[Leonard Levy]

He is pretty clear on the subject and pretty convincing. I just wondered if Panasonic or Apple had a point of view.
I’m going to the Apple / Panasonic seminar in SF today and will be sure to ask.

Thanks Jan

[Leonard Levy]

Thank you Jan,

That is just the kind of informed response I have been looking for and of course it makes sense since I haven’t been able to get time-code.
I think the info should be more widely diseminated since the “Capture Now” scenario in Final Cut Pro is a very attractive one otherwise.

In your conversations with Apple, is there any chance that an upgrade to Final Cut Pro could fix this.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, this is a very attractive workflow.
It bypasses having to record in one medium and then transfer (from P2 or Firestore) before the client can take tapes home. (VERY TIME CONSUMING, esp for a multicam.)
In many ways it seems the most attractive workflow for anyplace where you have A/C, are working off a tripod and not moving around a great deal. That’s arguably at least half of all video production.

I have a second related FCP “capture now question , but I’ll ask it in a separate thread so it doesn’t get buried here.

[Leonard Levy]

No this doesn’t work. When I tried it, I remembered that of course I had tried this before.
“Capture Now” will ask for the device to be in “playback mode” .
Only way to capture from the HVX directly is “noncontrollable device” and that seems to cancel the timecode.
Anyway that’s how I see it so far.

Time for me to complain to Apple & Panasonic.

[Leonard Levy]

Does that work?
In my previous tests you could not do “capture now” in that setting.
I was told in a few places to use “non controllable device” which did work.

Now that i think about it though, I never had the camera in “FreeRun ” with the DCVPro HDFirewire setting.
I will try this.
Have you done it?
I hope its that simple.

[Leonard Levy]

Thanks for your reply.
I’m not sure what’s not clear, unless you don’t get what I mean by “capture now”.

It’s been widely accepted that a simple way to capture images from the HVX & avoid P2 cards & all the shuffling and downloading involved – is to run firewire directly to a Mac Powerbook running Final Cut Pro.
Open the log & Capture window, hit “Capture Now” and you are recording HVX into the computer right into your editing system.
There are a few hitches and settings that need to be right, some suggested adding a separate firewire card, but its a simple and producer friendly workflow.

Only problem: The camera’s timecode does not seem to be recorded with the picture. Every clip starts at “0”.

I know I can Jam sync cameras, but if you can’t get the timecode into the computer its pointless.
Ideal scenario in a multicamera shoot is say 3 HVX camera’s each set up with firewire to a powerbook doing “captue now”.
Simple – producer friendly – only right now we can’t keep the timecode: BIG PROBLEM.

Sure you can shoot P2 and hire a bunch of runners to shuttle cards around into whatever, but that complicates an elegant solution.

Is that clearer?

[Leonard Levy]

There are a number of reasons to want it.
1. So producer can have timecode for their own purposes which are many.
It is the traditional way of working and one more piece of explaining to do about the new workflow.
They could do this with secondary code in FCP but its an extra step.

2. On a multicam live shoot it would be essential and makes use of the fact that you can jam sync these guys. Here it is a big big big limitation.

—–

I assume at this point that it can’t be done, though I’m disappointed that Jan or Gary haven’t responded yet.
I’d be happy to be corrected, but no one has responded with a “how to.”
I’ve been asking this question for days on the other boards. (This board seemed to go down when I tried to post earlier this week.)

The Panasonic FAQ says that firewire can carry timecode, so I assume that it is an FCP problem in “uncontrolled device” setting which is how you capture in the “Capture Now” scenario.

Apple probably could correct this if we made enough noise. Make Noise! Complain to Apple!
Tell Me I’m Wrong!

(Sorry I’m a little frustrated on this.)

[Leonard Levy]

OK now i’ll try answering my own post so if anybody is looking tell me if I’ve got this right.

Only way to look at P2 HVX files on a Mac is thru FCP which the app that translates it MFX into Quicktime.

The Mac could just copy the files over though and copy them onto a ghard doisk or whatever and leave opening them till later, but that way you couldn’t see them & be sure of what you had.

As soon as you do open them in the Mac you are neccessarily writing the Quicktime files somewhere that FCP is choosing.

[Leonard Levy]

Sorry For the Double Post.
I got it working thanks. I’m not exactly sure what I did differentlt but it opened fine in FCP this time.

but my other questions are still open :

Shouldn’t Quicktime be able to translate these files also , or does that only happen when you put a P2 card in directly?
Would burning a card’s contents onto a DVD be the same as inserting the original P2 card, or is it different depending on whether the file was first encountered in a MAC or a PC?

[Leonard Levy]

Jan and Gary,

We have all the Contents untouched and the LASTCLIP.TXT and they are both in the same folder.

When I try to import VIA FCP 5.04 through the Panasonic P2 option it does see the contents of the card (in the P2 viewer) but when I hit import it says there was an error or something was wrong with the files- and notheing opens.
NOW: A Caveat, these files were moved to the Mac from a PC laptop via FTP since the PC didn’t have a burner.
Might they have gotten screwed up in transit?

Also shouldn’t Quicktime be able to translate these files also , or does that only happen when you put a P2 card in directly?
Would burning a card’s contents onto a DVD be the same as inserting the original P2 card, or is it different depending on whether the file was first encountered in a MAC or a PC?

[Leonard Levy]

Jan and Gary,

We have all the Contents untouched and the LASTCLIP.TXT and they are both in the same folder.

When I try to import VIA FCP 5.04 through the Panasonic P2 option it does see the contents of the card (in the P2 viewer) but when I hit import it says there was an error or something was wrong with the files- and notheing opens.
NOW: A Caveat, these files were moved to the Mac from a PC laptop via FTP since the PC didn’t have a burner.
Might they have gotten screwed up in transit?

Also shouldn’t Quicktime be able to translate these files also , or does that only happen when you put a P2 card in directly?
Would burning a card’s contents onto a DVD be the same as inserting the original P2 card, or is it different depending on whether the file was first encountered in a MAC or a PC?