Expert Connections : Panasonic P2

How To Change the Frame Rate of a P2 clip

BobRusso — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:21:00 GMT

Maximize your P2-workflow knowledge! In this video, learn how to change the frame rate of a P2 clip using DVFilm's MXFX, and edit with it in Avid Media Composer.

Video Text:

I’m Bob Russo with Avid Technology. Today I’m going to talk about how to change the frame rate and frame size of P2 clips using DVFilm’s MX – FX for use in the Media Composer.

In this example I’m working in a 1080i – 59.94 project and have a virtual P2 card with clips that were shot using a variable frame rate.

I can import the P2 clips into a bin but when I try to play the clip, I receive an error message that the frame rate doesn’t match the projects frame rate.

To change the frame rate and frame size of the clip to match my project I’ll use MX-FX.

Select Options, the options box opens. Since my clip is 23.976, I need to add 3:2 pulldown, change the frame rate to 29.97, and convert the frame size to 1920X1080.
Select OK.

I’ll drop the clip from my virtual P2 card into the window and select start.
MX – FX will create a new virtual P2 card that will retain the meta data from the original card.
Depending on the host computer and exactly what process is being performed, this could take two to four times the length of the clip.

Once it’s done I’ll go back to the Media Composer an import the clip from the new virtual P2 card MX – FX just created.

The clip imports and can play in my project 1080i – 59.94 project with the variable frame rate intact.

And that’s how to change the frame rate of a P2 clip for use in the Avid Media Composer.

Streamline Your P2 Workflow

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:10:00 GMT

As most users know by now, the typical workflow for using P2 media is the (Texas-) Two-Step...

File > Import P2 > Clips to Bin,
File > Import P2 > Media.
Most users, however, will go on to a third step:
Transcode the raw DVCPRO HD material to DNxHD.

The benefit of working in DNxHD on an Adrenaline system is that you get real-time playback of the footage on the client monitor, whereas DVCPRO HD is only played back real-time in the Composer window. But, why do in three steps what you can do in two? To streamline the workflow, skip the second step, and go straight to the Transcode.

Here's how:

1. File > Import P2 > Clips to Bin

2. Press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on the Mac) to highlight all the clips. (Or be selective if you like, it'll work on just the highlighted clips.)
3. Right-click > Consolidate/Transcode.

4. Select the target drive and DNxHD resolution you want.
5. Click “Transcode”, and grab a quick cup of coffee.

The nice perk here is that the system doesn't take any longer to do the Transcode to DNxHD using this workflow, and you get to skip the step of Consolidating the original DVCPRO HD material from the card to your drives. Happy Editing!

Post by Bryan Castle, Avid Training Services Instructor and Curriculum Developer

How To Create an Offline-Online Workflow with Panasonic P2

BobRusso — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:16:00 GMT

One of the most popular emerging workflows in today's post-production world is the Offline-Online workflow with the Panasonic P2 camera. Watch this video to learn exactly how to take your HD media from the P2 card, edit at a SD resolution, and then relink back to its HD flavor. A transcription of my narration is posted below the video.

I’m Bob Russo, the media education evangelist for Avid Technology. Today I’m going to talk about an offline – online workflow with media from a Panasonic P2 camera and the Avid Media Composer.

One of the ways to work with media from a P2 camera is to copy the contents of a P2 card to a folder on a drive. This is what I’ve done here. The first step in working with P2 is to import the clip information into a bin. Select File, Import P2, Clips to Bin. A finder window opens. Navigate to the drive with the P2 media. The top-level folder must be selected. If this folder is not selected the Media Composer will not be able to import the clip information and you will receive this error.

Once I selected the correct folder the Media Composer indexes the media. The media isn’t being imported, instead, just the clip information is being loaded very quickly into a bin. You can see how the clips are actually linked to a virtual P2 card on the drive and can be played right away. I’ll make my selects and consolidate the media over to my local storage using the File, Import P2, Media. The clip media is now on my local drive. For storage and performance reasons, I like to edit the sequence in a standard definition resolution. To do this, change the Format tab to 30i. Select Clip, Consolidate/Transcode. The Consolidate/Transcode box opens. I now have the option to transcode the HD media to any SD resolution. I’ll select DV25. As you can see, three new clips are made, and I can start my edit.

Once the edit is done and the sequence is ready for the online, it can be relinked to the HD media. Change the Format tab back to HD. The SD media changes to yellow, warning that there is SD media in an HD sequence. With the sequence selected, select Clip, Relink. The Relink box opens and select the Highest Quality in the Video Relink Parameters. These options can be turned off, and click OK. The sequence is quickly relinked to the original DVCPRO HD media and ready for the online.

And that's an offline – online P2 workflow with the Avid Media Composer.