[Neil Orman]

Thank you Spencer!

[Neil Orman]

Thank you very much for taking the time Andrew, and the helpful insights. I took your advice and it helped a lot. What does RT mean exactly? I have an idea that it means your computer doesn’t have to work as hard if it’s not set on high, but it doesn’t affect the end product as much as how you see it in the canvas window right? So the blurriness I saw was more what I was viewing in the canvas window, rather than what I would have seen in the end product? Regardless, I got it to work when I exported a Quicktime movie, etc. Much appreciated again, Andrew.

[Neil Orman]

THANK YOU SHANE!

[Neil Orman]

Got it Shane, thanks a lot. I’d just always done it that way at work, and it had never caused a problem. But you did say that clearly and I will follow that from here onward. For some reason I’m also not seeing any LASTCLIP.txt file. So my last quick question is do you have any idea why that could be? I definitely did not ignore or fail to bring over any of the card’s contents.
Very much appreciated again.

[Neil Orman]

Thanks a lot, Shane, for responding to my post. Your tutorial is great, and yes I did attempt to select the entire directory structure and not dig around for the MXF file (although I tried that too when I couldn’t make it work with the correct method of selecting the entire directory/structure!) I find the issue particularly frustrating because I deal with P2 cards a lot at work, using a PC and editing on Premiere Pro. What I’ll do at work is copy the card’s entire contents on to the external harddrive, and it’s always a folder called ‘Contents.’ Then I will rename the ‘Contents’ folder but don’t touch or rename any of the subfolders or their contents. I did the same thing in this case, when I’m trying to bring a P2 card’s ‘contents’ folder home and edit it on my MacPro. I renamed the ‘Contents’ folder something else. Could that be the problem? Like I said it’s never created a problem at work on the PC with Premiere Pro. So just to be sure I understand, you’re saying within ‘log and transfer’ in FCP7, I simply try to open the main ‘contents’ folder and the footage should be viewable, the way it clearly is in your tutorial? Because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing with no success. I’d certainly welcome any other thoughts or ideas, and thanks again for your great tutorial.

[Neil Orman]

Thanks Marcus, I do appreciate knowing about this software, which I will consider, but if possible I’d prefer not to pay $150 for new software when I understand Final Cut Pro’s ‘Log and Transfer’ should be able to read/convert this footage. I just can’t get it to do that. Also when I was looking at this software’s reviews, this was one that interested me:

‘The difference is that you get instantaneous access to your footage, instead of having to go through the Log & Transfer process. And you can work from the original footage or even the P2 cards if you want, whereas FCP’s Log & Transfer forces you to take up twice as much space by creating Quicktime files (which take up space but also take time). Plus, because you avoid the whole Log & Transfer process, you avoid any issues that crop up when Apple breaks their system (which has happened on more than one occasion).’

So again this indicates that I should be able to handle these MXF files via FCP’s Log & Transfer functions. Can you or anyone else suggest how I can get these clips to be acknowledged as readable files by FCP7, without buying new software? In Shane Ross’s tutorial video suggested a few posts back, I see him simply open up those files and see them in the Log & Transfer window. Like I said I keep getting an error when I try to do that, and the files aren’t recognized. Is there any other way, short of buying some kind of conversion software, I can overcome this issue and get this footage into FCP7? And if there isn’t, do others agree this Raylight conversion software Marcus suggested is the best, cheapest option?

[Neil Orman]

Thanks for the quick response Massimo, and the link to the great video. I watched it, but when I get to the ‘Log and Transfer’ stage, I still run into the same problem, where FCP7 won’t let me import the MXF footage and says it’s an unrecognizable format. In fact, the MXF files are showing up light/faded like my computer doesn’t even really recognize them. Do you or anyone have any idea why I’m having these issues? Is some kind of conversion step necessary, and if so what’s the best way to accomplish that?
I should mention, in case it’s relevant, that I don’t actually have a P2 reader on my Mac Pro at home, where I’m trying to do this, but rather I’m downloading the MXF footage on my work PC, which has a P2 reader, then putting the footage on a portable harddrive and taking it home, then connecting it to my Mac Pro at home and trying to get it into FCP7, where I keep running into this issue. I was thinking that step wouldn’t make a difference, and maybe it doesn’t, but just in case I wanted to mention that step and the fact my home computer doesn’t have a P2 reader or any kind of P2 software, which I didn’t think was necessary. Last I just wanted to mention that my MXF directory structure looks a little different than the one in Shane’s video, in that it just has a contents folder with a bunch of sub-folders within it, but not that .txt. folder accompanying the contents folder in the tutorial video. Anyway, if anyone has any idea how I can get over this ‘unrecognizable format’ issue and get the footage into FCP7, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Neil Orman]

This is a wonderful help Jeff, thanks so much for taking the time. My bosses seem to want to stay away from HD, because of the system requirements, etc., but personally I hope we move in that direction.

[Neil Orman]

Thanks JM!

[Neil Orman]

Thank you very much, Angelo!