New FCP edit systems

[Mark Raudonis]

[Danial Chase] ”
We would also like to share media between the 2 edit systems much like you are able to do with the Avid unity system. “

You mention “like an Avid Unity”. They’re not cheap. Apple’s answer to Unity is called “XSAN”, and it’s equally as capable, reliable and proportionally expensive. For a larger install it’s a great solution. In your case, it’s probably overkill. For a small set up like you’re describing, you probably want a “SAN in the can” like the Facilis Terrablock or something like that.

Do your homework. Shared storage is never cheap, simple, or 100% dependable. Every product represents a compromise between cost and capability. Only you can decide what’s right for you.

Finally, have a back up plan. Every hard drive will fail. Every SAN will crash. What will you do when that happens? If you’ve planned for it in advance, then it’s just a bump in the road. If you put all your faith in the SAN working flawlessly, then at best, you’ll be disappointed, worse, you may be out of business.

SAN solutions are a growth business. I expect 2008 to bring many more options to the market. Good luck.

Mark

[Bob Zelin]

Danial –
I can only tell you one thing. You just don’t get advice from Creative Cow, go out to B+H Photo, buy the stuff, and you have a big, complex working facility that can do all kinds of cool stuff. You must HIRE SOMEONE to do this for you (or your boss must hire someone on staff or freelance to do it). I suggest that you start with any VALUE ADDED RESELLER to advise you of what to do. You don’t have to take their advice – you can double check their opinion on Creative Cow if you like – but you are in over your head, and you will fail without someone to integrate all this expensive equipment for you.

You have not even mentioned if you are working with FCP, AVID, Premier, or something else. You will need a central machine room to share these VTR’s, and a SAN system. This will become COMPLEX and EXPENSIVE. You might be saying “oh sure, someone will tell me a cheap way to do it” – there IS no cheap way to do it.

A dealer or freelance engineer is the right place to start. But this stuff does not just plug in and work.

Bob Zelin

[Andy Mees]

[Danial Chase] “We are about to install 2 new FCP edit suites “

whats not clear by this D, is whether there are existing edit suites and/or how much infrastructure you already have.

[Danial Chase] “…need advice regarding which media server, raid controller, capture cards or any other peripheral equipment we may need”

as noted, for a 2 system setup as simpler SAN system like the Terrablock or EditShare should be enough … but if you are integrating into a larger whole and/or planning for something much bigger then you might want to look more closely at an XSAN setup

its not clear whether you plan to ingest from a mobile deck rack (ie a stack of VT’s on a trolley) or from a fixed ingest station. if its the latter then you’ll need a patching capability. maybe check out BMD’s Workgrouo Videohub https://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/workgroupvideohub/workflow/ (you’d need a BMD Multibridge or similar to convert your UVW to SDI in order to work with this ) … of course, this might also be overkill for your needs

and you’ll need lots of cables 🙂

a lot depends on how much money you have to throw at this thing. and take Bob’s advice i’d seriously consider hiring a consultant/systems integrator to help you throw your money at the right solution for your needs, it may well save you money

[Danial Chase]

Andy,

Thanks for your kind response. I should have made it clear in my original post that we intend to have a central VTR room that feeds both of the edit suites. We are considering going with a patch bay for audio/video and device control because we are only planning to have 3 machines and 2 suites initially. We may have a need to rent a DVCPRO-HD deck from time to time and plan on having an open space in our rack with all of the cables right there and ready to go. I understand that we will need a sync generator, racks, monitors, cables ,etc

[Bob Flood]

dan

Caveat Emptor! (let the buyer beware!)

Even though that sounds really paranoid, its got truthiness

I would suggest, however, instead of going crazy trying to double guess any consultant/intergrator/installer, get references of their work, and ask specifically for stuations that resemble yours ie a small boutique.

it sounds like you have a precise idea what you want to have built, just get it on paper.

The educated consumer you want to be is the one who asks about prior work, speaks with previous clients, and asks around. there arent that many people or companys taht do this, but rest assured the bad ones dont last long.

We have a very similar situation to waht you are looking for. Common machine room, 2 edit suites, analog and digital vtr’s I even had all my computers and hard drives in there as well, which really helped with noise. We tried to save money and do all the wiring and such ourselves. it took a long time, and i couldn”t edit while doing it.

things to consider are: the heat load of the machine room, having a separate AC unit just for the machine room is not all that far fetched. also room around the racks and gear for access to the wiring. Isolated ground wiring, or at least all the wiring on the same leg of your building power, power conditioners and or ups. sound proofing, shelf space, lighting, (there is a lot of stuff to think about even before you put up racks!)

hope this helps

“I like video because its so fast!”

Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc.

[Jason Lyons]

[Danial Chase] “We would also like to share media between the 2 edit systems much like you are able to do with the Avid unity system.”

Happy New Year to you as well. Just throwing my 2 cents in on sharing media – Check out Facilis Technology’s Terrablock systems. I am a freelancer and have a few clients with these systems and can report they are solid, fibre-channel, dongle-free, shared storage workhorses. There tech support is great as well (for the 1 time I had to call with help adding a system – which the issue happened to be a simple oversight on my end)

This is a perfect solution for the size facility you described. Other SAN implementations are complete overkill for shared storage for smaller boutiques – and yes the manpower to run them cannot be underestimated.

https://www.facilis2.com/

(Note: I am an end user with no affiliation with Facilis or any reseller of their products)

Cheers!
j

[Jason Lyons]

[Danial Chase] “We would also like to share media between the 2 edit systems much like you are able to do with the Avid unity system.”

Happy New Year to you as well. Just throwing my 2 cents in on sharing media – Check out Facilis Technology’s Terrablock systems. I am a freelancer and have a few clients with these systems and can report they are solid, fibre-channel, dongle-free, shared storage workhorses. There tech support is great as well (for the 1 time I had to call with help adding a system – which the issue happened to be a simple oversight on my end)

This is a perfect solution for the size facility you described. Other SAN implementations are complete overkill for shared storage for smaller boutiques – and yes the manpower to run them cannot be underestimated.

https://www.facilis2.com/

(Note: I am an end user with no affiliation with Facilis or any reseller of their products)

Cheers!
j