[Carl Sundermann]

David, thanks for the reply… Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I was in the middle of a project. Now that I’m finished with that, I have a few other small things to finish up, and will likely get to setting up the RAID later this week.

I have a couple other questions about setting up the RAID, but I think I will start a new thread, as my original question in this thread has certainly been answered. Thanks!

[Carl Sundermann]

Hi David –

I have no problem with “bluntness”. I grow weary of those who dance around the issue without just saying what’s on their mind. So no offense taken… I know you’re just trying to help. That’s what the cow is for. Just don’t take any offense to my response!

[David Roth Weiss] “… you are looking at the hard drive throughput equation totally “bassakwards,” from the standpoint of, “what can I squeak by with” and still get my work done. That approach is a recipe for insanity, because you’re always living on the edge, wondering exactly when your system is gonna let you down. “

Actually, no. I don’t believe I’m looking at it that way. And like you, I don’t believe in working “on the edge wondering when the system is going to let me down”. However, I AM trying to make myself educated on this issue. I’m not asking the question “what’s the least I can get by with”, but rather, what do I need to accomplish this without going overboard? Why buy a car with a V8 engine, when all you’re pulling is a bike rack? (I’m no good at coming up with analogies, so I hope you at least understand what I”m trying to say…) 🙂

I’ve never worked with a RAID setup in a computer before, and no one else in the office has either. And, since my setup has been working without issue (until now) I didn’t have any reason to question my existing setup. (Which also begs the question… Why did it work until now? From what I’ve learned in this thread so far, I’m assuming the answer is fragmentation. Yes?)

That said, I’m certainly willing to change, and give the RAID a shot. So let me ask this… If I use Disk Utility to create the RAID, what configuration would you recommend? Remember I have 4 drives. Currently I’m set up like this: 1) System 2) Projects 3) Projects Backup (SuperDuper copies new information to this drive nightly) 4) Media. I also have a USB hard drive that SuperDuper also copies the system drive to each night, in case I would have a failure on drive 1. Would you recommend I RAID the Projects Backup and Media drives as one, then buy another USB hard drive to back up my projects to?

Also, is there a way I can tell what kind of throughput I’m getting on my drives? I’d like to compare the way it’s currently set up, and how it changes when I put the drives in the RAID. Any other web links I can look at to learn more about what’s happening in the RAID setup?

As always… Thanks for the help. Feel free to be blunt any time.

[Carl Sundermann]

[Jeremy Garchow] “So, one stream of ProRes @ 720p59.94 with 2 channels of 24bit audio will run you 21MB/sec according to the AJA Data Rate calculator. Multiply that by 3, that’s 63MB/sec. Add more audio, overhead and processing, you are very close to maxing out that drive, especially as it fills up and fragments. “

Very helpful! So a couple follow up questions…

FCP says my clips are approx 16 MB/Sec. That’s approx 48 MB/Sec. Even as my drive gets full, could it really not be able to keep up with 48 MB/Sec? Even when I lower the frame rate to quarter?

Is there a way to test what speed my drives can handle?

Currently my media drive has over 200 GB free on a 750 GB drive. However, I’ve also had this problem after I’ve just cleaned off that drive. That said, I did not ERASE it, just deleted items. Should I use the disk utility “ERASE” function? Is that the preferred method to clear the drive? If so, and since I haven’t ever done this, it’s making sense that this could be contributing to my issues…

When striping… Is the easiest way to do this using Disk Utility? (of course assuming I back up all data, etc…)

[Carl Sundermann]

Hi Jeremy –

No RAID set up here. The 750 GB drives are operating independently as: 1)System 2)Project Files 3) a nightly backup of Project Files 4) Media.

You say playing 3 streams is close to maxing out the drive… While I can’t entirely say that I understand the math here, I can tell you that I’ve been doing it for approx 6 months, and then suddenly I’m having problems. So it’s not that i’ve NEVER been able to do it… All I had to do was take down the frame rate to QUARTER and it was good. So that’s why I feel like something changed. I’m still on FCP 6… Maybe this is a bug they fixed in 7?

Other ideas? Thanks!

[Carl Sundermann]

Jeremy, that is correct.

And, your statement actually resembles what the guy from AJA told me on the phone… Basically he said that they have had problems with that model of JVC deck because that deck does not output a true HDMI signal, it’s actually a DVI signal sent via HDMI. With version 6, he said they supposedly had ‘loosened’ the code so that it would accept the signal from the JVC deck. And that’s true, it does accept it, but it won’t lock on when there is no video being sent.

So… I’m sure the heart of the problem is indeed in the deck… And, that is really unfortunate for us because we have two of these now. How was I supposed to know this before I purchased them? I mean, I guess if the specs for the deck say HDMI out, and the AJA says HDMI in, one would think they would play nice together…

We’ll see if the new AJA box makes a difference, though I doubt it…

ALSO of note… When using the HDMI, there is a green line that appears on the top one or two pixels of the image. This does not appear when using component.

Bugggggyyyyy…..

[Carl Sundermann]

Component works like a champ. So it’s definitely a problem with the HDMI interacting with this deck. (or the HDMI on the deck interacting with the IoHD… However you want to look at it.)

But, I don’t want to use component.

1) It’s analog. This thing is supposed to support a digital format (HDMI) so I want to use it for what the box says it will do, not some work around.
2) If I use component for injest, I’ve lost the ability to monitor my deck via a separate input on the monitor.

Speaking with AJA yesterday, they did agree to send out a new unit. That should be arriving today, and I’ll try HDMI via that. However, I’m not hopeful, because our other edit station is experiencing similar issues. Seems like HDMI between the JVC and IoHD is buggy…

[Carl Sundermann]

I use a Sennheiser EW100 G2 transmitter and receiver pair. Has worked nearly flawlesslly in about two year (had one instance of dropout but covered it with the backup shotgun audio). On Off switch is under a flap, so the groom can’t shut it off. There’s a mute switch on top, but I gaff tape that to on (and gaff tape the door flap shut too.) Works well.

[Carl Sundermann]

Fixed! Thanks for the help Serge!

[Carl Sundermann]

Thanks Walter… Sorry, I posted the wrong link.

But if you look closer, the FCP Podcast has the same problem as the All things Apple podcast… The direct link to the XML feed is not posted.

Does anyone have the direct xml link to the All things Apple and FCP podcasts?

(Should be found under the “Click the Episode Links” part on the right side of the page. See the After Effects page and you’ll see the link I’m looking for.)

[Carl Sundermann]

Just tried the png idea. No luck. FCP will not import that.

I’m trying to do the same thing… Trying to import something done in illustrator into FCP with the alpha channel. I’ve gotten around this in the past by opening the file in Photoshop, then saving in psd format, and that does keep the right alpha (vs just saving as a psd from illustrator). But I can’t figure out how to just save from illustrator into a format FCP will take (with the proper alpha).

Any ideas?