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Drop frame issues
OK, I know this is a basic issue, but I’m going through a few steps I don’t fully understand. I’m knowledgeable enough to understand what the issues are, but my brain exploded trying to figure out the correct and most sensible fixes. So just assume I’m dumb when you respond
So… I did run through all the basic FCP fixes to no avail…I’m pretty sure there is a network issue, there may be a hard drive issue as well. I have snow leopard, a 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor, and an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT video card.
Our work flow is a little screwy because it was the cheapest thing I could do until I figured out the proper system, but I’m having a hard time grasping what is overkill… anyway, all footage is stored on a Drobo Pro 16 TB storage system. That goes out fire wire 800 to one computer (that computer edits and has some, but less, drop frame issues). That computer is then hooked up to a gigabit eithernet network, and I edit over that network. Didn’t seem like the right way to do it, but I’ve been assured by local IT pros that it should be able to handle video editing.
I do know there are bottleneck issues… to the point where if the other computer is doing something, mine’s almost unusable… however, I still have drop frame issues even off of the internal drives, even with uncompressed sometimes. We do mostly use an HDV codec, but even though that’s not awesome, I’ve used it elsewhere with no issues.
So can anyone help me out? It seems to me that the hard drives should be fine… and I wanted to get a server system for the two computers to access… maybe like an xserve, but I don’t know if that’s overkill. Thanks!
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5 Replies
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Dropped frames are almost always caused by too slow drives. I have no experience with Drobo drives, but I’ve read a couple of times here on the Cow that they are NG for video editing. Try running the AJA System Test on the drives and see what their speed actually is. I believe you can download it for free if you don’t have an AJA card in your Mac.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
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Thanks for the help! I need to take some IT classes or something to boost my knowledge in this area… So one more follow up. The read/write speed was avg 22mbs/28mbs…. which is less than a 3rd of the regular internal drives. How fast should it be for video editing? And what should I do for storage instead? Can just changing out the hard drives in the drobo unit work?
If I need a new storage system, I going to look at a server type system so I can serve both editors and possibly more at a time with the TBs upon TBs of footage that we have. Any suggestions there? I really appreciate you help on this. These things just start to get confusing for me.
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[ryan loetscher] “Can just changing out the hard drives in the drobo unit work? “
Nope!!! Your Drobo was never intended for sustained throughput at the level required for video work. It’s a backup device. They apparently make other more advanced versions of Drobo, but I would stick with known hardware from vendors who specialize in RAIDs for video on the Mac.
BTW, The Cow advertises all of the very best RAIDS for the Mac right here on this forum. And, scour the many Cow reviews on various RAIDs — you’ll find loads of useful information on the subject.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
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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Thanks, I’m seeing that… and actually am almost embarrassed I didn’t come to that conclusion on my own. As after I received the last post I looked at the Drobo site and it says right on the site that they are for storage… then I just looked around this page and saw all the advertisements for better units!!!
I inherited a system that was built by the owner of the company who is self taught and really knows nothing about the requirements! I was brought in for my talents as an editor, and now I’m finding myself neck deep in IT stuff, trying to bring the system up to standard! As soon as I saw how they were working, I was like “oh boy, this ought to be interesting”
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[ryan loetscher] “I inherited a system that was built by the owner of the company who is self taught and really knows nothing about the requirements! “
Yep, it all looks so simple… It’s a good sign that the owner recognized that he needs a real video editor. Now, he just needs to recognize that he needs real video storage.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
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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