[Chris Clephane]

Ok, that was it, you were dead on correct.
Thanks.

How annoying though. I had all of the machines in our shop set to the same login/password for simplicity.
(FYI to others…upon further research…..I learned that is NOT a good thing to do….there are many problems that can pop up regardless of OS when using the same login/password/single-account for all networked machines.)

I edit video. I post sometimes.
I fix things. I eat marshmallows.
I play drums. I drink scotch.
I like TV.

Done typing now.

[Chris Clephane]

I know that this is kind of obvious when posted here….

But, are you using an external zoom controller (Foxi/Varizoom, or similar, etc.) We had one of these finely made units go bad on us…and experienced similar INTERMITTENT and non-reproducable problems.

Obviously (once identified) powering down and disconnecting the external control solved our problem. (A quick Warranty claim fixed the controller issue…)

——

Outside of outright abuse or serious cable mangling….I would never have thought one of these units could go bad….but ours DID.

——

(Not naming the company for fear of verbal retribution by well-intentioned but overly religous newbie zealots that always seem to pop up in these forums…)

-C

I edit video. I post sometimes.
I fix things. I eat marshmallows.
I play drums. I drink scotch.
I like TV.

Done typing now.

[Chris Clephane]

Ok…one last workflow admission/clarification.

We DO archive our completed, TRIMMED & SLIMMED projects to DLT. But only the necessary footage/FX/GFX, etc to make that program play when restored.
If we make changes later..it usually just requires an additional clip or two…so we will then pull/redig. from tape. Make the correction/addition and re-archive the project to DLT.

RAW footage stays on DVCProHD.

Anyways, that’s our current workflow. If that helps anyone…great…if not…well thanks for listening anyways.

-C

I edit video. I post sometimes.
I fix things. I eat marshmallows.
I play drums. I drink scotch.
I like TV.

Done typing now.

-Me

[Chris Clephane]

RE: Archiving P2 footage.

FIRST:
Over here, the IT route (We tried DL-DVD, Blu-ray and DLT) became burdensome for archiving raw P2 footage, so we use what I call the “FCP method” of archiving.

—
NOW:
We simply open all the P2 images for a project into a fresh FCP session, drag the footage into a timeline and offlay it via Firewire to our DVCPRoHD deck. (no recompression cycle…stays codec native.)

P2 to tape–no loss. (Just original timecode lost.)

—–
You can do the exact same thing from within Media100….outputting all footage from a timeline via HD-SDI, but there IS a generation loss/recompression cycle when you do it that way. In our opinion, the “loss” is exceedingly minimal.
—–

DOWNSIDE: Still not faster than realtime transfer.
The other downside is the loss of original timecode…if that is critical to your work.
(You are re-striping when you transfer to tape..) Unless someone knows how to output P2 video from a FCP timeline with original source clip timecode intact to tape…(anybody?)

UPSIDE: DVCPRO Tapes are cheaper than the IT-based high-capacity DLT’s we were previously attempting to use for archive.
-And video-tapes make it a heck of a lot easier to access single shots later (quickly) if needed.
-AND we can pick up the tapes at a moments notice and ship them to clients if needed, etc.
-And…our DVCProHD deck was paid for a long time ago and will last us an estimated 7-10 years (obviously we ar enot a dubbing house!).
Due to the nature of the Data Archiving industry…Our Data tapes/drives always seem to be outdated within a year or two. (DLT seems to double its capacity every two years…necessitating upgrade envy and the constant potential for non-backwards compatibility. Don’t believe me…just try reading a VS80 DLT in a newer 200/300/600 drive….its sketchy at best…)
For these reasons and others….we have deemed our (well-maintained) video decks to be a better long-term investment than data archiving gear.

[Chris Clephane]

Ok, the coffee just kicked in…here’s a little additional drivel on this subject.

Originally the Media100 would be patched (component Analog or SDI) to the HardDisk recorder and transferred directly.

As the Hard Disk playback systems evolved, many of them began to require TC to be attached to the incoming video. That is when we switched to SDI with embedded TC or simply used Beta/Digibeta tapes for the transfer.

For the transfer — 4:2:2 formats always seemed to work the best, especially because most of what we were producing was graphics heavy. In an attempt to cut costs, we tried DV/DVCPRo in the production line for a while. DV/DVCAM were sketchy at best, and while even DVCPro looked great on tape, —when re-digitized into the HD playback systems at low bitrates (typically long GOP MPEG-2) we would start to see prominent artifacting in the graphics heavy work. Upping the digitize data rates usually corrected this at the expense of valuable disk space (Remember…hard drives were still exceedingly expensive even as little as a few years ago…)….so we kept all in -house production formats 4:2:2 (which is just a good idea anyways…) & transferred via tape.

4:2:2 transfers, digitize at high bitrates…you should be fine.

—-

Ok everybody don’t get offended when I say this…this is not an attack….but…Personally I abhor the IT based workflow for video production.
Oh, I love nonlinear editing, Photoshop,…the whole processs. (This is not an appeal to bring back the linear suite…no!)
I DO ESPECIALLY love our Panasonic P2 cameras..however…..

I have quickly grown to HATE all the DATA that we now have to archive.

———-
I constantly find myself yearning for the simplicity of putting the tape on the shelf an knowing it will be there (and still work with no issues) 3-5-7 years from now.
—-
POINT BEING:
As many of have experienced…the Hard Disk playback systems DO crash from time to time…..and have to be re-loaded.
Tapes DO provide a certain amount of confidence when you re-load.
You load the tape, you hit play…you read the slate…you know immediately if it is the spot you are looking for.

IT based workflow—-even with metadata (which is still in its infancy as far as I am concerned) ….unless you embed your slate into the head of the spot (file), or intimately know all of the material…or have one HECK of a bulletproof file naming system…there will be questions….(Is this the right spot,etc?) Often times we clear out our projects as soon as the elements are produced. In a tv station…if you do the same…with no tape, there might not be a backup… If the HD system crashes…what woudl you re-load it from? (Would you have to re-create elements?)

Not to get all Oliver Stone on ya’, but its just meant to be some (hard learned experience) fodder for thought.

The older I get, the more I appreciate tapes.

[Chris Clephane]

I will preclude this post with the fact that I no longer spend other people’s money to build facilities–having made the permanent transition (finally) from engineering (for others) to post (under my own roof). So the prerspective is different as I now spend my own $$ to equip our facility—therefore I am not as “up” on the latest and greatest gear at the upper end of the market anymore. ( I used to buy digibeta decks with the same energy/importance/concern people apply to a trip to the grocery store…now I wonder if I really need two….so the perspective has really changed…)

Original point being…my answer may be a little dated…

I have used the Media100 in several TV stations/production facilities. Production of bumpers/spots/promos, etc. Typically the air playback systems used a Tektronix Profile or similar for air playback of non-program length elements. Early on (1998) we would transfer analog component and then later (2000+) using SDI.

I have not used the Media100 in any situation where the transfers were file based for air playback, but that is typically due to the propretary nature of Hard Disk based playback systems. There are often limited codecs to choose from.

That’s all I got.

TRANSFERS:
Video based…no problem.
File based…still seems to be a can of worms…

[Chris Clephane]

Ok….premature posting. I got excited and posted too early….

This event had no asociated live audio.

Just tried it with footage w. audio. Nightmare.

Audio not working for the aforementioned process.

The video translates over, but in retrospect, importing into FCP and exporting a compliant .MOV file is still the best method.

(sigh)

[Chris Clephane]

This annoyance persists even through V12.

It has been a while since I last bothered to try to “affect” the problem….as I recall Selecting/deselecting the preference for “Remember Last Project Opened” does not seem to affect this at all.
-C

[Chris Clephane]

Just my 2 cents worth….

In situations where we are working with 3rd party hardware (ProTools, Media100, Avid, etc.) we typically avoid the top of the line Apple machine. Past experience has taught us that the super-souped-revvin-top-of-the-glitzy-line machine has a tendency to be a little LESS compatible with 3rd party hardware—-and therefore a little more problematic.

Simply stated…when (significant) 3rd party hardware is involved…Apple’s “speed demons” tend to be a little on the demonic side….

We typically equip one of the TOL Apple machines with After Effects and a video card for NTSC monitoring (Blackmagic Decklink). This seems to work best in our shop.

-C