HD workflow set up advice – Sorry if it’s a long one!!!

[Gary Adcock]

[kingalbo] “I was thinking that the best option would be the HDPRO & the KONA3 but would welcome any help and advice as I’m feeling my way through the dark a bit on this one and I really need to get it right. “

you are on the right track with the Kona3 card, then an add on component converter if you need to handle HDV or SD content from older decks. This then gives you all of the conversion capabilities to do up-conversions and uncompressed capture.

On your storage– a number of people ( like walter) have had issues with the Caldigit units (while Shane loves them)

I am currently recommending the Dulce ProDQ units for people working in a solo editing environment, I am running a 6T unit @ raid 6 and it is more than fast enough for me to handle a 2K frame based workflow on, and it is by far the quietest array I have ever worked on.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Alex Dunn]

Thanks for the help Gary. Have you any idea where the Dulce ProDQ units could be available in the UK?? Also, what is the price difference between the Dulce unit and the Caldigit HDPRO? Any ideas what problems they were??

[Jon Schilling]

Some people had bad luck with Disk Utility stripe RAID with the S2VRHD, if you set it to our hardware performance RAID mode, you won’t have any issues.
The data rate is also slower under performance mode. Since S2VRHD has no RAID 5 protection, it is very important that you back up your data periodically.
We have discontinued the S2VRHD product, but still support it with drivers appropriate to newer OS’ and the product warranty remains unchanged for those users that have one of these units.

Regarding our PCIe storage, the HDPro, it is a very solid product. While there are differences between the HDPro and other products in terms of price, ultimately it boils down to overall quality & performance.

The Hardware RAID based HDPro offers these features above & beyond the competition:

1. Supports latest Apple 8-core MacPro

2. The ability to edit up to 2k in RAID 5.
RAID level of 0,1,5 and also RAID 6 as well as JBOD

3. ASTT, (Active Sustained Transfer Technology), giving you real world sustained performance.

4. An optional load balancing redundant power supply.

5. A RAID card INSIDE the product, keeping the heat from the card out of your Tower.

6. The option of an ExpressCard 34 for editing up to 8 bit uncompressed HD at speeds upwards of 195MB/s. This is the fastest laptop storage.

7. The HDPro is easily expandable & with the addition of a switch, virtually unlimited storage capacity. We will be releasing switch soon.

8. The HDPro is SAN ready & software is on the way.

9. The HDPro is bootable from Windows and Mac OS.

10. The HDPro offers a PCI-x solution for G5 & G4 users. Windows users who have no pci e slot in their workstation can also benefit from it too.

11. The HDPro is modular in design making replacement of parts easy to do for the consumer.

12. No 2TB limitation on the Windows machines with the HDPro.

13. The HDPro comes with 256MB of DDR333 RAM that is expandable to 2GB.

14. CalDigit offers a 3 year warranty & technical support.
.
15. The HDPro’s cable allows you to have the unit as far away as 25 meters. We will release 10 meter cable soon.

16. One cable (Some competitor’s RAID products require 2 or more cables.)

17. Single vendor support. With the exception of cabling all parts are manufactured by CalDigit.

18. The HDPro has been validated & is recommended by Blackmagic Design, Matrox & Media100

19. The HDPro can be purchased in the UK and worldwide through our network of qualified & reputable vendors.

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Jon Schilling | Sales Manager
CalDigit Inc.
Storage Solutions that work for un-compressed SD & HD, Photography & Audio
http://www.caldigit.com
Tel: 714-572-9889 X234
Fax: 714-572-9881
e-mail: jons@caldigit.com
Skype me: cgijon
msn: mpujon

[Jared Picune]

When I setup my first FCP edit system I didn’t have a lot of choice. I had a G4 with a Medea SCSI RAID, and a Kona SD Card. Since then I’ve upgraded a bit, and am currently running a Kona 2 with a HDPro. Totally love it.

Today there are a lot more options out there, and here is what I learned over the years. Buy a product that is good reliable and not overpriced. I’ve see these companies come and go and I was lucky to be on the right track.

For the capture card, it’s all about how you work. Take a close look at what you need to do. I love the AJA IoHD, but it just is not as piratical for me as the Kona 3. It gives me the extra flexibility and fits into my suite very well. The IoHD would work, but since I’ve started building with the card it make more sense for me. And like I said it all about how and what you work on.

The same goes with the storage. I’m on my 4th RAID. Now times have changed, but this is the biggest pain in the rear. I’m always in need of more storage, but the stuff is expensive. It’s the last thing that I want to be upgrading every year. I’ve got an Xserve RAID. Its great, but these days it just does not compare to the HDPro. The thing is twice the capacity, twice as fast, and cost about a quarter of the price I paid for the Xserve RAID several years ago. I really wish it would have been an option back then because I’m really happy now. The thing is rock solid and really like where CalDigit is going. They’ve got some really cool new products on the way, and they’ve given me exactly what I need as an editor. I took forever to set up the Xserve RAID, with the HDPro I just plugged the thing in and I was good to go.

With that said, yes there are other brands out there besides AJA and CalDigit. I don’t have much experience with them, they may be good fits. These two companies have definitely made my company successful. But in the end the best advice I can give you is look to the future and the what you might be needing to do in 2 or three years, and buy based on that. You’ll save money and your clients will appreciate the forethought.

Oh and one more piece of advice. Was to buy until you need it, new products come a long, prices get cut. While the latest and greatest toys are really cool, you can save a lot by being patient.

Jared Picune
Idea Spring Editing, Inc.
Denver Final Cut Pro UG
Geeky Mac | FCP Tips & Tricks

[Gary Adcock]

[Alex Dunn] “Have you any idea where the Dulce ProDQ units could be available in the UK”

As far as I know they are available in the UK now,

I use the Dulce unit since they are using the industry standard ATTO 380 series SAS card for the connection between the array and your computer, so with ATTO’s know reliability as an industry leader I chose the comfort of vendors I already work with.
(FYI : the high-end Sonnet SAS array uses the same card)

disclaimer:
I have never personally tested a Caldigit unit so I have no first hand experience with any problems, if you search under Walter’s name for his comments from the middle of last year.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Robert Leong]

[Alex Dunn] “the Dulce ProDQ units could be available in the UK??”

Hi Alex, please drop us a note at sales@dulcesystems.com and we’ll direct you to one of out fine reseller/distributor.

[Alex Dunn] “price difference between the Dulce unit and “

The Dulce published prices are better. All of our suggested prices are listed online, here is the link to the PRO DQ page, scroll to bottom. Take note of the 6TB unit and compare to the other listed price at their site will give you an idea.

https://www.dulcesystems.com/html/pro_dq.html

Robert Leong / Dulce Tech Support

[Walter Biscardi]

[kingalbo] “For instance, I don’t really know what the difference is between the KONA3 and KONA LHE? I think the main thing for me is the up and down conversion capabilities the card offers both in and out?? I know it offers keying etc but don’t think that’ll really benefit me that much.”

Up / Down and Cross Conversion. 720 to 1080 or 1080 to 720 is huge part of our workflow now.

On the storage side, look at MaxxDigital, Dulce and Sonnet. I run MaxxDigital after testing all three. We have two 8TB RAIDs here running 500MB/s in RAID 5.

Had a really bad experience with CalDigit and unfortunately can’t recommend them, but you’ll find others on this forum who love them.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Rufus Jakobac]

For your reference. I saw Cal Digit announced several new products during mac world, one of them is so called “HD One”. It’s a eight drive raid unit holding capacity up to 8TB. the speed test is great, and the size is pretty compact. I might give both caldigit’s raid card and HDOne a 5 stars for the cost and powerful functionality. The HDOne will cost me less than one dollar for each GB.

Rufus Jakobac