CHEAP OR FREE SAN (sorry if this sounds stupid)

[Bob Zelin]

It’s not going to happen. If you had 2 MACs, I would have you connect MAC # 2 to MAC # 1 via the ethernet port, and turn on File Sharing on MAC # 1. I would have you hit the + sign in the File Sharing menu under “Volumes” to select a shared drive volume, and then I would have you enter the name of MAC # 2 in the File Sharing menu of MAC # 1. You would go to MAC # 2, click on GO, CONNECT TO SERVER, enter your name and password, and your shared drive volume from MAC # 1 would mount on your desktop.

Aaah – only if you had 2 Macs. “But can’t I click on the SMB tab in options to let the PC mount as a client”. Good luck ! (there are more details, but it’s not worth going into them, because with the gear you have, it’s not gonna work).

Hey, don’t you get a student discount for MAC hardware ?

Bob Zelin

[Jason Finnigan]

Yeah. I pretty much already knew the SMB won’t work right with vista because the permissions never work right on a pc and usually become read-only. I was hoping that maybe is since mac is unix based there is some sort of install for a file server type thing or something.

yeah, I get student discounts, but I don’t have the money, (if I did I would have a mac pro instead of a G5) but the I don’t the discounts from apple are pretty good. I could have gotten a macbook pro for the same price as my macbook (and macbook for only $800, instead of 1,200) but I don’t have the money.

[Bob Zelin]

you don’t need a SAN, you need a job. Get a job, get an internship, get out there, forget school – no one will care what your GPA is.
Get the knowlege you need, get access to the equipment you want.
Work hard, and you will go far.

bob zelin

[Jason Finnigan]

lol. I wish I didn’t have to go to school. But I am going to school for Audio and video production (minor in Audio) and possibly Graphic design too.

I just decided to search hard on the interweb for the cheapest used textbooks I could find and use the money I saved to get a NAS enclosure, has internal SATA 3GB and 1GB ethernet connections, it has two usb ports to use as a print server or to hook up another harddrive. I might also buy a 1TB harddrive for $89 off newegg since I could get it an cost the same my books would have.

[Eric Hansen]

does your school have editing facilities? what about local community TV? i was able to get through film school (within a 40,000 student university) with just a crappy HP desktop and a Firewire drive because i was able to leverage other people’s equipment.

i had quite a few internships during college, but the most beneficial as far as production goes, was working for the local community TV station. think “Wayne’s World”. that place was always buzzing with volunteers who either knew a bunch about editing and shooting, or were scratching to learn. they had their own FCP editing suites and a bunch of prosumer Canon shooting gear. as a volunteer, i got free use of everything. i also got to work on a few local productions, especially live music events, that for me really filled in the gaps in my film education.

i didnt learn this until my last year of school, but one of the university libraries had their own cache of DV cameras and a bunch of G4s loaded with Final Cut and DVD Studio (this was 6+ years ago, btw). any current student could check out the cameras for any length of time, and the G4s were almost always available. when i couldnt get into the editing suites at the film lab because they were full, i was able to work on the G4s at the library. thus, all i needed was a firewire drive. i could always find a computer or camera when i needed.

one last thing. most film schools are dead in the summer. if you’ve been a student for awhile and gotten to know the staff, you might be able to check out equipment during that time even though you’re technically not in a class. in fact, one of my professors told me that he initially became a professor so he could spend his free time shooting movies with the free equipment from the school. students can sometimes do this too.

internships are key as Bob pointed out. you don’t need your own system. really, just an external drive will suffice. my rule of thumb was and still is –

beg or borrow
if not, then rent
if you absolutely have to because your income or learning depends on it, buy

e

Eric Hansen, The Audio Visual Plumber – http://www.avplumber.com