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Affordable P2 Workflow
Hi guys,
I am working out a P2 workflow with the intent of maximum efficiency while being safe with the footage and easy on my pocket. I think I may have a workflow that works and would value any opinions of it. I just can’t see spending the money on Gtech stuff if it isn’t necessary.
My System:
Mac dual G5 2.5GHz 2. 5 gigs ram
Final Cut Pro 5.1
HVX 200 with M2 adapter
8 gig P2 card
FS -100Proposed storage system:
Seagate 750 gig internal SATA drive
Seagate 750 gig external backup firewire drive
multiple Western Digital firewire 500 gig – P2 Storage Drives
multiple Western Digital firewire 500 gig – Archive DrivesSo the plan is to:
1. shoot to the P2 and or Firestore
2. Copy or image the P2 or Firestore footage to the 500 gig Western Digital firewire drive used for P2 storage
3. Ingest the P2 footage to Final cut, using the Seagate 750 gig internal SATA drive as my main working drive. Should be big enough for a few projects at a time.
4. Backup nightly to the Seagate 750 gig external firewire drive.
5. When I complete a project, I would save the final cut project files (minus render files) and Quicktime movies to the 500 gig Western Digital firewire drive used for Archiving.
6. Save the final cut project files (minus render files and minus Quicktime movies) to the 500 gig Western Digital firewire drive used for P2 Storage.
7. Delete all project and related files from the Seagate 750 gig internal SATA drive.
8. De-fragment the Seagate 750 gig internal SATA drive and delete from 70 backup drive.
9. Add more 500 gig WD drives as needed…they are less than $300 a pieceDoes anyone have suggestions for good Mac Backup software and software to defrag big drives like these?
If anyone sees any holes in this scenario or suggestions please let me know.
Thank you
Greg Amaro
Goyo Media
Fresno, CA -
14 Replies
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[Greg Am] ” I just can’t see spending the money on Gtech stuff if it isn’t necessary.”
thing like warranties and hardware backup are Necessary you are going to trust those Data only files to less than the highest quality media.
Sorry, but WD drives have failed every video test I have ever put them thru- they are not meant for the rigors of HD video production. There is a reason why every manufacturer of storage for video uses Hitachi or Seagate drives in their arrays.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production WorkflowsOrder my DVD’s are at
https://www.rastervector.com/dvd/dvd.html -
Why defragment drives?
Why not just reformat them?
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I would be defragment the working drives, the 750 seagate, which would probably always have a project on it. I guess another senario would be to re-format the drive then restore it from the backup 750 drive.
Thanks!
Greg
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The WD drives are only for archival purposes in the workflow. The seagates are the ones to be used for HD editing.
By the way, the internal segate 750 drive is supposed to run a little hot, does anyone know of a good internal cooler to run in my dual G system?
Thank you,
Greg
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I guess I’m school and do not consider defragmenting drives that contained huge media files.
best wishes
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Here’s what I’m doing here:
Store the original MXF files on a mirrored RAID (level 1). A mirrored RAID provides an instant backup of itself on twin hard drives.
Import from the MXF files into FCP onto a striped RAID (level 0).
Back up all FCP projects onto a second hard drive. Just the projects, not the media. If the striped RAID should crash and wipe out the imported media, then it’s just a matter of re-importing the media from the mirrored RAID. If one of the drives in the mirrored RAID should crash, it’s a simple matter of plugging in a replacement drive and having the system restore itself.
The whole system is based on a hot-swappable SATA drive system from Firmtek. It’s probably the most cost-effective setup available, and so far very reliable. And it’s using Hitachi SATA drives, as well as a few Seagate Barracuda SATA drives.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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I like that idea, I so wish that G5s could hold the system drive plus 2 or 3 extra drives – it would be so inexpensive that way!
Greg Amaro
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It can. Look at the G5 Jive solution by Sonnettech.com. Or even my Popsicle stick RAID:
https://homepage.mac.com/comeback/iblog/Work/B787268209/C836512295/E20060606210202/index.html
Here is what we do. We transfer from the P2 cards to portable firewire drives in the field…either via a PC laptop, powerbook, or P2 store. Our chosen drives are Andataco drives for they have two firwire ports and are bus powered. We have 6 of these drives…80GB. From there we take them and first transfer the footage off to our Archive drives. 250GB bare SATA drives ($70) that I connect via an open firewire case. You can also get SATA to USB 2.0 connectors for like $30. After I archive I put those drives up on a shelf, wrapped in plastic, and label them with the show and the date of the P2 cards. Then I use the portable drives to import the footage via FCP onto my media drives. Either my G-Raids or my SATA Raid (the popsicle one I mentioned above)…and when I verify that everything has imported correctly, we wipe the portable drives clean.
Pretty darn inexpensive.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
Wow, that is inexpensive! I’m impressed with that workflow.
Thanks,
Greg
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By the way, the Firmtek system uses removable drives (about $90 for 250 GB Hitachi SATA drives) mounted on sleds (about $20). Along with the hot-swappable host adapter and external housings it lets hard drives or RAIDs to be changed out in about 30 seconds.
This means the system has a capacity limited only by the available budget. I put individual projects on their own RAID pairs and use CD Finder to create a quick rough reference of where things can be found.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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