.MXF files conversion

[sibte hassan]

Hello All,

My AC lost the .txt files which you get once you copy the P2 card on your computer. Now FCP cannot import it at all. There is logic behind the content of those txt files, does anyone know the algorithm.

Or

Is there any utility which can covert .mxf to quicktime. I shot everything in 1080i/24pa.

thanks

[Michael Schrengohst]

Do you still have the CONTENTS folder???

 

LASTCLIP.txt is easy to re-build

here is an example

 

0008OH (This is the name of the lastclip without the .mxf extension)

1.0 (This number is always 1.0)

9 (This is the number of clips +1)

 

Make a new folder on your HD.

Then copy the CONTENTS folder and the LASTCLIP.txt

file you made with texteditor.

 

Then in FCP (I assume that is what you are using?)

Import P2>the new folder

 

e-mail if you need any help beyond that.

Edited December 10, 2006 by Michael Schrengohst

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

I seem to recall saying some time ago that the Panasonic implementation of MXF was a complete train wreck. I'm chagrined but not terribly surprised to find people are having trouble with it. There's absolutely no way your AC should have been responsible for data wrangling at that sort of level on any competent system. Go easy on him; P2 is an unmitigated disaster area.

 

When you say the text files, do you really mean the XML metadata? If so, you're stuffed; there's a lot of info in those which can't be recreated. If it's just lastclip.txt, you may be OK, but I can't imagine why FCP would need that to do an import (actually I can't imagine why it would need any of the XML to do an import either, but as I say, there's not a lot about either P2 or MXF that makes a hell of a lot of sense).

 

There are utilities which will convert the MXF to various formats, but most of the ones I've seen are for standard def - I don't know about DVCPRO-HD.

 

My frustration at the horrible design of P2 rises anew. This is exactly, precisely the kind of problem one would expect to see with such a dismal system.

 

Phil

[Michael Schrengohst]

Phil,

It's not that bad....

I have imported raw .mxf files into FCP when a shooter

thought that was all they needed.

You can open an .xml file from another P2 volume

and edit it enough to import an orphan .mxf file....

I am working on a DVD explaining the in and outs

of working with the HVX and FCP....

And rescuing an orphan .mxf file is

one chapter in the DVD.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

But that's exactly the point.

 

There should be no reason to have "orphan" files, whether they're MXF or not. The entire point, the very purpose of MXF existing is to wrap several streams of information in one file. The P2 implementation not only breaks MXF, it actually brings up exactly the problem it was designed to solve. It's a complete disaster.

 

Phil

[Michael Schrengohst]

That is the problem that the first shooters of film thought.

Oh my god....I opened the can, the film is ruined.

Director: what a crappy idea! Shooting with a plastic strip

of light sensitive emulsion...e gads man!

Why in my day we lugged around 50 pounds of glass plates we prepared in a tent and we liked it!!!

Edited December 12, 2006 by Michael Schrengohst

[sibte hassan]

Do you still have the CONTENTS folder???

 

LASTCLIP.txt is easy to re-build

here is an example

 

0008OH (This is the name of the lastclip without the .mxf extension)

1.0 (This number is always 1.0)

9 (This is the number of clips +1)

 

Make a new folder on your HD.

Then copy the CONTENTS folder and the LASTCLIP.txt

file you made with texteditor.

 

Then in FCP (I assume that is what you are using?)

Import P2>the new folder

 

e-mail if you need any help beyond that.

 

I tried exactly the way you described, but it didnt work.

Edited December 12, 2006 by sibte

[Michael Schrengohst]

Do you have all the original files

in the CONTENTS folder?

[sibte hassan]

Do you have all the original files

in the CONTENTS folder?

 

All the files are in their respective folders. Just the .txt is the problem.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

The biggest issue with P2's that people have been saying from the beginning is what you have to go through to archive your footage. I'd be afraid to shoot all my footage onto a P2 card, dump it onto an HD and then erase the card.

 

I'd much rather get an optical HD disc like what the Sony XDCAM HD uses, and keep it in storage for if an issue such as this occurs.

[Michael Schrengohst]

All the files are in their respective folders. Just the .txt is the problem.

 

All the LASTCLIP.txt does is help you with spanned clips.

How are your trying to import footage?

[sibte hassan]

All the LASTCLIP.txt does is help you with spanned clips.

How are your trying to import footage?

 

I have been trying the usual way in FCP. Nothing different, I have shot and downloaded more than 200 hours. Its just my luck that the txt files are corrupted. Anyways i did find another way, that is, take it to a AVID machine as it doesnt require .txt to import. A friend of mine is helping me out with it.

 

Thanks for the help from all.

[David Osborne]

Can someone tell me please exactly what files need to be transfered from P2/Firestore and maybe how, so that this never happens to me?

[sibte hassan]

Can someone tell me please exactly what files need to be transfered from P2/Firestore and maybe how, so that this never happens to me?

 

From the P2 cards, copy both, the 'lastclip.txt', and the 'contents' folder onto your hard drive. What happened with me was that my assistant messed up the lastclip file and that, only for FCP, makes the footage not readable. With Avid, it works.

[Erik Olson]

We're shooting reality, documentary and development tasters on the HVX200 - 3TB to date without a lost or corrupted file.

 

We use P2Genie to non-RAID duplicate Seagate drives on-set. If we have a dedicated technician for capturing on location, we start the DI process with DVFilm Raylight.

 

The newest release of Raylight (build 2.0.2.0) now supports drag-n-drop of MXF into NLEs like Vegas and Premier. We use Vegas for short-form projects (less than 24 minute) and Avid Nitris for broadcast.

 

Each 4GB P2 card goes through P2Genie to the Barracudas and then to dual-layer DVD for additional archiving.

 

In my experience, P2 is robust if a little clunky against the rather elegant XDCam workflow. The color reproduction and dynamic range was better with the HVX than the F350s (eHD 1/2 glass) though.

 

e

Edited January 23, 2007 by Erik Olson

[Marcus van Bavel]

Hello All,

My AC lost the .txt files which you get once you copy the P2 card on your computer. Now FCP cannot import it at all. There is logic behind the content of those txt files, does anyone know the algorithm.

Or

Is there any utility which can covert .mxf to quicktime. I shot everything in 1080i/24pa.

thanks

 

 

This is possibly old news but DVFilm Maker (included with DVFilm Raylight) can convert a bare MXF file into either Quicktime or AVI format; either to uncompressed or lightly compressed quicktime (such as MJPEG 100% quality which will play back real time on the Mac) or to Raylight AVI without recompression. You could also create an entirely new P2 card image with the Raylight AVI, for re-import into FCP. That is done with an app called P2 Maker (also part of Raylight).

 

You can also use DVFilm Maker to convert Apple quicktime DVCPROHD to Raylight AVI with no recompression, so that you can view HVX200 footage on a PC and import it into programs like Vegas, Premiere or After Effects.

 

For more info including free downloads see http://dvfilm.com/raylight