor’s capability of showing pixel-for-pixel detail as well as the focus-in-red feature will make perfect focus an absolute snap.
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I’ve transferred cards from one to the other before taking it to the computer, no problem.
Download the trial of raylight or p2 log pro and see if it can handle the importing of the clips that FCP is failing on.
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I know where you’re coming from; and I’m not saying the HVX is better in all ways either! I’m sure the EX1 will prove better in many ways, it’ll undoubtedly be sharper and probably have less noise, for example. And I very much welcome the competition for P2 in the solid state arena, as it’ll drive prices down from both manufacturers (although it’s almost comical that SxS costs MORE than P2 right now…)
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Before you go to FCP, select the clips you want from the database and EXPORT them, using “hard link” as the option, to a new import folder. That’ll do what you want — put a hard link to all those MXF files into one big folder, which you can then import all at once into FCP.
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The cards use the FAT32 format, which has a 4GB file size limit. So yes, the cards automatically split the files at 4GB increments.
The FS-100 splits files at 2GB increments.
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Probably the best place to make noise about FCP is to use the “send feedback” (or whatever it’s called) dialog box within FCP. You can send your requests directly to Apple.
If Apple listened to me, we’d have had native MXF support with full timeline integration of the metadata 18 months ago. I’ve been clamoring about that issue forever.
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I don’t recall anyone saying it wasn’t worth it. All I said was there was a substantial price difference. For some pros it won’t even be enough to make them blink. For guys who are stretching to be able to afford an HVX, going another 45% would be a dealbreaker.
And factor in what you’re giving up too — you’re giving up intraframe compression, you’re giving up 4:2:2 color, you’re giving up a system that’s impervious to rolling shutter artifacts like skew, wobble, and partial exposure. If the EX1’s wobble/skew issues are on par with the HV20, then if you shoot red carpet events, press conferences, do visual effects work or motion tracking, etc., the EX1 may very well completely screw you over as compared to a CCD-based system. Or, it’s possible they spent extra money and time trying to resolve the rolling shutter issues. We don’t know yet (but I do have firsthand testimony that yes, the EX1 does “wobble”).
It’s not like “everything is better” with the EX1, there are going to be some compromises, perhaps serious compromises if you do stuff like motion tracking. I mean, everything *should* be better, as it’s (again) 45% more expensive. And I’m not saying it’s not worth it to the right buyer. But there’s some compromise and downside in every comparison.
For example, one could easily say that the HVX price premium was well worth it over the DVX, but for someone who needs a small light-sensitive easily-hand-held camera, maybe that price premium was money not well spent (since the DVX is two stops more sensitive in 60i mode, and much smaller and lighter).
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There are cards out there, you just have to call around. Abel Cine Tech and Studio Exchange are both supposed to have a lot.
Panasonic has had some really big success with P2, which apparently has exceeded their capacity to produce cards. Latest word is that the BBC has apparently decided to go exclusively P2. That’s gonna be a big order and it’s going to stress their ability to deliver.
One would hope that they’ve learned their lesson and they’re ramping up capacity. The P2 card shortage has indeed been very frustrating for everyone.