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WD My Book for Mac & FCP
I’ve been trying to gather enough facts regarding using WD’s MyBook for Mac (1 TB) as the scratch disk for FCP. I’ve read a few posts regarding reformatting the MyBook, which I will certainly do; however, my main concern is CAN I use this drive as the scratch disk? I can’t determine the spindle speed on the drive, and I’m worried I’ll drop frames if I start using it. Should I be using the USB connector, or should I use a firewire? My final question is, IF I can use this drive, will I be able to safely transfer the captured footage I have stored on my smaller external drives to the MyBook?
My project has grown and I wanted to have all of the elements on one external drive.I really appreciate the help!
Thanks!
DH -
11 Replies
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The MyBook drive is really meant for backup. You won’t see this drive in ANY sort of professional video editing environment. This is a consumer drive, as I said, for Backup. BUT…a few people have used it and it has been “acceptable.”
Firewire connection. USB is NOT good for video.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
USB does not have the sustained throughput necessary for video playback, period, end of story. It’s fine for doing backup and file transfers, but that’s all. So, commit that to memory and store away all your ideas of using USB as a scratch disk.
Firewire 400 is adequate for DV and HDV, but not a wonderful choice. Firewire 800 has twice throughput, and it is the best choice if you’re limiting yourself to firewire. An even better choice is a firewire 800 drive with two drives striped together is a Raid-0 configuration.
Beyond firewire there are SATA drives, which have more than twice the throughput of firewire 800 drives. Raid configurations with SATA drives are what most of us use who work professionally.
Hope this helps.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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worst_drive_ever
Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Don’t buy, WD MyBooks are not great for editing
Steve Connor
Adrenalin TelevisionHave you tried “Search Posts”? Enlightenment may be there.
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Thanks for your quick responses. Since I’m now in the market for another external drive, do you have any recommendations? I’m interested in learning what you would do if you had only one firewire connector (as I do on my MacBook Pro). If you’re connecting your camera via firewire, how do you set up your external drive as the scratch disk?
Again, thanks for the info.
DH -
Okay, I think I answered my own question: buy a hub.
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[Daniel Hornberger] “Since I’m now in the market for another external drive, do you have any recommendations?”
https://www.caldigit.com/CalDigit_VR/
https://www.g-technology.com/products/g-raid.cfm
https://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=mepal_splash_raid.html
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Once again, thanks to all of you.
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Don’t use a hub. Daisy chain if you must.
Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Bearing in mind I’m currently editing only DVcam or HDV – I sometimes use a Macbookpro with 2 firewire 800 Hard drives daisy-chained. I have a firewire express card to connect the deck when required but if your Mac is a recent one and doesn’t have the express slot you can daisy-chain the deck/camera as well while you digitize.
There’s a difference between what will work if that’s all you’ve got and what we’d recommend as best practice. (If you see a WD drive in my suite, it’s just a personal one, I’m sure I never used it to edit with….)Nigel Beaumont
MBP 2.53 FCS 2 FCP 6.0.6 Aja IO black cables, shiny firewire drives
“Ofcourse it’ll be finished in time for tx”
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