Camera cards from the various camera makers, such as Canon XF or Panasonic P2, have their own folder structures and file formats. Additionally, video files may be split into other smaller files that need to be recombined later. For example, Panasonic P2 cards often split audio and video into separate MXF files. Canon XF camera cards sometimes split long videos into sequential MXF files due to file size limits on the card.
Another hurdle we must address is that as of Adobe Premiere Pro 2020, there is no API for a panel to know when Premiere has automatically recombined spanned camera card clips into one clip. That means that our proxy workflow does not work with spanned clips. As soon as Adobe provides this support, we will update our plugin to do so.
Because of all of these limitations, we’ve outlined below the most effective workflow for using camera cards in your video production pipeline with Evolphin Zoom.
Panasonic P2 Cards
Because of the way the Panasonic P2 format splits audio and video, these cards require their own workflow. You can choose one of the following options, depending on your resources:
- Using a camera card module for a third-party transcoder like Telestream Vantage, the transcoder will automatically recombine audio and video MXFs into a new file that will get ingested into Zoom.
- P2 cards are dropped into a special Hot Folder to send them through the encoding workflow, and after they are encoded, the card is archived and the output of the encoding (say, a ProRes mezzanine video) is ingested into Zoom and made available for video editing
- The second option is to copy the camera card in its entirety to the Zoom-managed Third-Party Mount point (the PSAN or other location Zoom manages high-res video), so that Adobe Premiere and other programs can recognize it as a camera card and recombine audio and video during the edit.
- Using the Zoom Premiere plugin (Zoom version 7.5+), the video editor navigates to the CONTENTS/VIDEO folder of the card and clicks the plugin’s Make Link button with the VIDEO folder selected. This will tell Premiere to import all video clips, and it will recognize the P2 structure and will recombine audio and video.
- Videos can also be dragged from the CONTENTS/VIDEO folder in the desktop asset browser into Premiere
- Make sure to follow the Web Admin Ingest Settings below to ensure Zoom copies the whole card structure when it is ingested
- Note: Zoom’s proxy switching workflow will not be available with this option, due to the Adobe API limitations outlined above
- Using the Zoom Premiere plugin (Zoom version 7.5+), the video editor navigates to the CONTENTS/VIDEO folder of the card and clicks the plugin’s Make Link button with the VIDEO folder selected. This will tell Premiere to import all video clips, and it will recognize the P2 structure and will recombine audio and video.
All Other Camera Cards
In order to utilize Zoom’s proxy switching workflow, we recommend that all other camera card structures be pulled apart, with the MXF, MTS or other video files copied to the TPM/PSAN. All other camera card files will be directly ingested into the Zoom database.
No data will be lost, but by separating the card data from the video data, it will ensure Premiere does not combine spanned clips and break Zoom’s proxy workflow. The only drawback will be for long videos, editors may need to manually select multiple clips and string them together in their editing sequence.
When the editor links with the CLIPS folder in these camera cards, Premiere will only see the MXF or MTS files and import them individually. The proxies Zoom has created for these files can be switched to easily using our plugin, enabling remote workflows, faster editing on slower machines, and editing projects that have been archived.
Web Admin Ingest Settings
To ensure Zoom copies P2 cards in their entirety to the TPM/PSAN, follow the steps below
- In the Webmin Ingest Rules page, high-res files must not be renamed when imported. Renaming will break the camera card functionality. No suffix or timestamp can be added either.
- Note: The suffix setting for ingested files must be set at the beginning of deployment, because as of Zoom 7.5, this setting cannot be changed after Zoom has been deployed.
After the ingest settings have been set up, dragging a P2 camera card into Zoom will cause it to be copied directly to the TPM/PSAN, and Premiere will import it correctly. If you have any questions about this workflow, please contact support.