For over a year I have been using Panasonic’s AG-HVX200 camera, which records high definition video to flash memory, or “P2″ cards. I have heard from many potential clients that while interested in using the camera - they are unsure of a tapeless workflow. Below is my workflow, tailored to delivering footage to different clients, and not to editing the footage myself.
Given the limited size of P2 cards, and their cost, it is still necessary to offload video from the cards and reformat them for future use. This means you need a way to get the footage off the cards, quickly, and a reliable place to store the footage (remember - you’re erasing the P2 card)!
I use a Dual Systems Adapter to mount the P2 cards in my MacBook Pro’s ExpressCard slot and an external drive attached to the firewire 800 port to transfer and store the video files from the camera.
During setup, I will get the system ready by creating some uniquely named folders on the external drive (eg. “card one” or “Interview Dr. Michaels One”). I don’t like to span video across two cards if I can help it - not that it is an issue - but it seems easier not to span if you don’t have to.
When a card is full - I eject it from the camera, slide over the write protect tab, and mount the card into the adapter. The drive “No Name” appears on my desktop - this is the P2 card. I open the “No Name” drive and select the “lastclp.txt” file. I drag this file over to the intended folder on the target drive first. Then I select the “contents” folder of the P2 card and drag it into the same folder as the “lastclp.txt” file. That’s it - now all the native files from the P2 card are being copied to the external drive.
The ‘lastclp.txt’ file is VITAL to the footage on a card - and it should not be thrown away, or mismatched with other “lastclp.txt’ and “contents” files and folders.
Once the transfer is complete, you can eject the P2 card from the adapter by dragging the “No Name” icon to the trash can. Make sure you do this before physically removing the card from the adapter.
When the shoot is over, and the last card transferred, I can eject the drive from the computer and me and my client both happily go our separate ways.
IMPORTANT POINTS
Drives fail - not often - but often enough. You can get small, fast reliable pocket or travel drives, it’s worth it to spend a little more for quality, speed and peace of mind. But if you don’t need the portability, a bigger drive, even a RAID, can be faster and even more secure.
Panasonic has a program, P2CMS, that lets you view your P2 files as video clips. You can download it free from Panasonic. Unfortunately, for Mac users with the latest OS X and quicktime - it doesn’t seem to work well. You can get other software to do this, but at a steep price.
BEYOND THE SHOOT
So what do you do you now? You’ve got a drive with a bunch of folders containing all your video - how do you get it into your (or your editor’s) computer and work with it?
Hooking up the drive is simple - it’s best done with the drive turned off - just attach the appropriate connecter cable and turn on the drive. Then - consider making a duplicate drive for backup - even the best quality drives fail every once in a long while and your footage is too valuable to lose this way.
The HVX200 records .mxf files, and these are contained in your various folders. You do not need to open the folders or touch the contents of your hard drive. Different editing software works with different types of files, and even works with the same types of files differently. But all the major editing programs have their own particular P2 workflows. Use your programs manual or help file to use the footage.
FAQ:
How do I benefit from going tapeless?
Going tapeless provides time.
Rather than capturing footage in real time - video files are transferred from P2 card to a hard drive like moving any other computer files. So instead of paying an editor to log and capture - you may pay for a little extra time on set to transfer footage - which your editor can start using right away. Usually you can transfer footage as you go - but even if you take some time at the end of the day to transfer your footage - it still is less time than ‘capturing’ in real time.
What do I walk away with?
My clients walk away with a hard drive full of their native (ie original) video files.
Depending on the editing software they use, they might be able to work with the files as is - or their NLE may need some way of importing, or ingesting the files in a format the NLE uses. The HVX200 records .mxf files, a common type of video file used by many NLE’s. All major NLE’s, like Apple’s Final Cut Pro which uses quicktime, have built in solutions for using the P2 files.
How does the footage get from the camera to the hard drive?
The P2 card and an external drive are both connected to a laptop which offloads video files from the card to the drive.
I use a MacBook Pro, an adapter for mounting the cards, and a drive supplied by me or the client.
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Eric Martin is a Director of Photography working in the Washington, DC area.