P2 media problems

I'm editing a project that was shot on P2 media. This is the first time I have worked with P2. A media manager was hired and put the files on to external hard drives. There are two externals, one is an exact copy of the other. They were not converted to quicktime before we reformatted the cards. (something I have now learned should have been done.) It was a three camera shoot, interview style.

I am having two issues.

Issue 1) When I try to log and transfer one of the folders, we'll call it "folder A", I get an error message about contents in folders don't match. In "folder A", are the "contents" folder and a "lastclip.txt". However, within the contents folder, only the audio folder is there. (the mxf files are there). The "Clip,icon,proxy,video, and voice" folders are not there. When I called the media manger we hired, he said that the other info is probably there, it just went some where else. I had a software programmer help me look to see where it could be on the externals, but according to him, it's not there... anywhere! It's only the last half hour of the 2-shot that I am having problems with, all the other files come over fine. The problem is identical on the back up external. Where else could it have gone? Or is that the actual problem? More importantly, am I screwed?

Issue 2) When I try and log and transfer another folder from a different interview, nothing happens. I get no warning or error message. All of the contents are in the folder; audio, clip, icon, proxy, video and voice, are there. All those folders have the mxf,xml,bmp, in them. All the other folders from that interview log and transfer fine, it's just that one particular folder.

Both issues are coming from one of the 16 GB cards. We had 4 of them and I'm not sure if it's from the same one. Could there be a problem with the actual P2 cards? This seems unlikely to me.

Not sure what to do.

Thanks,

Peter Schlemmer
peter@cevaproductions.com

>They were not converted to quicktime before we reformatted the cards. (something I have now learned should have been done.)

No...this is not the job of the Data Wrangler to back up the cards properly...which they did. Converting to Quicktime is what you do, or the assistant editor does, when the drives are brought to the edit bay.

>In "folder A", are the "contents" folder and a "lastclip.txt". However, within the contents folder, only the audio folder is there. (the mxf files are there). The "Clip,icon,proxy,video, and voice" folders are not there.

That's a problem. That's a BIG problem. If the files aren't there...then they aren't there. That second card is useless.

>When I called the media manger we hired, he said that the other info is probably there, it just went some where else.

UH, where else? This "Media Manager" screwed up. Tell them to come in and find the files, and if he can't find them...don't hire him again. He failed to do the job properly...the files weren't backed up properly, one TWO hard drives. EPIC FAIL.

>Where else could it have gone? Or is that the actual problem? More importantly, am I screwed?

I don't know where else they could have gone. The Media Manager failed to do the job properly, and double check their work. You are screwed...at least on the latter half of the interview. If you need it, then you need to schedule a reshoot. And do not hire that man again.

As for issue 2...everything else works fine but not that one folder? And the MXF files are all there for the VIDEO and AUDIO? Odd. Install P2CMS from the Panasonic.com/p2 site and that will allow you to open the MXF files in Quicktime. YOu can check to see if anything is on them....if they are corrupt or working. Might be a corrupt card. But if P2CMS sees them, you can import and sync them in FCP, or get other software that will allow import of the MXF footage natively.... Calibrated or Raylight or MXF4Mac.

So BOTH backups of this P2 card fail to load? Boy, this "media manager" is batting 0.

Here's a tutorial on the proper procedure for all tapeless media: [library.creativecow.net]

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND investing in software called SHOTPUT PRO, from imagineproducts.com. This will back up the tapeless media (P2, SxS, CF cards, XDCAM disks...pretty much anything) and verify that they are backed up. And it will do it automatically...and make darn sure everything is copied over. Save you from incompetence and reshoots.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

What Shane said. Files on a drive do not "go" somewhere else. Sometimes drives do go corrupt, and you may get a couple of bad back up files, so this is why you need 2 back ups, plus the QuickTime files for editing. Basically 3 back ups.

When transferring the files, at the very least, check the size of the folders to see if they match up. Best to use a software that does data verification like shotput pro.



www.strypesinpost.com

With tapeless media, communication among crew members is much more essential. For example, I worked on a shoot where, despite my frantic pleas, they didn't have a DIT on set. No backups, no verification of the data on the P2 cards. After their shoot I received six P2 cards from a runner only to discover -- shock and horror -- that two of the cards were blank, and scenes were missing. Only after multiple calls and e-mails did I discover that there were eight cards in service on the shoot, and somebody apparently decided this was something the editor didn't need to know. After half a day of producers laying blame on one another, they found out that the runner had let two of the cards fall out of the bunch and they'd been lying on the floor of his car...two $500 pieces of equipment in plain sight overnight.

What I'm getting at is, because P2 cards are often rentals, they often aren't well marked. Unlike tapes, cards don't have unique reel names that stay constant throughout a shoot (ie. Card 001 will not always contain Interview 001).

Have you already checked your equipment to make sure they didn't copy the wrong cards as you were shooting? Since your "Media Manager" didn't actually mount the backed-up files to check them (I would have), are you sure he didn't confuse a used card with an unused one?

Yes, sounds like the "Media Manager" screwed up, but I also know that producers put insane pressures on DITs, giving them too little time and too much work, getting inexperienced PAs (who don't know how to communicate necessary information) to handle the cards, recycling cards too fast. They don't respect post-production's need to protect the master footage...until they get screwed royally like here.

With proper P2 backup, you're supposed to copy everything on a card, not micro-manage. In my experience, it's actually not at all easy to miss something on a card, unless there's a corruption. Unless your "Media Manager" were dealing with a blank card in the first place, I don't see how he could have grabbed the folders but missed the files.


www.derekmok.com

I would do a last minute Hail Mary search for those Video and Audio folders INSIDE other folders.

Especially if they were from the end of the day, and the Media Manager was just drag/drop copying the files form the P2 cards to the destination drives.
I have seen that happen where a slip of the mouse can lead to folders getting dropped into other folder by accident, and this is all more likely under pressure and nearing the end of the day.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

I've started a new thread about copying cards

[www.lafcpug.org]

Andreas

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

Peter