Panasonic AG-HPX250PJ Understanding P2 Workflow: Vegas and Raylight - Page 2

Computer/OS specifications: Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better, preferably dual-core processor 512MB of RAM, recommended 1GB Windows XP (Home or Pro) DirectX 9.0 or later A sound card Sony Vegas 5.0 or later (current version is 7.0) DVFilm.com Raylight software, version 2.02 or later Overview: This paper will provide current and prospective P2 customers a step-by-step understanding of how to use P2 with the Sony Vegas video editing application, by using the Raylight program from www.DVFILM.com. Vegas 7.0 (and earlier) has no support for DVCPRO50, DVCPRO-HD, or MXF files from P2 cards; you must use Raylight to have access to these features. Raylight is a codec and file conversion package which gives Vegas the ability to work with P2 MXF files; it's available for purchase from www.dvfilm.com/raylight/. Updates to the latest version can be found at http://www.dvfilm.com/update/ updateR.htm. The basic P2 workflow described is available for use with the AG-HVX200, AJ-HPX2000 and other Panasonic P2 HD camcorders. Please contact Panasonic for further details, or, visit http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/home. asp Acquisition In The Field: Footage must be acquired in normal MXF-compatible means, principally on P2 cards or on the FireStore FS-100. If acquiring on P2 cards: a) Footage can be edited directly from the cards b) Footage on the cards can be transferred to the P2 Store Drive (model AG-PCS060G), and edited directly from the P2 Store, or later transferred to your editing computer. c) Footage on the cards can be transferred to a hard disk, and edited from that hard disk. In order to provide compatibility across multiple Operating Systems and computer platforms and non-linear editing systems, we suggest purchasing disk drives that are already formatted FAT 32. Some P2 camcorders (such as the AJHPX2000) can supply BUS power, and some (such as the AG-HVX200) cannot. Make sure your hard disk can be appropriately powered by your camcorder, or by battery power, or by AC adapter. Additionally, always copy the entire CONTENTS Folder (video, proxy, etc), as well as the LASTCLIP.TXT file. Please note, this drive is generally intended as an intermediate storage device and will not necessarily provide enough throughput for editing. Acquisition In The Studio: Footage may be acquired using any of the above means; additionally, live streaming footage can be captured over an IEEE 1394 interface cable, using a video capture application such as Serious Magic's DV Rack 2.0 HD. However, footage cannot be captured directly by Vegas, even with Raylight. Vegas software cannot be used for live streaming capture of DVCPRO50 or DVCPRO-HD footage. If you want to do live capture of streaming footage of these formats you'll need to use a program that supports live capture, such as the aforementioned DV Rack 2.0 HD. Regardless of how you acquire footage, it's vital that you archive it before erasing your P2 cards. Whether archiving to tape, or optical disc, or hard disk, make sure that you copy the entire contents of the card (CONTENTS folder and LASTCLIP.TXT file) to an archival media before formatting or erasing the cards. See the "Archiving" section at the end of this paper for more details. Also, the P2 Viewer is a free application and a helpful solution for viewing and copying P2 card content to a disk drive / PC. This software also supports metadata, voice memos, and text memos. Please contact Panasonic for further details, or, visit