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Cost-effective server for low-budget remote editing?
Working on a feature-length documentary with footage stored on a 3TB G-Raid across the country from me.
Never set up a server in my life. If I want to offer my employer a few options for putting all the footage onto a server, what are some of the easier and/or cheaper ways to do it?
Huge thanks for helping out.
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16 Replies
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I don’t think there’s a solution if your intent is to edit over the network from some remote server. The latency using an ISP is way to variable.
I think your best bet is to figure out a way to move the footage via something like dropbox so you can edit locally and move things back and forth. You might want to spring for a 50Mb/sec internet connection.
Steve
Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications -
you are low budget ? Not going to happen.
Can’t you afford another 3TB G-RAID, and have them ship you the footage ?bob Zelin
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Thanks so much, Steve.
Right now, I actually just need access to the clips as I pull bites from transcripts and double-check the clips for accurate time code. Is there no configuration that would allow me to occasionally open files from a server, one-at-a-time, without the painful latency variability on an ISP?
If I were to go ahead and edit, the plan would be to download all the footage files from Dropbox/server to my own drive, and then edit locally. And that’s where the 50Mb/sec will definitely be useful.
I appreciate your help!
Dave
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Just a bit worried about damage to the hard drive when shipping. Can you recommend a safe method of shipping sensitive stuff like a hard drive full of footage?
Thanks for your help,
Dave
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[Dave Raven] “Right now, I actually just need access to the clips as I pull bites from transcripts and double-check the clips for accurate time code. Is there no configuration that would allow me to occasionally open files from a server, one-at-a-time, without the painful latency variability on an ISP?”
Hi Dave
I don’t know of a solution like you’re describing short of a leased line. That’s really expensive. Even if you had 50Mb connections on both sides, you can’t guarantee what lives in the middle. Moving between ISPs can introduce lots of odd connections. (Small Tree has two offices and we play with this sort of thing a lot for our phones. At one point, we had packets going to Colorado because of the weird connection between comcast and centurylink).Shipping drives is not so bad. Obviously we ship a lot of RAID drives (with configured RAID volumes) and they turn up just fine.
Steve
Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications -
I ship drives between LA and Orlando all the time. IT’s called a PELICAN case. When you mail order a drive from NewEgg, B&H, or Other World Computing- they ship it in a cardboard container with plastic shock liners. That’s how we all get our drives.
This is going to start my usual rant about being “cheap”. I don’t give a crap how low budget your job is. If you can’t afford a Pelican case that is foam lined to ship your G-Tech 3TB drive
safely back and forth, then you should not be involved in making a low budget production. When you bought the G-Tech 3TB it came in a box. This box had cardboard shock suppression so you could ship the drive all over the place. This costs ZERO. Didn’t you save this packing material ? If no, can’t you buy a Pelican foam case ? If the answer is “no, we just have no money on this project, because it’s so low budget” – then guess what – you aint’ doing bi coastal editing.Bob Zelin
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Thanks for your help, Bob.
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Thanks, Steve! I appreciate your patience.
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you are supposed to insult me at this point.
Bob
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[Bob Zelin] “you are supposed to insult me at this point.”
Your mother was a hamster etc etc…
Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications
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