[Gerret Warner]

Thanks Noah and Jeremy,

You’ve confirmed my experience. P2CMS is free but it’s almost indecipherable… and slow.

Is P2 Flow all I need to rename user clips without breaking the connection between MXF and FCP and to edit MXF files directly without creating QT files? Going to MXF4mac’s site made me wonder whether you need MXF Capture as well.

GW

[Gerret Warner]

Thanks for the tip, Noah, but my new names will be in the FCP project only, not saved to the MXF files, true?

(Also, for the record, I thought that you could rename P2 files names in the name column because Panasonic has a longer numeric file that maintains the identity beyond the default numeric name that comes in via Log and transfer… or did I dream this?

Thanks again,

GW

[Gerret Warner]

Thanks Jeremy and Noah. Very helpful.

GW

[Gerret Warner]

Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. I need to choose the most useful solution (from options available to me with my HVX-200 only). Should I shoot as I usually do in 720/24pN since I like the way it looks and it saves card space… or shoot 10801 since it’s what PBS demands, and that’s the most likely broadcast outlet.

Truth is, I won’t know any actual outlets when I shoot.

GW

[Gerret Warner]

[Alex Petrovitch] “Thanks again for your info.
I finally understand it.

Last question.
I’m using P2CMS to tranfer the footage.
When I look at the HD, it looks like it’s the “CONTENTS” folder.
I don’t see LASTCLIP anywhere. Is that okay?

When you write “HD” are you referring to your hard drive? Once I’ve copied my P2 cards to folders on my hard drive, each one contains both a CONTENTS and LASTCLIP.TXT file.

When you do the “drag and drop” everyone says “GET THE CONTENTS AND LASTCLIP! DON’T FORGET LASTCLIP!!!”.
By using SHOTPUT PRO, or P2CMS, is the LASTCLIP already included some how?

To my knowledge, neither ShotPut Pro nor P2CMS use drag and drop. You “ingest” or “import” (I can’t remember which), and the CONTENTS and LASTCLIP files aren’t visible after the import, only your footage and data about them.

It takes awhile to get used to the idea of shooting to cards and then double backing up and –worst of all–wiping a card clean after all the work you did in getting the shots. But once you work out a work flow that’s comfortable for you, it’s a great system. Now that i shoot on 64 GB cards, I can shoot all day in 720PN/24 without dumping a card… and that’s life-changing.

Good luck with it all, Gerret

thanks,
alex”

[Gerret Warner]

[Alex Petrovitch] “Question-

So when you drag the info onto the timeline it sets the QT settings to DVCPRO HD 720p60.
why “60”? aren’t you using 24 fps?

While shooting 24 fps video, unless you choose 720PN (native), you are shooting “24 over 60” as they say. When you shoot native 24 (23.98), you are recording only those 24 frames per second, not 30 fps.

Secondly,
why can’t I drag and drop “CONTENTS” and “LASTCLIP” instead of using “shotput pro” or “P2CMS”.

You’ll have to ask someone else for that. Just the way it is.

Thirdly,
the footage I have shot on the HVX200 seems to have lines going across the screen everytime that a subject moves – is that because I shot in 1080i? Should I be using 720p?

I’m not sure what that might be. My 1st thought was strobing, which is increased in pans when you go from 30 fps to 24. You can adjust the shutter. And you can minimize the problem with an object in the foreground.

Fourthly,
What’s the difference of importing/ingesting my footage via “CONTENTS” and “LASTCLIP” versus importing/ingesting my data when I’m already logged into FCP7, and I just get the data already re-wrapped into MOV files?
If I import/ingest the “CONTENTS” and “LASTCLIP”, the files are in MXF format. What the heck is that?!

I’m sure others can give you a more technical answer than I, but in short, MXF is a container which includes your footage as well as metadata about it. As far as I know “LASTCLIP” is a file that connects footage that spans two cards. I think there is 3rd party software that allows editing directly from MXF files in FCP. Otherwise I don’t know of any alternative to simply Log and Transfer MXF into FCP.

Thank you for your information!”

[Gerret Warner]

[Alex Petrovitch] “Great –
let me ask you this.
I am shooting so that it’s 1080, 24fps.
The codec when I bring in the file into FCP 7 is 1280×1080
Editing timebase 23.98
QT: DVCPRO HD 1080p30 (don’t know why it defaults to 30- should I change it to 24?)

Hmm. I’m not sure about that one. Is it possible you haven’t set your preferences as you want them?

When you ingest your data using SHOtPUT which I assume to be the same
as P2CMS, you are ingesting the CONTENTS and LASTTEXT right?
How do you get the footage to be readable in FCP7?
The only way that I can get footage into FCP7 is to
log and transfer inside of FCP7, not the CONTENTS/LASTTEXT.

Shotput Pro is not P2CMS. It’s available for purchase online, and is great at offloading P2 cards to multiple drives at the time. All the shots you choose to log and transfer will show up in FCP’s browser. The CONTENTS/LASTTEXT files are part of MXF’s own metadata for managing the format.

I’m told that CONTENTS/LASTTEXT is the RAW footage right?
Anything that is a file brought through FCP7 is processed-
Do you need them both? That’s TWO file transfers before
you clear the P2 card? Takes a long time no?

There’s no generational loss in Log and Transfer. The MXF files are your irreplaceable source: footage and information about it (metadata). It takes remarkably little time to Log & Transfer, much less than importing from tape. That’s one of many advantages to P2.

And should I only BACKUP the CONTENTS/LASTTEXT file?
not the FCP7 processed? “
I typically keep all MXF files–labeled with a job prefix and 01, 02, etc–in 2 copies, each on a separate hard drive. These are the originals, like source tapes, and include everything you need should you ever want to re-log and transfer into the FCP project at some time in the future.

Hope this helps.

[Gerret Warner]

I have FCP 7.0.1 and use Log and Transfer all the time. I typically shoot 720PN, 24, and when I check the QT files in my Capture Scratch they aren’t H.264; they’re DVCPro HD 720p60, as expected. It’s been working fine for me.

btw, I use Shotput Pro on my G4 laptop to ingest data from the P2 cards. That too seems to work without a hitch.

Good luck.

[Gerret Warner]

Dave,
When I found the the Duel Adapter wouldn’t work with my 4GB Macbook Pro I started using my old G4 and Tiger, and that continues to be our workflow. Last time I tried the MB Pro –with Leopard– the consensus was that you needed to disable 2 of the 4 GB of RAM in order to make the Duel work, something I didn’t want to do. I’d be interested to know if they’ve fixed that.

[Gerret Warner]

Thanks everyone. Having run some further tests, it looks as if the latest Compressor will allow me to output a wide variety of codecs and frame sizes… even frame rates. I’m surprised at how good–for instance– 1080i/60 looks when converted from my 720p/24N footage.