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Is it useful to segment the hard drive for editing video???

D

Dirty Harry

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 8, 2004
76
0
Valencia, SPAIN
I will be editing some miniDV with FinalCut Express on my new iBook G4 1.2 Mhz (as soon as it gets to me!)... Is it a good idea to format the hard drive into two blocks, so I use one ONLY for video? I know it would be still one hard drive realy, but I was wondering if it would be good to make sure the video segments are all together and not too fragmented with all the other stuff... Any issues with segmenting?

Thanks!

Christian
:rolleyes:
 
Partitioning G4 iBook hard drive?

Dirty Harry said:
I will be editing some miniDV with FinalCut Express on my new iBook G4 1.2 Mhz (as soon as it gets to me!)... Is it a good idea to format the hard drive into two blocks, so I use one ONLY for video? I know it would be still one hard drive realy, but I was wondering if it would be good to make sure the video segments are all together and not too fragmented with all the other stuff... Any issues with segmenting?
Thanks! Christian :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Dirty Harry, I have a G3 iBook 700 and I'm green :D with envy over your G4. ;)
However, I pulled the 30GB 4200 rpm out and replaced it with a 60GB 7200 rpm Hitachi/IBM Travelstar which totally rocks...after my warranty expired, therefore, I couldn't void it by doing so. (I did it myself but do not recommend that; get a pro)
So, eat your heart out - slow boy. ;)

Focusing on the PARTITION of your Hard Drive issue - NO. Don't.

Several reasons:
a. How much space are you going to provide for your SYSTEM partition, including growth of Applications, etc.?
b. No matter how much you provide for your SYSTEM, it will never be perfect, either far to little, or wastefully large encroaching upon your "edit" area.
c. If you have selected any stock drive from Apple (either 4200 or 5400 rpm), it will be painfully slow for "moving / rendering DV" files. Leave your internal drive alone to handle your System and your FinalCut Express.

If you want a drive to be dedicated (not just a "segment" or partition) to NLE DV editing, I strongly recommend a 160GB or better 7200 rpm FireWire 800/400/USB2 interface LaCie d2 external HD for DV download, Video Editing, and extra storage.

Macs used to have problems with external FW drives for vidio editing before Jaguar, but that has essentially been rectified, making an external FW drive an extremely attractive video storage / editing solution.

Unless you ordered a 4x SuperDrive in your G4 iBook (thank heaven they are finally available), I also recommend you get an external 8x DVD SuperDrive, and again my sole choice would be a LaCie d2 DVD/CD±R/RW with a FREE full-version of Roxio's Toast 6 included (makes sure you buy the right boxed version) for $249 USD.

Don't be in a rush if you don't need an external SuperDrive right away since 16x and Dual-Layer burning technology are imminent and should each be an added capability sometime by the end of this year - 2004.

The other laser technology afoot is LightScribe™ licensed to Windows and Apple by HP for laser quality mono-chrome label burning capability on specially treated CD and DVD discs, which are expected to be out by the end of this summer.

For LS to work, Apple must adopt the process & pay HP a supposedly "small" fee for the license, then design iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto (maybe) and DVD Studio Pro software to burn LS labels on the back side of discs, then LS capable disc media must be available (not yet), and specially designed Laser Drives need to be manufactured and released to the public (probably all current SuperDrives need is a "firmware update", but don't bet on it being that simple or cheap). LS has already been licensed for Windows XP and 2000. HP hopes to include LS SuperDrives with appropriate software in their computers by the end of the year (read - in time for the Christmas season). http://www.lightscribe.com

Although partitioning could help, you are artificially structuring your only hard drive without any really good parameters to work with (how large or small to make each partition), and with minimal benefits in performance to be expected. Not enough advantage compared to the disadvantages.
 
The FCE manual will run this down for you, but a partition is better than putting your movies on the same disk with the system. A dedicated drive is better still for 2 reasons--size and speed. Digital video takes up about 15GB an hour so on an iBook (30-60GB) you don't have that much space. Plus you need more space than just the size of your video. Working with it takes up space so having 4-5 times the size of your movie wouldn't be the worst idea. A 120GB drive (just for dv) would be a good idea. Then there's the speed--laptop drives are much slower than desktop drives. It'll make a difference when you're working.

The world won't end if you edit a couple of movies on your iBook's drive. If you're going to do very much then pick up a big external drive.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Actually, I do have an external 160 GB Firewire LaCie HD. I think it's speed is just 400, but anyway, the iBook port isn't much faster than that, is it? I'll be using it for working at home, but I might take the iBook away on weekends and use it to achieve a few trimings and sfuff... This is why I was thinking of partitioning the 60 GB HD in two, 30 GB for the system and 30 GB for video. 30 should be enough for the system and apps, I think; as for the video... well it might not be worth doing it, as you say.

The video needs more space than it's real size, that is true (though mu largest project will hardly reach 60 minutes long). The world won't end if I copy the files I need on the iBook for those weekends, that is true either! To replace the HD when the warranty ends seems a good idea too.

I ordered the iBook with the SuperDrive, actually I have been waiting for this iBook update for weeks, hoping it had the SD option!

The only thing missing now is the iBook. Can't wait! Can't wait!

Christian :rolleyes:
 
Sounds like you'll be in great shape. Have fun.

When I said that laptop drive are slow, I didn't mean the port speed (firewire 400 vs 800). The drives themselves spin slower and a couple thousand rpm will make a difference. You ought to be set with that LaCie though.
 
I was thinking that instead of partitioning it might be a good idea just to optimize the hard drive before doing the editing when I need the internal hard drive... This way I have system and apps in one "side" of the drive and the rest is free and unfragmented for the video stuff... I remember using Norton's Speed Disk with system 9. What tool can I use with MacOs X to optimize the drive?

Thanks!
 
Panther optimizes as it goes. If you feel the need to go beyond that, use anything that isn't called "Norton." Norton + Mac = Bad Things.
 
More Tips

Definitely use the FireWire HD to store video. The files will be very large and you will end up with tons of them that take forever to copy back and forth (and can potentially introduce disk-based errors).

Many of the pros capture to external HDs or removable drives, one drive for each project. When their project is finished they render out to tape and take the HD and stick it in a safe/vault/storage. If they ever need to recut or recreate the tape then can pull out the HD and fire it up and get to work.

Prosumers probably can't afford that so you may want to burn DVDs with your project (with all your edits, effects, titles, etc) and source DV files on them. Again it will take time to copy all the files plus DVD-Rs aren't going to last forever. Several years should be enough.

As for the software: Don't immediately upgrade to the last version right away. Wait to see if the newest Mac OS X update conflicts with your computer or Final Cut Express (FCE). An update for FCE may similarly "break" your ability to do the work or could damage/permanently change your older projects.

If its working okay then DONT FIX IT.

Tips for tapes:

Don't reuse tapes over and over, they will stretch out after a while and can mess up the video. Plus erasing doesn't perfectly remove the previous data, the remnants from earlier recordings can interfere with the new data and cause noise or other problems. Garbage in, garbage out as the old saying goes.

Label your tapes with the date they were recorded and a summary of what is on them. Stick 'em some place safe as they are your absolute original source material if a HD crashes or you drop it or it gets stolen. Pop the tabs off (if they have them) so they can't be accidentally erased.

If you need to use the tapes after a while let them acclimate to the environment first (if storage was warmer/colder than your editing area). Then fast forward to the end and rewind all the way to the beginning. This will reestablish the tension on the tape to make sure the quality is as good as it can be when you capture to disk again.
 
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