[James Monk]

SUCCESS! Once anyway… Now let’s see if it can be duplicated repeatedly in the field. I’m not sure how it happened or why, but I started all three cards within seconds of each other and the first one finished in under 45 minutes. I can’t say exactly because it finished before I went back to check. The other two weren’t far behind. I had originally planned on connecting two laptops to the switch and the third to the second LAN port on the NAS but ended up running all three through the switch. I honestly expected the whole process to take well over two hours.

Once it finished I opened a project in Media Composer and reviewed a good bit of the footage directly from the NAS. It actually ran fine which was something else I didn’t necessarilly expect.

All told this looks like a solid solution so far. We’ll see for sure at our next multicam shoot on the road. It’s not scheduled until August, but I wanted to allow plenty of time to get this wrung out.

I still need to figure out the best way to get everything from the NAS to the edit machine, but I think it should be as simple as a LAN connection and mapping the drive.

[James Monk]

I’ve been using USB device mode since I got my first P2 camera. I’m guessing the copy function you mention is available using host mode and goes straight in to a drive connected directly to the camera.

It’s partially a habit that evolved out of necessity but now the reason I use device mode is because I thought it was the only way to prebuild and name a folder to help keep my footage straight. I’ve never even really looked at Host mode. I guess it’s time to pull out the manual… again.

[James Monk]

The PCD2 is doing slightly better than what I get directly from the USB port on the camera in Device mode, but I’m not far from that.

I agree about the concerns surrounding the USB GigE adapter. They’re made to surf the internet/network, not necessarily for 60 gig file transfers. We’ll see.

I may have misled you in my first post. I’m not trying to copy everything to multiple drives. I want to get multiple cards to one storage device. The intent is to mimic the function of the PCD30 without the speed and at a fraction of the cost. If I were doing this every weekend I could justify the expense, but I’m not therefore I can’t.

You also brought up something I wanted to know about regarding the camera end of the operation. You indicated you could dump both cards at the same time directly from the HPX 250. I called Panasonic and asked if this was possible with P2 cameras in general, but not the 250 specifically. They said no and promptly referred me to the PCD30 and PCD35. I understand that not all cameras download the same way, but the rigs I’m running are HVX-200A, HPX-370, and HPX-250. Again, I know I’d be taking a huge hit on speed per card, but if I could start all six cards downloading at bedtime and get up in the morning to have them done that would be nothing short of a Godsend.

The parts will be here on Friday and I have full cards from the last multicam shoot so I should be able to put this to the test this weekend if I can find the time.

[James Monk]

Just in case anyone is actually paying attention I caught a serious error in my order. I listed a 10/100 ethernet switch thinking it was a Gigabit ethernet switch. The actual part I’m trying is:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/464635-REG/Netgear_GS105NA_ProSafe_5_Port_Gigabit_Desktop.html

I’m shooting for the modest goal of being able to get 6 cards dumped to a central storage drive on location in 2.5 hours. If all this works I’ll repost the complete list and any special “hoops” encountered.

[James Monk]

We have these shoots for a non-profit organization about four times a year that usually have us driving 2 days, setting up and shooting the day after arrival and shooting for about three days, then driving 2 days to get back to the edit bay. Most of the shooting goes on in the evening, but some happens during the day as well. We have three cameras that run during the evening events and usually need two by the next morning/mid day. All this would be fine if we didn’t have to sleep at some point. We’re a very small operation. (my wife, daughter, and I)

The PCD30 looks great, but we just don’t have 2K to drop on it. What I do have are a few laptops, a couple of drives, and a boatload of Bohemian stubbornness. Blazing speed isn’t the goal and I’m sure this is something we’ll outgrow, but for a stopgap fix that will get us a decent night’s sleep on a shoestring budget I’m willing to take some monetary chances… some.

So here’s what I’ve come up with and I think it will work, not nearly as fast as the PCD30, but it should get the job done:

Netgear 5 port Gigabit Ethernet switch
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/464652-REG/Netgear_FS105NA_ProSafe_5_Port_10_100_Desktop.html

Qnap 2 bay NAS enclosure
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1109552-REG/qnap_turbo_nas_ts_231_nas.html

3 Each – USB to Gigabit Ethernet adapters (My netbooks all have 10/100 LAN cards) https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1016568-REG/startech_usb31000s_usb_3_0_gigabit_ethret_nic.html

3 Each – outdated laptops that still work for transfering from the cameras… but not much else.

Everything can be had for about $250 which is a much easier pill to swallow, perhaps even choke on.

I’d love to know if anyone out there is doing anything similar. Theoretically this seems pretty sound, but theoretically you can make a brick fly like a fighter jet if you put big enough engines on it.

By the way, you’re right on all counts regarding cables, switch, risk of damaging the NAS drives, and the UPS. We’re already hauling a full sized truck full of stuff though and transporting drives with it, so we’re willing to throw a little more on and accept the risks.