When I do this procedure I get this:

Windows Media Player ERROR:
Cannot open. Please verify that the path and filename are correct and try again. (Error=80004005)

I get no option to play anyway...I take it the viewer and drivers are not installed correctly???
Thanks for you help on this...I have been installing, uninstalling,looking for patches...etc...

I have latest direct x ....and p2 viewer...not to sure what else I can do.

OK...I have downloaded the latest windows media video 9 codecs...the latest direct x, every possible update that exists..I have removed and reinstalled in different orders... ...still p2 viewer will not see .mxf files... and Aspect HD says p2 viewer missing...anyone had similar problems???

Chris,

Never touched one of these cameras in my life, but I have run the P2 Viewer and converted MXF footage with HDLink with no problem at all.

It seems to me that there's a possibility you have downloaded the P2 Viewer, but you have not downloaded the specific Windows drivers. You can get them from here.

Hopefully that will help?

thanks for your reply...but I have the drivers and installed for the hvx200,
the USB works fine and the install for both the viewer and the drivers went well..
this viewer will not see mxf files or allow aspect hd to convert...

This is bizzare..the answer is usually so simple it isn't funny, but I'm not laughing yet! There has to be something overlooked...there must be something on this xp pro sp2 system that is missing? I have actually tried uninstall and install procedures in different orders.....any other ideas are welcome...

Chris,

Are you sure you have the P2 Viewer program installed? I believe that is different than the camcorder drivers. If so, try reinstalling.

I had similar issues a few weeks ago, but installation of the P2 Viewer got me on track.

Keep us posted.... Since I have a successful install here, maybe I can answer more specific questions.

Marty

as far as the viewer program, do you mean p2 viewer version 3,0,1,4, ..if this is what you mean, then yes,,, this installed as well as USB drivers and software...latest directx and latest wmp9 codecs.....

like David was saying, I should be able to play mxf files with windows media player 10, partially anyway....I could'nt so I got the latest wm9 codecs but that didn't help...although I have way more output options for wm9 in ppro2

I'm not sure that I have raw .mxf files...I downloaded a mxf file from raylight while I wait for p2 cards to arrive. this files converts to raylight fine...so I believe it is OK.

Waht did you do to fix your problem?...or what was the problem?
Thanks for your time Marty.

It seems the the P2 Viewer components are not registering. Make sure you are logged in as the Administrator and try the following.

Locate the P2 Viewer "Bin" folder -- it should be here : "C:\Program Files\Panasonic P2\Viewer\bin"

In this directory, make sure you have these files : "PDvcProHDVDec.ax", "PDvcPro50VDec.ax", "PCodecHD.DLL" and "PCodec50.dll" these are most likely the video decoding components.

From a shell type
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Panasonic P2\Viewer\bin\PDvcProHDVDec.ax"

These is register the decoder with the system. Tell me what message you get.

yes all the files are there in that specific directory...


Dll RegisterServier in C:\Program Files\Panasonic P2 \Viewer\bin\PDvcProHDVDec.ax succeeded.

still not seeing .mxf files..... hmmmmmm

Try registering all the AX and DLL files (just in case.)

Next thing to try is GraphEdit (http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/do...edit_141.html), this tool lets you see what might be going wrong. From the File menu select "Render Media File...", set the file type to "*.*". See the attached picture for what you should get.

message ..."could not construct graph from this file":
Have you installed the necessary filters
Note that the render file menu cannot render .grf files.


that is what the software said so
...I tried mpg wav and they all show proper paths..
I wonder if this file has an incorrect extention even though it says it is .mxf... Do you have a raw .mxf file I could use..??
Thanks Dave

I'll send you are link via email. It could be the graph won't build due to whatever is wrong with the P2 Viewer. Does Panasonic offer support on the P2 Viewer? Maybe they will after you purchase the camera.

More instructions.

1) Open GraphEdit
2) In Graph Menu select "Insert Filters..."
3) Find "DirectShow Filters" and open that folder.
4) Find "Panasonic MXF Source Filter", select it and press "Insert Filter"
5) With the file requestor select your MXF video file (via file type *.*).
6) Find "Panasonic DVCPRO_HD Video Decoder", select it and press "Insert Filter"
7) Press Close.
8) Grab the output pin of the source MXF box (little square box on the right) and draw a line to the input of the decoder.

Do these pins connect?

9) Right click on the output pin of the decoder and select "Render Pin". This should add the video render.

10) if that works press "Play".

well David....Progress...I got your instructions to work with your skate file but not the DVfilm clip...Obviously that clip is not a raw.mxf file...
I Can open the .mxf file with windows media player...awesome...I can now convert to Cineform common with HDLink....works well..

Go figure, still cannot see .mxf files with P2 Viewer..???
Did the above procedures prove anything to you that I should know???

I already own the cam, I'm just waiting for cards, so I will get panasonic to help me with rest..I would just rather not talk to them, they led me astray for a couple of weeks on another issue...I ended up figuring it out using the forums...way better for troubleshooting...Anyway's, Thank you so much David, Truly Awesome Tech support...Cineform rocks..
I will send you a update on the resolution to the p2 so you have the new info....Warm Regards..Chris Walker

the panasonic driver installation executable does some, um, interesting things during the course of installation: one of them is that it asks you to insert the relevant media (for p2 drivers, the p2 card; for p2 store, the actual p2 drive, etc.). i'm not sure why it is setup this way, and it appears to cause a corrupted installation if you dont' have a PCMCIA slot AND a P2 card handy. i think most desktops dont' have PCMCIA slots so this is a problem.

i went through the driver installation process on a laptop but WITHOUT inserting a P2 card when it asked. i just clicked "okay" but it really didnt' like that, so it complained but i continued. then whenever i tried p2 viewer it ran REALLY SLOWLY. so then i reinvoked driver installation and selected "repair" this time, and DID insert a P2 card when asked, and then everything worked fine after that.

i'm not sure how that helps you on your desktop. perhaps you can try to install the drivers WITH a p2 card on a laptop then read your files from there. my guess is that it will work.

HDlink work with dvcpro50 widescreen?
 

David or anyone. I have a shoot in the morning, client does not need HD and I don't really have enough P2 cards for HD. Can I shoot dvcpro50 widescreen 24p and convert to cineform with the HDlink and edit on our prospect system? will HDlink convert?

Yes, HDLink will convert DVCPRO-50. HOWEVER, 720pN24 takes up less P2 space at 40Mb/s than DVCPRO-50 at 50Mb/s. So unless you want interlaced, shoot 720pn24.

Thank you David, I learn every day! less bitrate for SD....hmm..makes me wonder, would dvcpro50 look better uprezzed then HD 720?

No, upressing DVCPRO-50 would look softer than 720p. But an SD production can benefit from the light compression of DVCPRO-50 (yes DVCPRO-HD is much more compressed than DVCPRO-50), however I always prefer the flexibility of HD even for SD work. It is nice to crop video without loosing definition.

Cineform conversion of HDV vs DVCPRO HD
 

I've read through a lot of these posts, but am still uncertain of my answer. I would like to avoid the HDV compression, but P2 is still too expensive and the HD-SDI recording devices aren't mature yet, so I'm trying to understand how the Cineform codec solves the HDV compression problem when it converts from HDV tapes. If I record to tape on a JVC100 camera, it results in like one I-frame and five non-I-frames...so when I convert with Cineform, what does it do to those frames? Does it return all the non-I frames back to I-frames? What exactly is lost through the HDV compression/Cineform conversion process that wouldn't be lost if I recorded thru the HD-SDI port or used the DVCPRO HD codec?

Basically, what are the advantages/disadvantages of the two methods: HDV tape/Cineform conversion vs DVCPRO HD? Data rates? Degree of compression? Color space? Artifacts? Image quality? NLE editing issues?

CineForm is effectively an I-frame wavelet codec. It is a lot lighter compressed than either HDV or DVCPRO-HD, as a result it is much higher quality for post production workflows. See info on quality here : http://www.cineform.com/technology/quality.htm

David, thanks for the quick response. Wow. Lots of great info to go through. One quick question (sorry if this is on your site). I saw the Wafian, but do you have, or plan to have, a small portable recorder that can ingest directly into the Cineform codec thru the HD-SDI port? Like a couple hours worth of storage in the field to be dumped later at home?

Jeff,

We do want to enable such a device we are currently software based so you need a computer to compress the data. We are hoping for an HDSDI card for enabling laptop/battery operated capture, like we can do with the Silicon Imaging camera.

correct settings for hvx200 720p project?
 

David, what is the best preset for editing a 24p cineform file from the hvx200 at 720?

I recommend an upscaled conversion to 1280x720p23.976 10-bit. The select the 1280x720p23.976 preset (ignore that the preset says it is for HDV, 1280x720 is the same HDV or HD.)