[Matthew Romanis]

If you see yourself ever using autocue, larger lens kits, staged matte boxes, prime kits with adapters, and so on, then you will definitely regret not getting a head with more movement.
Matthew.

[Matthew Romanis]

MXF4MAC is excellent, though expensive if all you want to do is cascade name in log and transfer.
If you have FCP 7 you can do this, with limited metadata editing (does not get stored to original media, just the converted files)
Open Log and Transfer, click on the Name Preset tab, and select the Edit option. At the bottom of the new page you will see tabs to input your custom name and select the numbering options you wish.
Close the window then select the clips you wish to transfer (multiple selection) and add the to the queue to transfer. You will see all the clips transfer to your project browser with your custom name. You do multiple groups with different names, just input a different custom name then select the clips you wish to transfer and numbering option you want and repeat the process.
Experiment with it a few times to get the hang of how it works.

[Matthew Romanis]

For some dumb reason the Proxy card doesn’t write matching time code, each clip starts at 00:00:00:00. There is a burn in option for time code in a picture window, but this is useless in offline quick turn around.
I worked out an FCP work around, but it is very click heavy, lots of separate item movements. It’s helped us on a handful of shoots where we could email back the low res morning proxies to the suite, continue shooting in the afternoon, then arrive back, do the workaround with the mornings material then keep cutting with the high re afternoon material for play out that night.
Matthew.

[Matthew Romanis]

In the beginning I found that every so often when the computer had been on for a long time, P2 formatter would not format the card properly and I would have to run the card through the camera’s format process.
I have found that restarting the laptop before formatting works every time. I don’t use the duel adapter, I have a PCD 25 via 1394b.
Matthew.

[Matthew Romanis]

If you download the PCD 25 or 30 driver from panasonic, it includes an app called “P2 formatter”. This will allow you to name the cards and maintain file structure.
Matthew.

[Matthew Romanis]

My two bits worth…..
We have an LTO 3a, which works fine at the office, but the transport mechanism is not very robust. I wouldn’t trust it travelling across town let alone to another country.
Go with lot’s of ejectable drives instead, or has been suggested earlier, get the Caldigit VR in multiples.
I have a 3.5″x 2 Caldigit 2TB mirrored drive enclosure and it has been very trustworthy for almost two years now..
Matthew.

[Matthew Romanis]

Your workflow makes sense to me, but only if all the logging is done form the “now” source tape and no log file has been generated from the EX files. Time code will not transfer when going out to tape from FCP. You will wind up having to try and insert edit onto a pre stripped matching code tape to carry over useful time code data.
I’ll happily admit that tape originated in camera (barring head clogs or VTR glitches) is still an easier media to hand off to clients. No need for travelling laptops and hard drives around country, but the tapeless workflow when it’s your own production is hard to beat.

[Matthew Romanis]

Thanks James.

[Matthew Romanis]

Hi Scott,
The important thing to remember is if you have added anything else to the drive in question since the mistaken delete.
If you have then the answer is more than likely no, you have probably lost most if not all the information to make complete files. The layman reason for this is when you delete a file all you are doing is removing the directory instructions and not the file itself. The OS see’s that there is now free space available and will start to overwrite those files with new data. So it depends on how much new data is overlaying the old data and how many files are affected.
If however you think that the drive is the same as the day you deleted the files then there is a chance for recovery. I did the same thing earlier this year and used a program called “Data Rescue” which enabled me to recover about 90% of the lost files. The recovered files won’t have the original name however as that information is lost forever, so you may need to go through a long inspection process of opening all the recovered files to see what is what.
Data Rescue can be downloaded for a small fee.

[Matthew Romanis]

Hi Todd,
Access the main camera menu via the small push button on the front of the camera. You will need to hold it down for around 3 seconds.
The main Menu should come up. Go into System setting by using the push/jog wheel on the front of the camera near the menu button. Roll the wheel to select “System Setting” and then push it in to access.
Roll down to “LCD Monitor” and select this item, in here you will see “Aspect Conv”, select “LTBOX”.
Be aware though that depending upon the down conversion settings in the SYSTEM MODE menu you may effect the SDI output on the rear/side of the camera.
Matthew.