[Ian]

FWIW:

I have a fleet of graids and this same problem has only just shown it’s head. Only on 10.4.6 machines. We’ve had to manage some other tweaky things as a result of 10.4.6. Overall it is fine. The graid thing is a new one for me to chase down. I suspect it is a problem managing the FW port as it seems a particular problem on IO or DV via firewire connected equipment.

Keep you posted.

Ian

Rogue Post
HD Film Mastering
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[Ian]

Nick,

One nice thing about the sata raids is that you can grow with them. We started with a 4 drive enclosure for SD work. When we were starting to move into big-iron HD, all we needed to do was add a second enclosure to the card. In fact, we keep two types of drive sets, one made of 4 drives, and one made of 8. The 2 enclosure system allows us flexibility- we can 1 or 2 raids of the 4 drive SD type, or quickly swap them out for the 8 drive HD raid. This has proven to be a very flexible system for getting shows into the color correction suite. Often we will consolidate shows from the SAN to these drives for finishing. This is especially true for uncompressed HD.

As far as your needs, it is true that DVCPro HD is a very small file, especially compared to uncompressed HD. These files can be managed quite well by something as simple as a FW800 Graid. The trouble comes if you find yourself needing to bring this material into an uncompressed HD sequence, add FX and layback with the resulting render files.

Also, check with Jason over at Promax. They were out there as early suppliers of this stuff. I know that they have some new options that are even more flexible than what I am using, in terms of expandability. We can never have large enough or fast enough drives!

Ian

Rogue Post
HD Film Mastering
Uncompressed Online
Feature Film/Broadcast/Commercial
212-366-5011

[Ian]

We have a couple of incarnations of SATA raids running over here. In the HD finishing suite, we have the highpoint card connected to two four drive enclosures from promax. This has been a very flexible system for us as the enclosures have removable bays. Several other rooms have either the two enclosures or singles. We can simply move bays around the facility as needed HD, and SD. This is by far one of the most reliable and efficient storage systems we have.

Even in the rooms attached to the XSAN, we love having these drives as solid stand-alone performers. With the 2 enclosures and the highpoint card we reliably get data write speeds in the 350mb/s range.

Good luck,

Ian B. Wile
Rogue Post NYC
ianbwile@roguepost.com

Rogue Post
HD Film Mastering
Uncompressed Online
Feature Film/Broadcast/Commercial
212-366-5011

[Ian]

For what its worth, while you guys are picking fights, I can say the the xml project move is spotty at best and is not as reliable a way to transport the projects as it was in past versions. I have have plenty o’ trouble with having 5.1 and 5.04 systems simultaneously existing in my facility. I’ll bring them all up as shows clear, however until then plugging along.

Ian

Rogue Post
HD Film Mastering
Uncompressed Online
Feature Film/Broadcast/Commercial
212-366-5011

[Ian]

Hey guys,

You’ve guessed correctly. The error originates in the JVC camera and cannot be bypassed at this time by FCP or most NLE’s. We have worked with JVC on this and they are developinga firmware fix.

The only way we were able to get by this problem was to capture the footage into premiere, lay the captured files back to HDV tape as one clean clip and the reload them into FCP.

FWIW we had roughly 1200 hours to manage.

Feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Ian B. Wile
Rogue Post NYC
ianbwile@rogue post.com

Rogue Post
HD Film Mastering
Uncompressed Online
Feature Film/Broadcast/Commercial
212-366-5011