About Panasonic P2 Cards and Media Files

A Professional Plug-in card (P2 card) is a compact, solid-state memory card designed for professional video use. Because they have no moving parts, P2 cards are free from many of the pitfalls associated with tape-based media, such as temperature and moisture sensitivity, tangled tape, dropouts, and tedious logging and capturing. Panasonic currently produces proprietary P2 cameras, decks, and card readers.

The original P2 card had a capacity of 2 GB, or roughly 8 minutes of DV 25 footage. Cards with 64 GB capacities are now available, and capacities are projected to grow geometrically with each new P2 card release.

The following definitions provide some shorthand for discussing P2 cards and media.

• P2 card: A solid-state memory card for recording DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, and AVC-Intra media within MXF container files.
• P2 device: A camcorder, deck, or card reader capable of reading and writing to a P2 card. These devices can usually be connected to a Mac computer via a USB or FireWire cable.
• P2 volume: Any P2 card or mounted disk image that contains a valid P2 directory structure and MXF media files. For more information, see Panasonic P2 Card Format Specifications.
• P2 folder: Any folder that contains a valid P2 directory structure and MXF media files. For more information, see Panasonic P2 Card Format Specifications.
• P2 clip: An XML clip file and its associated MXF video and audio files, stored on a P2 volume. P2 media files use the FAT32 file system and are therefore limited to 4 GB.
• P2 clip name: A simple clip name, usually six characters long, assigned automatically by the P2 camcorder.
• P2 clip ID: A universally unique ID (UUID) number assigned to each clip recorded by a P2 camcorder. This is also called global clip ID.