Maximize Your Workflow with P2 Cards and Avid Xpress Pro HD

So you’ve invested in your first HD camera...now what? It takes some adjustments if you come from the analog world, but, in the end, it’s worth it thanks to the quality of the end product, and simpler workflow. Step 1: Plan your shots and then plan some more

Data management is very important in the tapeless world. In the tape world, you think on the fly because you have your shot sheet and can improvise; plus, tape is cheap. But with P2 cards, shot sheets are even more important because you can run out of space quickly. Shooting DVCPRO HD 1080i at 60i uses a gig per minute. An 8 gig card holds eight minutes of footage at a time. Having multiple P2 cards will help eliminate the downtime needed to transfer files into a P2 store. Also, having a P2 Store or Panasonic AJ-PCS060 60 gig portable storage drive is a must out in the field. This drive can download your P2 cards so you can reuse them over and over again. For extra safety, I like to back up each P2 card on a DVD.

Step 2: Transfer files to your editing system

Now that your shooting is done, you need to get your files off your P2 cards and/or your portable storage drives. Using an Avid Xpress Pro HD system lets you seamlessly transfer the digital files you captured. To do this, you’ll need to create a folder that the Avid can use to access your P2 files, also known as MXF files. If you haven’t used MXF files with Avid before, you’ll need to create a few folders first. In your storage drive, create a file folder named Avid Media Files. Inside this folder, create a folder named MXF, and then, inside this, create a folder named " 1." Drag and drop all the files from the P2 storage files named video and audio into this folder. If you have multiple drives or cards, you can create the same folders, only this time, name the folder " 2" instead of " 1."read more...