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External video
- Thread starter frozi
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Thats a huge question. How about explaining what you consider External Footage first
I have always been told to keep footage off the computer and onto an external hard drive. Some people at work put it on a USB3.0 drive. Others put it on a thunderbolt external. Others set it up as a raid.
So Im curious what the editors on this forum use to edit their footage off of?
with my laptop, pc or mac, i rip out the optical drive and put in a 2nd caddy. it has proved valuable time and time again. i can then install an ssd in the first bay and have a fast edting laptop.
as far as desktop, all internal for the work that is current. for storage, a usb2 drive x2.
keep it simple.
as far as desktop, all internal for the work that is current. for storage, a usb2 drive x2.
keep it simple.
All depends on the type of project Im working on.
For work its Avid MC/Symphony > Mac Pro > ATTO SAS > GTECH eS Pro RAID.
The back up system is FCPX > Mac Pro > ATTO SAS > GTECH eS Pro RAID.
My personal set-up is FCPX/Avid MC > MacBook Pro > eSATA Card > GRAID2 4TB.
When it was SD footage you can get away with FW400/800.
But with HD and 4K ProRes4444 cant do it without eSATA or SAS cards.
GTECH is my fave and has been proven for many years.
Oldest GRAID I have is 5 years old and its still going.
Worse that happen is the power supply (not internal) died and was replaced for free even though the system was over 3 years old.
For work its Avid MC/Symphony > Mac Pro > ATTO SAS > GTECH eS Pro RAID.
The back up system is FCPX > Mac Pro > ATTO SAS > GTECH eS Pro RAID.
My personal set-up is FCPX/Avid MC > MacBook Pro > eSATA Card > GRAID2 4TB.
When it was SD footage you can get away with FW400/800.
But with HD and 4K ProRes4444 cant do it without eSATA or SAS cards.
GTECH is my fave and has been proven for many years.
Oldest GRAID I have is 5 years old and its still going.
Worse that happen is the power supply (not internal) died and was replaced for free even though the system was over 3 years old.
What codec, resolution, and how many simultaneous streams are you using? How much storage space do you need?
Prores422 at 1080p is fine off any firewire drive if you're only editing with one stream at a time. Any less than that is fine off USB2.
You can work with almost anything off an eSATA drive without going to RAID.
RAID arrays are useful if you have >2GB of footage or you're editing uncompressed or with a lot of streams of video at once. I wouldn't buy thunderbolt drives because they're way too expensive and because when you trade them with other houses you can't easily guarantee compatibility. 99% of the time I see triple interface 3.5'' drives (USB2, firewire, eSATA) or firewire 800/USB 2.5'' drives and prores files, and occasionally triple interface RAID arrays when there's a lot of footage, but I do low end work (and prores only, no .dpx or uncompressed).
The G-RAIDs are particularly nice if you can afford them.
Prores422 at 1080p is fine off any firewire drive if you're only editing with one stream at a time. Any less than that is fine off USB2.
You can work with almost anything off an eSATA drive without going to RAID.
RAID arrays are useful if you have >2GB of footage or you're editing uncompressed or with a lot of streams of video at once. I wouldn't buy thunderbolt drives because they're way too expensive and because when you trade them with other houses you can't easily guarantee compatibility. 99% of the time I see triple interface 3.5'' drives (USB2, firewire, eSATA) or firewire 800/USB 2.5'' drives and prores files, and occasionally triple interface RAID arrays when there's a lot of footage, but I do low end work (and prores only, no .dpx or uncompressed).
The G-RAIDs are particularly nice if you can afford them.
I plan on buying the new macbook pro Retina, so I am limited to usb 3 or thunderbolt. I will be editing on Avid.
I will be purchasing 16gb of ram but wont be upgrading my flash storage. It comes with 512, so the money I am saving on that upgrade I plan on using to get a solid external. So I am leaning towards g-raid
For offline, we use an 2009 Uni with 8GB, eSATA 4TB GRAID2 with Avid MC.
Footage is AMA DNxHD220 which is HD res from Sony XDCAM.
Since your option is higher than the above, any decent USB3 or TB drive will suffice.
We just move the data around from MC to Symphony on Mac Pro (check my specs earlier post). Runs great no hiccups.
Same experience with FCPX but I can edit ProRes4444 4K from R3D on that same MBP system but at careful speeds.