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USING P2 HD WITH

CANOPUS EDIUS BROADCAST

when it counts

Computer/OS specifications:
Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better 512MB of RAM, recommended 1GB Windows XP (Home or Pro) with Service Pack 2 DirectX 9.0 or later Graphics card with hardware-based DirectDraw overlay and 32-bit color display at 1024x768; 128MB of memory is required when editing HD One free USB 1.1 or 2.0 port for hardware dongle A sound card EDIUS Broadcast version 3.61 or later (must be Broadcast)

Overview:

This paper will provide current and prospective P2 customers a step-by-step understanding of how to use P2 with Canopus EDIUS Broadcast. Please note, EDIUS Broadcast is a specific version/package of Canopus/Grass Valley EDIUS software. P2 is not supported in Canopus EDIUS Pro; only the Broadcast version has support for MXF files, P2 cards, and DVCPROHD. Also, a hardware dongle is required for access to the MXF, P2, and DVCPRO-HD features of EDIUS Broadcast! 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. 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, footage can be captured directly by EDIUS Broadcast through an IEEE 1394 interface cable. EDIUS supports 1394 capture of DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO-HD 720p, and DVCPRO-HD 1080. Regardless of how you acquire footage, its 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 http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/home.asp

Preparing For The Edit:

When first starting an edit session, you must make sure that the hardware dongle is inserted in one of your computers USB ports, and then you should run the EDIUS Pro editing software. Choose to start a New Project:
Next, choose the type of project that matches the timebase and resolution of the footage you intend to edit. EDIUS Broadcast supports standard-definition in 4:3 and 16:9, and high-definition, in various frame rates. Choose the mode that best matches your footage.

For DVCPRO-HD 720p, choose one of the Canopus HD 720p presets; for a 720/24pN project choose Canopus HD 720/23.976p over 59.94p; for a 720/30pN project choose Canopus HD 720/29.97p over 59.94p. For DVCPRO-HD 1080, choose the appropriate Canopus HD 1080 preset: either 1080/60i, or 1080/30p over 60i, or 1080/24p over 60i (for 1080i/24p footage), or 1080/24pA over 60i (for 1080i/24pA footage). For DV or DVCPRO, choose one of the DV NTSC presets; choose 16:9 or 4:3 and also select your frame rate (either normal 60i, or 30p, or 24p, or 24pA). For DVCPRO50, choose one of the Canopus SD50 NTSC presets, either 4:3 or 16:9. Be aware that you can freely mix and match footage timebases and resolutions; you can intermix 1080 footage and 720 footage and SD footage, you can also intermix 30p and 24p footage all on the same timeline. EDIUS Broadcast will conform any footage to match the preset that you select here.
Preparing Footage For Import:
If the footage currently exists on P2 cards, no preparation is necessary. P2 cards can be read by either a PCMCIA/CardBus slot on a laptop computer, or through an AJ-PCD10 or AJ-PCD20 P2 Drive, or through an AG-PCS060G P2 Store (when the P2 Store is being used as a pass-through slot), or through a USB-equipped P2 Camcorder such as the AG-HVX200 when in USB Device mode. If the footage has been captured through 1394 live capture, no preparation is necessary; EDIUS will automatically add captured footage files to the project bin. If the footage has been transferred to a hard disk or is currently on a P2 Store, no preparation is necessary; just plug in the hard disk. If the footage is on a P2 Store, plug the P2 Store into a USB 2.0 port (and ensure that the P2 Store is in PCcompatible mode). The P2 Store can appear to the computer in one of two ways: a) As a series of sequential external drive letters (such as J:, K:, L:, etc) where each card thats been copied to the P2 Store appears as its own drive, or b) As one large external drive, where each card thats been copied to the P2 Store appears as its own subdirectory on that drive. If footage was acquired on the FireStore FS-100, you will first have to run the FireStore Organize P2 command before attempting to import footage into EDIUS Broadcast. Attach the FireStore via a 1394 cable; make sure to plug the cable into the FireStores COMPUTER I/O port, not its DV I/O port.

Importing Footage:

EDIUS Broadcast has the ability to directly import P2s MXF files. While it is technically possible to drag files from your computers desktop or Windows Explorer windows and drop them right into a bin or the timeline, this is not the recommended workflow. There is a much better way: using the P2 Select tool. In the upper left corner, click the EDIUS menu, and choose TOOLS, and then P2 SELECT. The P2 Select window shows available P2 cards, and clips that are on those cards, and folders. P2 cards (or volumes on a P2 Store) are shown by drive letter (in the above example, K: is an actual P2 card, and the name AAC05B0028 is the serial number of that card). The list also shows various folders that have been added as virtual P2 cards. To add a new
folder to the available list, choose the Add Folder button. To view the contents of any folder or card, select it in that list in the above example were viewing the contents of the card itself. Once youve selected a card to import from, you can choose which particular clips to import. Select the clips via thumbnail; SHIFT-click or CONTROL-click to select multiple clips to import. Also, choose the method of importing youd like to use. Direct Import will immediately add the clips to your project bin, but will leave the files where they are (ideal for editing directly from a P2 card, or from an external hard disk where youve already offloaded your clips). Copy and Import will copy the files off of the source directory and make a duplicate on your computers hard disk in the Work Folder that you specify. It will then import the duplicate files into your bin. Using the P2 Select tool is the best way to add files to a project. The P2 Select tool will import all necessary files audio, video, metadata, etc. and keep them all together throughout the editing process. While it is possible to simply drag a video file from a P2 folder right to your bin, this is not recommended because only the video would be imported audio and metadata would not automatically be imported. However, using the P2 Select tool, all components are brought in and kept together. Using Copy and Import allows you to copy files to your computers hard disk, thus freeing up the P2 card or P2 Store or FireStore to be erased and used again in the field. Using Direct Import allows you to edit up to six streams of highdefinition footage right off of a P2 card, instantly.

Outputting Footage:

Once your project is edited, you can export the footage in a variety of ways, including directly back to a P2 card or to a virtual card on a hard disk or other archival media.

First, click on the Export button:
Then choose Export->Print to file
This brings up the Export dialog box.
You can choose to export your footage in any variety of ways, but for the purposes of this document well demonstrate how to export your footage back out to a P2 card (or to a virtual card on a hard disk).
Choose HD P2 Clip Exporter. This dialog box presents several options for exporting your footage, and what metadata settings youd like to add, as well as whether youd like to have the footage span across multiple cards if your exported footage is too large to fit on one card.
First, for determining where the footage will be exported to: You can export directly to a P2 card (mounted in an appropriate P2 reader), or to a folder on a hard disk. The P2 Exporter will automatically create the P2 CONTENTS folder and associated subfolders in the directory that you specify.
Next, you can set the User Clip Name and metadata. User Clip Name does not change the name of the files on the card (i.e., the file will still be named according to standard P2 naming conventions, such as 0001BG.MXF); instead, specifying a User Clip Name writes your selected name into the metadata of the P2 files. You can also load a metadata file from a previously-saved XML file.
Exporting Footage To Other Formats:
Nothing about EDIUS Broadcast, or the MXF workflow, limits you to only working with the files as MXF or P2 files. You can of course export your footage to DVD-compatible MPEG-2 files, or downconvert to standard-definition (even DV files), or to any format. Use the Canopus ProCoder tool to export files in a format other than P2 MXF file format.

Archiving Footage:

P2 cards are not necessarily permanent data storage media items; many people use them as temporary containers, in that they fill them up with footage, use that footage, and then archive the footage onto a permanent storage format before re-using the card. If editing straight from the card, you can archive either before or after the edit process. But if you intend to erase the card and record more footage onto it, obviously its vital to properly archive the cards contents before erasing it. Data from a P2 card should not be thought of as video data; instead, it is computer data and should be archived as such. You do not need to archive your P2 data onto video tape; instead, you can archive onto any computer-readable media. If you explore the data on a P2 card youll see that each P2 card is viewed by the computer as a removable-storage disc drive. It should be archived just like you would archive any disc drive. Common archival methods include: a) storing the footage on external removable hard disks b) exporting to data DVD-R or DVD+R c) exporting to data Blu-Ray or HD-DVD optical discs d) archiving footage on data tape drives such as DLT or LTO tapes e) archiving footage onto DVCPRO-HD video tape When archiving, you want to store all the originally-recorded data, in its original form. Dont just archive certain portions or certain files, but back up the entire contents of the card. Additionally, it is vital to keep and preserve the directory structure and archive the entire CONTENTS directory and the LASTCLIP.TXT file, if any. To archive to an external hard disc, create a new directory on the external hard disc for each card you intend to archive (for example, if you had three cards to archive on to your external drive K: youd create the following folders: K:\Reel_1\, K:\Reel_2, and K:\Reel_3). Then simply use Windows Explorer to drag the complete contents of the appropriate P2 card (dragging the CONTENTS and LASTCLIP.TXT) into one of those directories on your external hard disk. Another common archival process is to use optical discs, such as recordable data DVDs. A 4GB P2 card can be archived onto a regular 4.7GB DVD-R or DVD+R; an 8GB P2 card can be archived onto a dual-layer DVD-R. 16GB and larger cards may be able to be archived onto data Blu-Ray or dual-layer HD-DVD discs. To archive onto a data DVD-R youll need a DVD burner as well as a DVD burning application (such as Nero AGs Nero) which supports making data DVDs. Note: you do not want to create a playable video DVD, you want to create a data DVD. Then, using your DVD burning application, create a data DVD image that consists of one cards CONTENTS and LASTCLIP.TXT and burn one DVD per card. Data tape (such as DLT or LTO tape) can be used to archive large amounts of data; an LTO-3 tape holds hundreds of gigabytes of data. Use a data backup program to create large archives of card data directly onto high-capacity LTO or DLT tapes. It is also possible to archive your DV data files onto DV tape, or your DVCPRO50 files onto DVCPRO50 tape, or DVCPRO-HD data files onto DVCPRO-HD tape. This workflow would involve importing the files into an EDIUS timeline, and then using the Export button to Export->Print To Tape function. Archiving to videotape is a familiar process, but archiving to a data storage medium (such as hard disk, optical data disc, or data tape) offers significant advantages over archiving to video tape (including preserving all the metadata and the clip-based nature of the footage.) Footage that is archived to video tape becomes video data and would need to be captured back into the computer if re-editing is necessary. Footage that is archived onto a data storage medium can be simply restored and all the clips and metadata will be restored to exactly the same state as when they were archived.

Written by Barry Green, Fiercely Independent Films Inc., March 2007. Barry Green is the author of The HVX Book and The DVX Book and publisher of several training DVDs for P2 products.