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SD storage: frightened & confused
OK, so i’ve read just about every thread about every storage option, hoping to make a decision, and the knowledge is impressive; however, with so many products it’s daunting.
so here’s the deal:
currently i’m doing some work for a new satellite channel that uses betaSP as it’s primary format. my system is set-up OK for DV (i have an older 500G LaCie BD extreme) and is fine for the short run, but SD is in the immediate future. so…
>G-Raid sounds great and a great price, but does it really do 2 streams of SD via FW800?
>Medea has the Rt3 with SCSI, Fibre, etc. but for that to work, if i understand it right, we’re in the 5-7k range.
>Then there’s the LaCie option, great price. my 500G BDE hasn’t failed me yet but i’m not a fan of not having a fan.
>Then if i were rich i’d get the Xraid w/fibre and call it good. spending that kind of dough seems ridiculous, but i don’t want to save money only to pay the difference in aggravation. that’s kind of a dream because i can’t really afford apple anyway.
also, i think i’ve decided to go with the aja ls over the decklink. the budget for all is about 3-4 k including the kona.
what would you do? — or any help would be more than welcome!
thank you in advance.
e. eric johnson iii
er**@*********es.com
lill creates: founder/executive producer
Water Channel: producer/virtual set operator+? -
5 Replies
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I understand the fear of commitment….
In my system we use the AJA IO, and I have three of the ProMax 500 gig SATA firewire drives. I can do an entire one hour program (BetaSP source) on a single drive, and love knowing that I can take the drive to another shop if my deck or system crashes.
On the road I used the G-Raid 500 gig firewire drives and a decklink card without any problems. The system was hard-wired in a remote truck for a sports car racing series, bounced around all over the country, and worked just fine.
I like the extra versatility of the AJA io plus the fact that it is its own “break out box”.
Just my experience… good luck.
Bob
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The G-Raids can handle 2 streams of 8-bit uncompressed fine. 1 stream of 10-bit, but betasp is 8-bit so stick with 8-bit.
Also look into external SATA Raids. No need for Fibrechannel or Ultra SCSI 2 for SD work…SATA Raids work just fine.
There is a G-SATA, also good stuff by Firmtek.
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thank you, thank you bob & shane!
being a recovering broadcast slave (trapped in 80’s tech & mindset) exploring the growing, changing world of media gets overwhelming. real world advice is huge in deciding how my budget is spent.
so it sounds like SATA is the way to go. G-Tech and ProMax look like they both have great options. so serial i will go… at least as far as my budget can handle. now, since my G5 has PCI-X slots, will PCI cards also work? i know PCIe is a whole other goofy story, but i’ll deal with that in another life.
now to the Io issue, the way i understand it, if i got the AJA io i wouldn’t need the KONA or Decklink correct? what about timecode? does it make it through as well?
thank you again for your help.
e. eric johnson iii
eric@lillcreates.com
lill creates: founder/executive producer
Water Channel: producer/virtual set operator+? -
Eric- PCI-X is PCI. I believe X is for the highest bandwidth in the PCI protocol and PCI-X is compatible with all the slower PCI speeds. If you go SATA the PCI card mfg. will specify slot speeds and will suggest which G-5 slot you use for the install. I use a firmtek/seritek card and their external 2 bay enclosure.
Been using the AJA-ioLA for over two years with Betacam SP 8-bit uncompressed. Its been rock solid and the tech support from AJA IMO is the best. No deck link or Kona needed the AJA-ioLA does it all (thru a single firewire connection to the G-5) including 422 machine control, timecode, component, composite, S-video and balanced audio.
Hope this helps.
Jerry
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thank you jerry and everybody,
after my last post i read that the LA’s RS-422 carries TC, etc. which i probably should’ve known. it’s amazing that all that info flies through the FW400. i’ve been running into severe braincramps with all this stuff. finally breaking down and posting questions has been a real life-saver.
thanks again to all for answering my newbie questions… i’m sure i’ll have a few more. especially since it looks like the company i’m working for bought a Z1. one step at a time…
again, thank you.
e. eric johnson iii
eric@lillcreates.com
lill creates: founder/executive producer
Water Channel: producer/virtual set operator+?
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