Dean Sensui
Forum Replies Created
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Another possible quick fix:
Split up your media. Put some of the frequently accessed media on all the drives. That way they’re all busy at frequent intervals and won’t get a chance to sleep.
Once you get past this problem, consider getting a SATA RAID with hot-swappable drives. They’re fast and, in the long run, cheaper than firewire drives.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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I learned about heat issues when I got my very first computer. It was an Atari 800 with Percom floppy drives. I was having trouble with them and took them back to the dealer who couldn’t reproduce the problem no matter how hard he tried. But eventually it was narrowed down to a controller chip that was overheating.
So I built a simple cooling fan for it and that solved the problem.
For a brief time I ran a Media 100 system in a non-air conditioned room. When it got to 90 deg. F, I started having problems with the hard drives and crashing. I immediately stopped work, bought an AC unit, and the everything ran smoothly after that.
So while operating an AC unit will raise the cost of electricity substantially, it also ensures that all your hard work won’t go down the tubes due to hard drive failure. It’ll reduce the amount of dust floating into the room and into the equipment. It can also make a difference in fatigue factor as well.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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[Shane Ross] “…unless you are using P2 Log to import the ENTIRE clip. if you are importing just sections, then your IN and OUT points and duration will differ, thus making reconnecting the media difficult to near impossible.”
This is something I totally agree with and here’s why:
Since nothing is shot on tape, there’s no option of re-capturing footage if the media drive goes down.
The only other way is to re-link to media imported from the original MXF files.
So I did a test…
— Took a Quicktime file that was imported from the original MXF file.
— Cut it up in an FCP sequence.
— Created a Media-Managed version of the sequence.
— Deleted the Quicktime files (to simulate loss of the media drive).
— Re-imported the MXF file into FCP.
— Opened up the Media-Managed version of the sequence.
— Forced it to re-connect to the newly imported Quicktime media. I got warnings that the start and end points didn’t match, but I had it go ahead anyway.The result was the clips connected properly as they pointed to the proper points along the re-imported media. Which was a relief to me as I was concerned about what would happen if a media-managed version of a program were to lose its media files. All that hard work would be down the drain.
But with a properly thought-out workflow, such problems can be prevented.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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Check with ICT and ask for Sonny.
Interactive Communication Technology
4316 Hamilton Street
Hyattsville, MD 20781T: 301 864 6333
T: 240 375-7013 (cell)
T: 877 ICT CORP (toll free)Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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Paul…
When working with the Firestore it’s supposed to go like this:
— Use the “Organize P2” function on the Firestore before copying from the Firestore to the hard drive system.
— Copy the entire Firestore to the hard drive. I prefer to option-drag the Firestore’s desktop icon into a folder just to be safe.
— Then import the P2 files into FCP.
If someone copied the Firestore over to the hard drive before using the “Organize P2” function, FCP may not be able to read the files. And if all the files weren’t faithfully copied from the Firestore to the hard drive, there may be problems. I only ran into this when I first got the Firestore and didn’t do the “Orgazine P2” operation prior to importing. But that was just a test, and I learned from the mistake.
There might be a way to recover from the problem if you hadn’t done the “orgazize P2” operation prior to moving files from the Firestore to the hard drive system. Perhaps Focus tech support can provide some answers?
I figure it’s only a matter of time before I end up in the same boat.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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[Chris Oben] “Any truth to the rumour?”
It’s a rumor.
Discovery considers DVCProHD to be one of the standard HD formats, and their standards are as high as anyone else’s.
HDV is a different story, however, and according to Discovery’s published information no more than 15% of a program can consist of HDV. There’s a list of other technical requirements as well.
http://www.discoverychannel.ca/_includes/disclaimer/producers_guide/docs/HDSpec.logo.doc
I wish I were in a situation where I had to adhere to these rules… 🙂
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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A producer once told me that a particular cameraman was charging a certain rate without his “package”.
I wrote back and said “that’s rather drastic. How’d he remove his ‘package’?”
🙂
The seperate cameraman/package pricing helps keep it flexible. If a client wants Betacam SP, MiniDV, additional lights, Glidecam, etc., it gets priced accordingly. Sort of like ordering ala carte at a restaurant.
As long as it doesn’t get to the restaurant equivalent of “you want fries with that?”
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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Arnie…
Thanks for the info. I’ll pass it along to the guys in DC.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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Where I am, rates are based on a cameraman’s or DP’s skill level. The equipment is a seperate charge.
It can also change based on the nature of the job. For example, a run-and-gun news-type shoot would be less than a commercial shoot where lighting and setup might be more critical for a demanding client.
Equipment fees are charged according to whatever their normal rental rates might be.
So a cameraman’s fee might be $600 a day, for a 10-hour day. Then you add on equipment: Camera (including tripod) for $400/day, audio system for $150/day. Now you have a cameraman with basic equipment for $1150/day.
If a format such as HD is in high demand, then that might skew the day rate a bit.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com
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[Mag One] “But have you found it hard to give your clents a hd look in sd format?”
It’s not so much the HD look as it is incorporating HD into the workflow to solve some issues such as green screen work. I’ve only done a couple of tests so far, and we just started getting into doing commercial productions. So as far as selling the look is concerned, we haven’t had any issues yet.
For us it’s not a problem convincing a client to do something in HD. We’re planning to make it an integral part of the process rather than an option. Sort of like shooting a commercial spot on film for a particular look or for the options that workflow might provide. So in our case the client doesn’t have an option when it comes to originating the material in SD or HD.
However, for other jobs HD has actually made it possible for me to pick up an assignment or two. Someone I’ve known for years recently hired me to do some pickup work for a couple of documentaries she’s helping to produce. If I weren’t shooting in HD I wouldn’t have gotten those jobs as the projects are being shot in HD — specifically Varicam and in the P2 formats.
And we’re all learning a lot about this along the way. The documentary producer in DC discovered that the P2 Store has some serious file transfer speed issues if it’s being copied from the P2 Store into the Mac. He reported that it took approximately an hour per gigabyte to move files into his Mac-based edit system. Others who had PC-based edit systems reported normal transfer speeds.
For my own setup, I’m shooting to a Firestore for long-form work. When it comes to doing work in-studio I’m going to shoot on a P2 card and use Firewire to transfer from the camera into a Mac Book Pro.
Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com