Storing P2 clips from the field

[Jim Carswell]

That is essentially what many HVX users do. Utilizing a laptop with the proper slot allows you to offload the contents and last text files to a hard drive once the cards are full. If you have three cards available you can cycle them out without ever having to stop shooting.

The other alternative is to buy or rent a Firestore which gives you 160GB of continuous shooting. That’s about 160 minutes at 1080i. Personally I use the Firestore and prefer the ability to continue shooting throughout the day and not worry about offloading until the day is over. I also have three cards that I keep as a backup.

Jim

Jim Carswell
Spyhop Productions, Inc.
Savannah, GA
http://www.spyhopproductions.com

[Del Holford]

Thanks Jim

The camera my friend is using belongs to a local CBS affiliate and while shooting on the Firestore is probably the most excellent way, he doesn’t really have any funding to rent or buy one. I saw a 1Tb Western Digital external drive at Sam’s Club for less than $500, hence the original post.
He will have two 16Gb cards to use. I just hope he can get a P2 reader to take along and transfer through his laptap to a storage device. He’s paying for this production out of his own pocket and runs on a very thin margin. Thanks again.

Del
fire*, smoke*, photoshopCS3
Charlotte Public Television
del underscore edits at wtvi dot org

[Bob Woodhead]

HIGHLY recommend our workflow: use a Mac or PC laptop (Mac needs Dual Adapter $120, or, if time permits, can go right from camera via 1394/USB) to transfer clips. Use Panasonic’s P2CMS software (free) to copy & verify clips as they go to an external 2-drive SATA RAID 1 ($230 for enclosure, drives at whatever current price). RAID 1 is a mirror RAID, so as you copy, data goes to both drives at same time. If RAID detects any problem with a drive, it automatically rebuilds the data on that drive. When RAID fills, go to any computer store & buy 2 more SATA drives. 500GB drives are about $100 now. VERY SAFE method.

“Constituo, ergo sum”

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
http://www.CoolNewMedia.net
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
Panasonic HPX500

[Larry Young]

No. It is not a workable workflow, he will be spending all his time off loading the P2 cards and not enough time shooting. He would need 32gb cards (at least 2 of them) or better yet a Firestore FS-100 160. This at least will give him at least 2.5 hours at 1080. He then can transfer the media to a 500gb Firewire drive (he should have a drive that can do FW800). This is a work flow I use for Docs, Commercials, etc. This way I do not spend all my time off loading video.

Just My $.02

Lawrence S. Young
Best Shot Productions
Maine•New York•Colombia
421 Paradise Road
PO Box 110
Bethel, ME 04217
Home: 207-824-3119
Cell: 508-494-3111
Email: lsyoung@megalink.net
Adjunct Professor New Media, University of Maine at Orono
Link to work: https://my.media-match.com/lawrence.young1

[Joe Murray]

Hi Del-

Hope things are going well on your side of town. I have the HVX200 and a Wiebetech RTX enclosure that allows me to buy bare hard drives and use them for backups of P2 media. They have a variety of interfaces – USB, firewire, eSata – you just insert a drive and fill it up, then eject it and start on a new one.

I tend to prefer separate drives rather than a RAID 1, because if both drives are in the same enclosure and it takes a hard hit or is dropped, both drives can be damaged. Not likely, but if he’s going all the way to Darfur to shoot, playing it safe is a good idea. Separate drives mean they can be stored separately in case of theft.

Wiebetech also has protective cases for bare hard drives.

Joe Murray
Edit at Joe’s
Charlotte, NC

[Del Holford]

Thanks all

Thanks for the sage advice. I’ll lay out the options for the producer. Hopefully he can get it together before he leaves for Darfur on Monday.

Del
fire*, smoke*, photoshopCS3
Charlotte Public Television
del underscore edits at wtvi dot org