Understanding P2 Workflow. Technology Update: USING P2 HD WITH FINAL CUT PRO. when it counts

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1 Technology Update: Understanding P2 Workflow USING P2 HD WITH FINAL CUT PRO when it counts

2 Computer / OS specs A Macintosh computer with a 500 megahertz (MHz) or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor (550 MHz for PowerBook G4) or any dual PowerPC G4 or G5 processors AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) Quartz Extreme graphics card 512 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM); 1 gigabyte (GB) recommended For HD: A Macintosh computer with a 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor and 1 GB of RAM; 2 GB recommended Minimum NLE software version for P2 support Final Cut Pro Version 5.04 Current NLE software version for P2 support Final Cut Pro Version Overview The basic P2 workflow described here is available for use with the AG-HVX200, AJ-HPX2000 and other Panasonic P2 HD camcorders. Please contact Panasonic for further details, or, visit Organization is the key to managing your media in any situation, but it becomes critical when P2 cards will be re-used during the shoot. P2 cards and their contents should be treated in the same manner as an IT department would handle critical server data. Having a backup or two (preferable), will safeguard your data in case of hard drive or operator failure (accidental erasure). Recommended equipment for a P2 shoot should include the P2 Store, the PCD-10 or PCD-20 P2 card readers and, if time and space allow, a laptop running Final Cut Pro with external storage for ingest and secondary backup. In order to provide compatibility with Mac and Windows based systems, we suggest purchasing BUS powered disk drives that are already formatted FAT 32. The Mac will read and write Fat32 with a few considerations. As a general rule, always copy the entire Contents Folder (video, proxy, etc), as well as the Lastclip.txt. Please note, that bus powered drives are generally intended as an intermediate storage device and will not necessarily provide enough throughput for editing. Shoot, Backup, Ingest and Archive are stages to think of on a P2 based shoot. Use a log sheet to help track your cards through this process, checking off each stage will be critical. Shoot Prior to recording any data on the P2 cards, it is recommended that each card is formatted in the camera - ensuring a full capacity card. If I plan to use multiple P2 Stores, a 3-digit code is assigned to each. Each time a card is placed in the camera, the card number is notated on the P2 log sheet.

3 Backup The first step after removing the card from the camera is to WRITE PROTECT THE P2 CARD. Each time a P2 card is removed from a camera, it is notated on the P2 log sheet. The card is then placed in the P2 Store for immediate backup. The P2 Store number is noted as well. The P2 Store creates a clone of the card and all MXF metadata is preserved. This is why the P2 Store should be the first stop. If no other field ingestion is taking place, the P2 card can be safely erased once the cloning process has been completed. An alternative method to archiving on a P2 Store can be done via Final Cut Pro. From the P2 import screen, control click on a P2 volume and choose archive. This will allow you to name the card appropriately and save it in a destination of your choosing. Ingest It is very important to make sure the P2 card is write protected before placing card into any reading device. If time and space allow, a computer running Final Cut Pro is placed on the set. After each card is backed up on the P2 Store, the card(s) is placed in a PCD-10 or PCD-20 to allow ingest into Final Cut Pro. This serves as a secondary copy of the footage and provides a quick start for the edit. The Mac should be setup with an external hard drive as the designated scratch disc. One note about multiple firewire devices - on all Apple hardware, the built in firewire ports share the same bus. This means that although you may have multiple FW400 and FW800 ports, internally they are all treated as one bus. For some applications, splitting your devices amongst USB and Firewire is recommended. For example, if a Firewire drive were to be used for the main capture scratch disk, a USB 2.0 connection for a P2 card reader would work best. If an HVX-200 is going to be used as a card reader, a USB 2.0 hard drive should be used for capture. The throughput for capture on USB and Firewire are both acceptable for capturing all DVCPro codecs. If multiple firewire devices need to be used, such as a AJ-HD1400 DVCProHD deck and a AJ-HD1400 FW hard drive, I recommend a firewire adapter card. These can be PCI, Cardbus, or ExpressBus in form and provide a reliable way to use multiple devices on the same computer. Every time the card is ingested, a log note is added and the card can now be erased in the P2 Store prior to going back into a camera. 3

4 The current version of Final Cut Pro does not directly support the MXF data format. Using FCP to ingest P2 clips will create a copy of your footage that has been translated into a Quicktime movie. There is no loss of quality. Final Cut Pro is just saving the MXF as a Quicktime file without the P2 metadata. It is a recommended practice to mount your P2 devices on your Mac prior to running the Import P2 command from inside FCP. Using the File>Import menu, choose Panasonic P2. Final Cut Pro will locate the mounted P2 volumes and present the clips contained on those cards. The contents of the cards can be displayed as a list of clips, or segmented by card. Use the Show Items button to control the display. 4

5 Each clip may be previewed before importing by simply clicking once on the clip on the left side of the screen. Use the standard FCP clip controls, such as JKL to play the clip, i for in and o for out etc. Note on using Firestore FS-100 When using the Focus Enhancement FS-100 direct-to-edit hard drive, a couple of steps are needed to prepare the drive for ingest into FCP. The following steps apply when shooting in the MXF format. These steps are not required when shooting in the Quicktime format. First, from the FS-100 Utilities menu, choose Organize P2. Then use the HDD Menu to choose DD Drive. Connect your Firewire cable from the Computer I/O port to your Mac. Choose Enable. The drive will mount on your desktop. From FCP, choose File > Import > Panasonic P2. Choose Add Custom Path. 5

6 Select the Firestore and appropriate folder. The footage will now appear in the window. In FCP and later, you now have the option to create sub-clips prior to ingest. You may also add your own logging info such as reel, clip name, log notes etc. Sub clipping is a useful feature that FCP provides. It is a strategic part of the P2 workflow. By sub clipping your raw footage, one can reduce the amount of unwanted data that will be captured. This will save time in the editing, and storage space on the editing system. This will also reduce the amount of space and time required for final archive.

7 For example, what if you inadvertently missed the record button to end a take and the camera recorded an additional 3 minutes of extraneous footage? With the sub clip feature, you can take just the section required and eliminate the rest. You can also decide to exclude audio and or video tracks from the ingest at this time by using the Import Settings tab. This is also a reference to my previous statement about only ingesting the needed content. If the shot is MOS (Mute On Sound), there is no reason to capture the audio. You ll save disk space and editing time by eliminating it on import.

8 To ingest a clip, simply drag the clip(s) to the Queue portion of the window, or select Add to Queue from the right side of the screen. At this time, you may decide to rename the clip with something more descriptive. This will save valuable time in the edit. I have found by reviewing each clip from the P2 card, I can eliminate the unwanted takes quickly, and save tremendous time in the edit. P2 needs a different thought process than digitize it all and sort it out later. If you heed this advice, your editing will go more smoothly. The ingest process in FCP is a background process. This means that you can place the Import P2 window in the background and continue to edit as the clips are ingested. The clips will show up in the designated logging bin as soon as they are available. I recommend sending the import window to the dock to avoid confusion. If FCP does not show your card(s), you may need to point FCP to the location manually. Do this by selecting Add Folder and navigating to the appropriate location. 8

9 Occasionally, your P2 volumes may not mount on the desktop after insertion. If this occurs, a quick trip to the Disk Utility application (located in /Applications/Utilities) is needed to manually mount the volume. To do so, look for the volume that is orange in color and click on it, and choose mount from the tool bar. Another useful tool for working with P2 on the Mac is the P2 Log Pro from Imagine Software (

10 P2 Log Pro will allow the user to view all metadata stored on the P2 cards and transfer some of that data into FCP. It also allows for the uploading of user data such as user clip name, shooter and project name. Archive Once the shoot is complete, the data ideally resides in two places; the P2 Store and a portable hard drive, or the P2 cards and a P2 Store. Since the P2 Store will be used on the next shoot, another method of storing the data for long-term protection needs to be considered. There are several options suitable for this purpose on the Mac, but this article will focus on two in particular: Blu-Ray Disc and MXF Aware DLT. Overview Transfer times will average about 16 cards per hour or about 4 minutes per 8GB P2 card. It is important to consider how you wish to handle the archive. If you archive only your FCP project and associated capture scratch locations, you will lose the original MXF metadata, since FCP does not work with it natively. This may not be an issue for some, but if the work may be moved to another editing platform or to an asset management program, preserving the native MXF files will be important. The files archived on the P2 Store are in the native MXF format. You can mount the P2 Store to your desktop and copy the volumes to the media of your choice such as Blu-Ray or hard disc or DLT. If you wish to archive P2 cards in their native format and you are not using a P2 Store, please review the options below. 10

11 Blu-Ray Disc Blu-Ray Disc is a next generation disc format based on a standard 5.25 diameter disc. It uses a blue-violet laser to record about 50GB of data onto a dual layer disc. The discs are available in write-once or re-writable for less than $35. The media is considered archive quality, with a surface that is more resistant to scratches than a standard dvd-r. Blu- Ray discs require a Blu-Ray burner to read and record this data. For the Mac, look for a burner that is bundled with Roxio s Toast 8 software to allow your Mac to read and write these discs. It can take up to 90 minutes to burn a full 46GB disc. Blu-Ray Disc Backup To backup using the Blu-Ray optical disc format, I recommend Toast 8 from Roxio ( First choose the Data category on the left to select what type of data will go on the disc. Next, decide whether the disc needs to be PC compatible. If so, choose ISO If you only need Mac compatibility, choose Mac Only. This will allow you to create a backup that can span multiple discs without you guessing how many discs are needed, Toast will figure it out automatically. Simply drag your archived P2 Card folders into the main window. 11

12 Illustration shows how to tell Toast what type of media you are using. Note: Toast 8 will tell you how many discs you will need. Just hit the burn button and insert discs as prompted. MXF Aware DLT Digital Linear Tape (DLT) has been used to backup computer data since the early 80 s. Quantum offers a special DLT drive, the SDLT 600A, that offers MXF data support and an easy to use Ethernet connectivity. Simply drag your files from your local drive just like an FTP upload. DLT tapes can currently hold up to 300GB of data on magnetic tape that costs around $100. ( Quantum SDLT 600A Backup The Quantum SDLT-600a tape drive hooks up to your Mac via an Ethernet connection. The default IP address for the Quantum is Your Mac will need to be on the same subnet in order to communicate with the 600A. Use your Network Preference pane located in the System Preferences to set this up. First, choose Location>New 12

13 Then give the location a name, like DLT. After naming the location, choose Ethernet 1 (or whatever port you have hooked your DLT up to) from the Network Status drop down. Now we must place our Mac on the same subnet by choosing Manual from the Configure IPv4 drop down menu. Use as your address and leave the rest of the settings as is. Click Apply Now. Now to transfer our files. 13

14 Using Safari, type in the address and hit return. You will now be connected to the DLT drive. Locate your files on the left window by finding the Volumes folder and double-clicking. Locate the sub volume with your archived P2 Folders in it and drag them to the right window. 14

15 You will see a status in the lower portion of the window. It will take about 4 minutes per 8GB P2 card you wish to transfer. You can drag multiple files from the left side to the right, but do not drag any files until after your first set finishes. Remember that if you changed your Network Location for this archiving application, to change it back for normal network connectivity. About the Author: Art Aldrich is a 25+ year veteran of television production and is an Apple Certified Instructor in Final Cut Pro. He runs a video production facility using the P2 workflow for broadcast and corporate clients. 15