[D. scott Dobbie]

I must’ve misunderstood somewhere. I thought you said the JVC shot HD to tape. It’s that tape that I’m being asked to match. I thought he described that as a mini-DV tape. Maybe he just said DV tape and I was thinking about the mini one in the HVX.

So if the JVC uses a different tape altogether, I’d really have a problem giving him a mini-DV one.

[D. scott Dobbie]

Thanks, Noah.

I’m getting a decent day rate even though I should be done in 5 hours. And I also got the impression that others were lined up if I couldn’t take this job, so I’d rather do the deal and eat any transfer time, or pick up the minimal cost of shipping a hard drive back and forth, than lose the gig.

So it’s just a question of me calling the editor before or after the shoot to discuss the “new” format…

Yow.

[D. scott Dobbie]

Thanks for the fast reply, Shane.

Actually, delivery was specified as needing to be on the miniDV tape. He’s using Avid Express to edit. And he’s out in Georgia (I’m in L.A.), so I can’t just bring him a firewire drive to transfer from.

I guess I could just shoot it and figure it out after the fact, but I’d hate doing that. I told him the difference and he ended up saying just shoot it to tape, but I’m afraid someone down the line will question it.

They want 720p 30. So I can’t even shoot it on tape and hope it looks like what they want, right?

Other thoughts?

[D. scott Dobbie]

Wouldn’t think it’s a design flaw – haven’t seen that mentioned before. Perhaps the former owner shot a lot of tape or was rough on the camera, which could be one reason why they were selling it.

I like Noah’s idea of gaffer’s tape.

[D. scott Dobbie]

Great idea – didn’t know about the dual DL feature of P2 Genie. Would save me some extra time. Thanks!

-S.

[D. scott Dobbie]

In my situation, I have them bring a hard drive (or I can pick one up for them – I like the LaCie D2 Quad 500 GB for under $200). I then bring my PowerBook G4 with the PCMCIA slot that accepts the P2 cards (though you can get a card reader if you’re using a different computer). I then copy the files to their hard drive and I make a copy for myself. That way I’ve got them covered if they screw up the files, which has happened once or twice.

Be sure you’ve got FW800 as a transfer method. Otherwise the transfer takes twice as long.

[D. scott Dobbie]

Don’t know the answer, but you should start a new post with your question and give it a relative subject line so others can see it and respond. As its now placed, your question will get lost and look like it’s a reply.

[D. scott Dobbie]

You don’t have to do an “export,” per se. Like Noah mentioned, just send the ingested QT files: remember how FCP takes your MXF clip and puts a QT wrapper around it? Those .mov files are created for every clip, or portion of, that you import using Log & Transfer. They’re placed in your Capture Scratch folder. Just burn them to a data DVD.

[D. scott Dobbie]

You can use Raylight to write to P2 cards (double-check to be sure your MBP and OS combination are one of the ones compatible for that feature), but does he really have to have the clips back on the P2 cards? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to output a .mov or .wmv file for him to use?

[D. scott Dobbie]

[George Burbano] “remember that with FCP you must choose import P2”

With the last couple versions of FCP, it’s now called Log & Transfer.