[Dale West]

Joseph
Picked up a seagate drive and adaptor over the weekend. Ran a test and Perfect. Just what the Dr. ordered. Now I can maintain a safety copy and still send my client along his way with his own drive. For us in our run run run world, pointing out that drive to us was huge. Now by the time we finish striking we are truly ready to part with the client and everyone has everything they are supposed to have.

Just a quick question. Firmware updates? Was wondering what the plan is for AVC Intra. I tend not to show my client the screen when we shoot AVC Intra but instead hook up P2CMS since its a bit smoother on playback.

Was hoping to see you at NAB but work got in the way. Cant wait to see what else is on the way.

best

dw

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

What I mean about the file name is that the device simply does a date sequence. A file today would be 20110319.000. The next one would end in .001 and so on. What we do if we are shipping the drive to the client is rename them when they are on their drive. You know: interview with so and so. B-roll of such and such. We are lucky enough to have a bunch of cards and with the nexto we find we can rotate the cards with every venue or situation change. The nexto is fast enough so we don’t usually have to worry about card availability. I suppose its just because that’s how I used to label tapes. I have an inverter in my van and we will offload between locations and on the way home or at our video village if we are in the same place all the time. Units like this really help take care of the media management issue we old dogs have had with cards of any style. I also use it for SxS and the compact flash adaptor is really handy if someone is doing DSLR work. I understand that they are making an Alexa version of the Nexto as well.

Restating my dislike is the fact that for the fast copy to an external drive has to be esatap. You can sync using FireWire 800 or USB 2. But direct connect to external HDD has to be with the esatap.

One has to wonder if thunderbolt is going to throw all of this into a spin

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

I have on. It might be one of the first delivered by able cine. There are things I love about it and other things not so much. I bought whole package. 750 gig internal and 750 external drives and all the extras.

Things I like:

1 really fast if you don’t verify. I still use P2 CMS but there is also a preview function that allows you to look at the video on the screen. AVCIntra is not totally supported (the video is not smooth) but I hear that there are firmwarenupdates in the works

2 Fairly easy to use. There are some processes that are not intuitive but once you get used to them then it’s very easy to use

Things I’m not in love with:

1: And this is the biggest issue I have. The external drive is esata p. That is the biggest gripe I have. I bought a g-tech 2tb drive and figured that this was going to be perfect. Wrong. The external drive to be used with the esata has to take it’s power from the esatap port. If you try to power with a power supply it will not work.

2: The device names the file with the date and a sequence number. The first file will end in .000 the next will end in .001 and so on. We normally name the files but found that if we are going to continue to do that we have to wait for all the files are in.

I’ve found a supplier of drive enclosures and you can get drives at compusa, but if Lacie or G-tech made mini esatap drives that would rock

I hope to see the Nexto folks at NAB and talk about the 2525. I hope they are willing to listen to some of my comments. In general it is a very good tool. I was going to purchase the Panasonic unit but my understanding is that it does not make a duplicate copy at the same time

The other thing is I’m still learning how to use it.

I hope that answers some of your questions. If you have more you can contact me off list at. dale@dalewestvideo.tv

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

Jessica,

If you use Fed Ex you will get surcharges added if the items are not “boxed”. They add charges if you ship in the case. They say its because the stuff packs better in the planes. I just shipped a lens to Boston in a pelican case and the up charge was $8.00 on top of the $48.00 they charged for shipping. By the time you figure the shipping costs each way for the lights and sticks it might be a better move to simply rent when you get there. Its worth examining. But if you must take your own stuff: Remove the bulbs from the fixtures. Pack the bulbs in tupperware with plenty of bubble wrap or foam. Try to find a hard case for the sticks. If you cant find one then take them to a shipping store and have them bubble wrap and then box them. Be sure to set all drags to the loosest. It might be wise to remove the pan handle as well.

I would recommend that you carry your camera and enough batteries and cards to shoot for 1 day. If there is a shipping meltdown you will be able to find some sticks and lights and still be able to get some shooting done. Plus no matter how well you pack it there is always the chance of damage. I ALWAYS carry my camera. But if there are requirements that you ship then a padded soft case inside of a well padded shipping case and a few minutes on the prayer rug before.
Good luck

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

Elliott,
This morning I took a minute to download the operation manual of the HPX-170. Something that
you should do. I went through it and as far as I can tell since the only way to jam sync the camera is via firewire then unless the VariCam can do a jam sync on firewire (the 2700 or 3700 only and I have not checked on that) then you are out of luck. The bigger issue is that the manuals are all available on line and it is always a good practice to download them and spend some time with them before a shoot. It seems as if there are so many cameras in use today that one can hardly be expected to know all of them top to bottom. I own 4 “big” cameras and use another 3 or 4 my friends have. I downloaded all of the manuals and put them on my ipad and iphone so I can get to them quickly if I have questions on set.

I read the cow every day sometimes twice a day and it seems there are many posts where a few minutes with a manual would have answered the question. Save yourself some time and READ THE MANUAL.
I hope your shoot goes/went well
best

dw

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

Yeah Steve my experience with Shotput Pro has been perfect until this one. Didn’t delete any files or any of those things that could make you wonder. Today my friend used his nexto and it went fine. P2CMS played it just fine. It’s a head scratcher that’s for sure. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to offload tomorrow from a different project so we will see.

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

Since the first post I have repaired the bad clip on the 1st card. Still same result with offload attempt.
Could this be related to spanning cards? I usually dont do it but the interview was going well and keeping the flow had already been tough enough so I just let it move over.

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

This is a link for Panasonic’s site for P2CMS. Works very erll and has quite a collection of tools for managing as well as viewing. Huh, gurus that’s why they call it Content Management! but seriously give it a try.

https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm#p2cms

[Dale West]

You might try updating the firm ware but if that does not take care of it then there are just
2 words for you. Service Center

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv

[Dale West]

Steve

Come on man. This is your camera? Didn’t it come with an owners manual? New cars have them, new cameras have them, even fricking coffee pots have them. If you didnt get one with the purchase then you owe it to yourself and any future clients to download the thing off the internet. It took me a minute and the bandwidth at my hotel sux.
Yes you can output sd sdi but you better make sure that the truck has digital encoders. Some do and some don’t. As for HD to SDconverters Noah none Ive been working with have them. One had better be sure before one shows up at a truck.

But mostly RTFM!!!!!! If you didn’t get one with the purchase then go on line and download it. Know your camera. I carry on my iphone all the owner’s manuals for my 5 cameras, my 4 portable playback units and
just about any other field equipment I own. Its so hard to keep up. Remember the days when we all owned just a betacam? But all kidding aside digital or paper you have to have access to owner’s manuals and you have to refer to them when you don’t know.

By the way page 31 in your owners manual.

Dale West Video
North Miami, FL
305-588-2683
dale@dalewestvideo.tv