File structure for shooting with HVX200? at DVinfo.net

Thomas Smet · September 2nd, 2005, 05:50 PM

I have a question hopefully either Jan or somebody else who has used a SD P2 camera can answer.

What file structure and how are the files named on the P2 cards and/or hard drive?

What I mean is lets say you are shooting a large event and swap the cards throughout the event. Now you go back and start to edit and how will the clips be organized? If you keep shooting for a long segment and swap cards live does the file merge together during transfer or is the one large shot split into many smaller files such as how we use to have to capture DV in 9 minute chunks.

How are the clips named and if you transfer clips from more than one P2 camera how can you tell the clips apart from the name?

The reason I ask is because sometimes when you have more than one shooter keeping the clips organized can sometimes be a mess. This can be very hard if you need to keep some type order based on the order of events.

If you shoot an event with multiple cameras and have 100's to 1000's of clips this could be an editing nightmare. At least with tapes you know which camera the clips belong to and what order they were shot in.

David Andrews · September 3rd, 2005, 03:14 AM

I haven`t used one but you may find this site has relevant info.
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro...brochure_e.pdf

At around page 22 of this brochure there is a description of the P2 viewer and its use. The file format is mxf which appears to offer scope for adding useful data.

Mikko Wilson · September 3rd, 2005, 03:32 AM

Speculation here.
But I'd think it would be usefull if each clip contained 2 peices of data: the camera serial number (unique) and and n'th clip that the camera had [ever] recorded, (uniaue to the camera) ... that way you'd always be able to sort who shot it and in what order.
..than again that's almost sounding like a tape workflow.. all that linerarity..

- Mikko.

Chris Hurd · September 3rd, 2005, 11:12 AM

The vast array of metadata that can be assigned to an MXF file (that is what P2 uses for its file structure) will allow you to designate a wide variety of information, so keeping track of clips should not be a concern. You can work with P2 video as a searchable, indexed database.

Although the HVX200 is not yet available, you could download the operator's manual for one of the other P2 cameras and get an idea of how you can work with P2 video clips.

Thomas Smet · September 4th, 2005, 09:26 AM

I finally saw a screen shot of the program from Panasonic to view P2 media and the info. I can see a lot of information there. The only downside is that you almost have to use this viewer program to tell what is going on. The actual filenames seem to be some complex number system. So just looking at the filenames might be a little hard to tell what is going on. You would either have to use this program or a NLE that could read the data.

September 2nd, 2005, 05:50 PM	#1
Thomas Smet Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,719	File structure for shooting with HVX200? I have a question hopefully either Jan or somebody else who has used a SD P2 camera can answer. What file structure and how are the files named on the P2 cards and/or hard drive? What I mean is lets say you are shooting a large event and swap the cards throughout the event. Now you go back and start to edit and how will the clips be organized? If you keep shooting for a long segment and swap cards live does the file merge together during transfer or is the one large shot split into many smaller files such as how we use to have to capture DV in 9 minute chunks. How are the clips named and if you transfer clips from more than one P2 camera how can you tell the clips apart from the name? The reason I ask is because sometimes when you have more than one shooter keeping the clips organized can sometimes be a mess. This can be very hard if you need to keep some type order based on the order of events. If you shoot an event with multiple cameras and have 100's to 1000's of clips this could be an editing nightmare. At least with tapes you know which camera the clips belong to and what order they were shot in.

September 3rd, 2005, 03:32 AM	#3
Mikko Wilson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Juneau, Alaska, USA Posts: 624	Speculation here. But I'd think it would be usefull if each clip contained 2 peices of data: the camera serial number (unique) and and n'th clip that the camera had [ever] recorded, (uniaue to the camera) ... that way you'd always be able to sort who shot it and in what order. ..than again that's almost sounding like a tape workflow.. all that linerarity.. - Mikko. __________________ Mikko Wilson - Steadicam Owner / Operator - Juneau, Alaska, USA +1 (907) 321-8387 - mikkowilson@hotmail.com - www.mikkowilson.com

September 3rd, 2005, 11:12 AM	#4
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	The vast array of metadata that can be assigned to an MXF file (that is what P2 uses for its file structure) will allow you to designate a wide variety of information, so keeping track of clips should not be a concern. You can work with P2 video as a searchable, indexed database. Although the HVX200 is not yet available, you could download the operator's manual for one of the other P2 cameras and get an idea of how you can work with P2 video clips. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

September 3rd, 2005, 03:14 AM	#2
David Andrews Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 131	I haven`t used one but you may find this site has relevant info. https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro...brochure_e.pdf At around page 22 of this brochure there is a description of the P2 viewer and its use. The file format is mxf which appears to offer scope for adding useful data.

September 4th, 2005, 09:26 AM	#5
Thomas Smet Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,719	I finally saw a screen shot of the program from Panasonic to view P2 media and the info. I can see a lot of information there. The only downside is that you almost have to use this viewer program to tell what is going on. The actual filenames seem to be some complex number system. So just looking at the filenames might be a little hard to tell what is going on. You would either have to use this program or a NLE that could read the data.