There are a few different ways P2 material can be delivered for production to editorial. First of all the material could be on P2 cards or alternatively the material might be delivered as a back up of P2 cards either on an optical disc such as a data DVD or on USB or FireWire hard drives. The good news is that Avid Media Composer is fast and flexible at accessing reviewing and editing P2 originated material regardless of how it is delivered to the edit bay.

 

 

In order to access material which still resides on P2 cards, you'll need some way to read the cards. There are multiple devices which allow for this as follows. Firstly, you can actually use the PCMCIA slot on your PC. On a Mac, you will actually need a PCMCIA to PC Express adaptor. Alternatively, Panasonic offers a range of P2 card reading hardware, which can be connected to your editing system via FireWire or USB. For example, you could use the AJ-PCD20 five-bay P2 drive, or the P2 store, or other compatible Panasonic hardware including the camera itself.

 

Let's look at using PCMCIA. To begin using media on cards directly plugged into your PCMCIA card slot or the PC Express adapter; first ensure that you have installed the correct drivers from Panasonic's web site. Next, simply insert the card and be sure the operating system recognizes that card. Otherwise, to begin using media on cards which are accessing via Panasonic P2 card reading hardware, first connect that card reading hardware to your editing system via FireWire or USB. Next, insert the card or cards into the slots provided and ensure the operating system recognizes those cards. Now whether you are accessing the media via PCMCIA or by Panasonic P2 card reading hardware as long as you have verified that the cards can be seen under the operating system, you can now go ahead and launch Media Composer. Next, create or select the appropriate project type for the material you're going to be working with and then once inside your Avid project create or open a bin into which you'll import your P2 media. With that bin selected, go to the main file menu. Select "Import P2"; choose "Clips to Bin." At the dialog, browse to the location of the P2 card you want to import.

 

It is critical that you select the P2 card at its root level. Do not select the contents folder, nor the video folder or the audio folders from the P2 card, as this will not work. You must select the card itself.

 

Because Avid Media Composer works with P2 media natively after a few seconds, you will see the new master clips have appeared in your bin. These clips are available for immediate viewing, playback and editing. If time is extremely tight, you can actually begin editing the P2 media directly using the cards taking advantage of all the familiar and powerful tools within Avid Media Composer.

 

Now let us turn our attention to back ups of P2 material. In order to access P2 material, which has been backed up to, optical disc, USB or FireWire hard drives, you will first need to mount that device under the operating system. If you are using an optical disc, simply insert that disc into your DVD reader. If you are using a FireWire, USB or some other type of hard disk, connect the hardware and be sure the operating system recognizes the device. Now launch Media Composer and create or select the appropriate project type for the material you are working with.

 

Inside your Avid project create or open a bin into which you will import your P2 media. With that bin selected go to the main file menu select "Import P2"; choose "Clips to Bin." At the dialog browse to the location of the P2 card, you want to import. With a backup, usually the entire contents of a card will be copied to a folder with a meaningful name. It is essential that you select the P2 card at this level. Do not select the contents folder itself; otherwise, the import procedure will fail.

 

Since Avid Media Composer works with P2 media natively after a few seconds you will see the new master clips will appeared in your bin. These clips are available for immediate viewing, playback and editing. If time is extremely tight, you can start editing your P2 media even at this stage using all the familiar and powerful tools inside Avid Media Composer.