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XServe and FCP Question
I’m looking at running multiple edit bays all with FCP5. My question is can I set up one server computer with an XServe RAID Array and use that to edit off of from any of the edit bays? Can 3 or 4 people be editing different things in different bays off of the same XServe at the same time? Or do I need to set up a separate smaller scratch disk for each computer and just use the XServe as the main media storage unit? And will capturing to the XServe work from the other computers? Can more than one person capture at the same time? Or do they need to capture to the scratch disks and copy to the XServe? I want them to be able to share media clips between edit bays, but editing needs to be quick and efficient. And RT Playback (even if it’s lower quality) is a must.
I’m relatively new to Macs. Any answers and suggestions you guys might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
JP Driscoll
WDAY TV
Fargo, ND“Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.” ~Homer Simpson
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3 Replies
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Stanardly the Xserve RAID is for one computer only. If you want to be able to have multiple computers access the data, they can either file share from the computer that is attached to it, and this is, unfortunately not suitable for video editing, or you need to introduce Xsan to the network.
Xsan is a piece of software that will allow multiple people to read and write to your Xserve RAID. However, you need extra hardware, a computer to act as the MetaData controller, and a fibre switch, which can make an Xserve quite expensive. Why not pop over to the Xsan forum here at the Creative Cow, and we’ll answer your questions on Xsan there.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects for FCP
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Thank you, Graeme.
I’ll post in Xsan.
JP Driscoll
WDAY TV
Fargo, ND“Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.” ~Homer Simpson
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Xsan is definately something to go for if its within your budget …
having said that, it is possible to edit in place using a single networked Xserve RAID and upto 3 or 4 editstations depending on the codec you’re using and the network bandwidth. you won’t be able to capture simultaneously, or (in my experience) capture and playback simultaneously, but we have managed 4 streams of DVCPro50 over a dedicated gigabit network.
now…having said that, i wouldn’t necessarily suggest you do it. although in repeated testing we have managed it, in reality we use the Xraid’s as a central redundant backup, copying the media to the remote editstations scratch disk for editing. we do however perform finshing and playout from the remote editstations over the network
hope it helps
Andy
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