[Edward Randolph]

I asked Apple Tech Support about this months ago and the answer I got was, “Delete prefs, reinstall FCP and if that doesn’t work (which it didn’t) reformat your HD and reinstall OSX.”
I’m not kidding. That’s the support I got.
I’ve got 30GB of software installed on my MBP laptop and it all works perfectly except for FCP.
It would take days to rebuild it. I’m not happy with Apple’s buggy software. Why don’t they address this issue?
Fortunately I don’t have a pressing editing project right now, but I still want FCP to work.

Edward Randolph

[Edward Randolph]

I have the same problem on my MacBook Pro with FCP 7;
Canvas and viewer are white or sometimes solarized looking with EX1 footage.
Does anyone have a fix?

Edward Randolph

[Edward Randolph]

“The only drawback being that the P2 door is now open all the time and susceptable to dust and dirt.”
Shane

Then we should put in the suggestion to include a rubber plug that fits on their interface cable that covers the whole P2 opening. Or at least a PCMCIA size plug to cover the othe P2 slot if not in use.

[Edward Randolph]

Shane,
Thank you SO much for mentioning the Cineporter. I had heard the name, but thought it was just another Firestore wannabe. I had just been thinking that what I REALLY wanted was a 2.5″ hard drive in an enclosure with a PCMCIA type card that fit in the P2 port. When I saw Cineporter in your post, I thought, “Shane wouldn’t mention that unless it was something worth looking at.”
I looked and read all of the posts I could find. I was amazed and, like everyone else, can hardly wait until they are avaiable. Most of the advantages of P2 AND longer recording times. I can’t quite find out if it keeps the 24PN advantage but I hope it’s everthing else they say it will be. I’d rather have it than the FS-100, but may not be able to wait.

[Edward Randolph]

mea maxima culpa
I apologize Shane. Thank you for telling the other side from your real world experience.
I should have said “unworkable for documentaries I am now producing.”
Not only are the interview shoots usually one or two man(or woman) operations, but I am frequently shooting from horseback, moving vehicles or aircraft.
I’m sure when the P2s get to 32 or 64GB, I will sing a different tune.
Peace brother.

[Edward Randolph]

Shane, ” I plan on archiving to Blu-Ray cartridges when they come available. But currently I am archiving onto 250GB internal drives that I connect via an open firewire case. $90 each. Very cheap. And when Blu-Ray comes available I will transfer to that format.”

Me too Shane. I am using 500GB SATAs mirrored for double back-up because I’m afraid of loosing a drive in the middle of a project.I certainly hope the Blu-ray and 50GB discs are all I expect them to be. It’ll be a lot cheaper than a closet full of hard drives.

[Edward Randolph]

Thanks Greg,
I believe it’s a legitimate concern and I’m sure I’m not the only one being “vocal” about it. I don’t think P2 cards are a workable solution for documentary films, at this time. They probably work fine for narative indie films where, if you were using 35mm film and 400 ft. reels, your shoot time would be about 4 minutes/reel.
I run a small organization where frequently, I am a one man crew; the grip, cameraman and interviewer on site. To use P2 cards, at this stage, I would have to have the camera locked down on sticks and every 8 minutes change a card from the camera to the laptop and back again, all of the time giving my sympathetic attention to the interviewee to keep them talking. When people praise the long term money saving over tape, they don’t include the extra person I have to hire to go along just to swap cards.
It’s great technology. It’s just not mature enough and cost effective yet for documentaries.

[Edward Randolph]

Thanks Jan for the clarification.
What is the difference then between the “Pro” quality and the ‘Master” quality tapes?

[Edward Randolph]

Sorry guys, I don’t know how to do the fancy quotes yet.

Shane said, “I am too much a fan of the P2 cards. Sure, they are expensive in the beginning, but they pay themselves off in the end when you don’t buy all that tape stock.”

Why do people keep saying what a savings it is to not have to buy tape stock?
Where are you going to archive your footage? I plan to use hard drives for now and at current prices, it’s costing $.50 /GB or $30 /hr of DVCPRO-HD. I think that’s pretty reasonalble considering that a Panasonic AJ-HP64EL DVCPRO-HD 64 min. tape cost over $30 and the Deck to record them is over $15K.
I was archiving Mini DV at $5/hr on Panasonic master tapes.
I know I have stepped up to HD and it’s going to cost more, but archiving wouldn’t be free if I bought P2 cards.

[Edward Randolph]

Hi Jan and thanks for your input.
I am really pleased that you are here representing Panasonic and keeping and eye on what your product end users have to say.
The first time I heard of P2, I was thrilled and eagerly expectant to have a tapeless video future. It is THE way to deal with digital media. I still think so, but, I totally disagree with Panasonic’s policy concerning P2 card pricing. I know there are development costs that have to be passed on, but right now I can buy 2GB SD cards for around $70. Times 4 that’s $280 for 8GB and an 8GB P2 is $1400. That’s an awful lot of development passed to the consumer. I would hope that Panasonic can buy memory a lot cheaper than I can. I would think you could sell 8GB P2 cards for $700 and make a profit. I think you would sell a lot more cameras and cards if the cards were less expensive. Although that’s probably a foolish thing to say since I had to get on a waiting list to buy one. LOL.
I love the camera. You gave us filmmakers a lot to play with. I appreciate it. Now stop telling me how cost effective these overpriced cards are “in the long run.” 3 or 4 years from now, I’ll be buying your even better camera and using it’s new groundbreaking storage technology.
Thanks again and no animosity. This IS where I can voice my opinion. Right?