[Neil Sadwelkar]

Exactly as Tim Jones wrote (in the post by James Vorley), Bru PE will always be available and free for reading LTO tapes created by it. So, if you download the latest version and store it safely, as long as you have a compatible Mac with a compatible SAS card and SAS LTO drive, you can read Bru LTO tapes. Even if you have a Bru PE license, it doesn’t need Tolis to be functional to use the license, as far as I can tell.

I’ve been using Bru tapes since 2010 and have backed up client data of Petabytes over thousands of tapes, using Bru. If a client were to walk in with a Bru tape, even if I don’t have a catalog of it, I can read the tape and import that into any Bru installation. Of course, I have kept catalogs of every tape I’ve written.

But with Apple Silicon Macs and Big Sur on the horizon, its only a matter of time before SAS cards and tape drivers get unsupported rendering the current LTO drives unusable. The current Macs we have, will last another 5 years or so. Even the one we just purchase now, will probably not run beyond another 10 years tops. So, we have that much time to migrate all our Bru tapes to LTFS and hope that lasts.

Even with LTFS, LTO-5, LTO-6 tapes written using LTFS in, say 2015, are no longer readable in current LTO-8 drives. So one needs to maintain LTO-6 and LTO-7 drives for as long as the data on LTFS LTO-5/6 tapes is valuable. And while those are still serviceable, one needs to migrate all the LTO-5/6 drives to LTO-8, LTO-9 or LTO-10 depending on the current version available when one decides to migrate.

Far more worrying is what happens with defunct software like Windows NTBackup. Back in 2004-2008, a post house I used to work with (which shut down in 2013 or so) backed up all client data to LTO-3 and LTO-4 tapes using Windows NTBackup. It was an IT dept decision based on the fact that Microsoft will be around forever. Well, they still are around, but they’ve deprecated the software as well as tape support in their OS.

There is no way I could find, to read those tapes, due to a maze of incompatibilities between Windows, SAS cards, and LTO drives. And, the client/s couldn’t make up their minds on how much they would be willing to spend to migrate their assets from Win NTBackup to LTFS. So, I’ve given up on the migration. And all this data is dead. Exactly like the DigiBeta archives from Smoke/Flame systems that clients made for their video finishing projects. Or like Quantel archives on MO disks.

BTW, before anyone does a Google search and finds the page on Microsoft that lets you download Win NTBackup for Win 10, please be informed that that is for disk based NTBackup backups. Those are supported. But tape based Win NTbackups are not.

And so it goes. LTO backup *may* last for 30 years, but the infrastructure needed to read those tapes is looking like it almost certainly will not last as long as the tapes will.

[Neil Sadwelkar]

For the rest of us who live in Asia, and particularly in India, its going to be a choice between an 8 hour flight to IBC Amsterdam or a 24+ hour flight to NAB Vegas. As long as it was April for one and September for the other, we could do both trips every year. But eventually most of us chose one over the other.

Then, its the visas. Most of us have a 10 year visitor visa to the US, but the Netherlands makes us trudge to an office downtown with our tax and bank papers for 3 years, take fingerprints and pictures, and then grant a visa that could be as short as 8 days and as long as 12 months. So, basically, we had to do this every year to get to IBC.

I think most of my Indian friends will choose NAB over IBC if they are just a month apart. Because, for NAB we just hop on to a plane.

About the NAB flu, I haven’t heard of anyone here getting it. Jet lag and fatigue, yes, no flu as far as I remember.

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Here in India, we have been debating this as well. Some guidelines are being floated. The basic idea has remained the same. Keep distance, don’t share anything.

But one production I’ve heard of has suggested something different. It works something like this.

The entire crew, except talent and other ‘heads’, head for a studio complex in a remote area, which has residential facilities. Its a ‘walled garden’ where no one else can get in our out.

Here, everyone gets tested for Covid, and stays in quarantine till the results come back. Based on the results, if no one is positive, then they still quarantine themselves for 5 days, just in case.

Meanwhile, the rest who haven’t travelled, also get tested and stay quarantined till their results arrive. And if they are all negative, they stay quarantined, for five days just in case. Then they go to location.

Now, on location, you have a team of individuals who are Covid negative and have had no interaction with anyone in the outside world. Daily temp and oximeter readings are still mandatory, and social distancing is still followed, but there is some peace of mind that no one is likely to get sick.

From the first lot of crew, if anyone is found positive, then that person/s goes back and the rest remain but stay in 14 days quarantine, means, inside rooms, no meeting each other, just in case. Hopefully no one else develops symptoms, but another test is done just to be safe.

Its a bit Utopian and there are some things unforeseen that can throw things. What I think will happen, is that people will form guidelines and start until one or more individuals get sick and then all of this will come to a halt.

Lets see how things turn out.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

I’m from the other side of the world – India.

We began our isolation/lockdown thing early in the game. when the count was under 5. Just 3 weeks ago. And now its crossed 200.

We stopped shaking hands for a month now. Most of us are used to folded hands ‘namaste’ anyway. We used to eat food with hands, but we stopped that. We rarely used hand sanitiser, but now we do, many times a day. We aren’t natural ‘huggers’, but we are crowded enough to be close to each other in large numbers.

On Mar 01 we had 6 cases, on the 10th, 65, and today 223. Some say the number is low because there haven’t been enough tests. But we have been quarantining and interaction tracking overseas visitors for nearly a month now. From tomorrow, all international flights will cease for a week.

As fas is our industry is concerned, we stopped all shoots on the 14th Mar. And edits will be moved to WFH (work from home) from today. Or stopped altogether for those who have to work out of a facility. All stores, malls, cinemas are shut for about a week now, and offices and other establishments will be shut down from tomorrow till the 31st March.

On Sunday we have the largest ever lockdown from 7am to 9pm as the Government tries to ‘break the chain’ by isolating the world’s second largest population of 1.33 billion people for over 12 hours. Everything has been asked to be voluntarily shut an everybody indoors. Its called the ‘People’s Curfew’. If it works, we will probably repeated for a few days.

And on Sunday at 5pm, we are supposed to stand by our windows/balconies, and clap, beat a vessel or a drum, play a musical instrument, anything we feel like, as a show of appreciation for the countless health workers, airport security personnel, quarantine facility workers, Army, Police, everyone who are out there, so that we stay safe and healthy.
Depends on the response, this is likely to be the worlds largest creation of human noise.

For most of the editors I know, these days are an opportunity to catch up with family since most of us have a neglected family life. For others, its a good time to upgrade skills. Try out Fairlight, give FCP X another look, check out Fusion, or if your an FCP X head, then try out Avid, or Resolve.

Editors are used to being confined long hours in one room, so most are approaching it as “How hard can it be?” We’ll soon find out I guess. Its one day at a time.

I hope you guys stay safe and healthy.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Does the second screen worn as a place for holding grading controls for DaVinci? Sort of like a soft panel?

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

The Apple Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter works in both directions.
So, using that, you can connect a Thunderbolt 2 Mac to a Thunderbolt 3 drive.
Or, you can connect a newer Thunderbolt 3 Mac to an older Thunderbolt 2 drive.
Both work with the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter.
Other brands may not work, but the Apple one works for sure.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Will it work with a NAS like a QNAP NAS? Then I’m interested.
Please write to me at neil a t digitaldada dot in

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Have mailed you.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Between Promise and LaCie, my choice would be neither. I’d go with G-technology. But they don’t have a 6-bay. Its 4-bay or 8-bay.

On Mac Mini, I have one. A stock 3 GHz 6-core i5 to which I added RAM to make 32 GB. With a Sonnet eGFX breakaway 550 W with a Radeon RS580 8GB GPU in it. I have 2 LG 24″ monitors and this setup works an Avid edit station for the past 3 months. Works great. I even tested Resolve transcode on this vs the cylinder 6-core Mac Pro. This one is as fast.

As an Avid or Premiere Pro station its great value. And, unlike an iMac, I can ‘upgrade’ the monitor, or change the GPU too.
The iMac has a great display though.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India

[Neil Sadwelkar]

Unless sharing is essential for your workflow, a DAS will be faster than a NAS. Also, a NAS takes a while to start up, several minutes at times, while a DAS is instantly on and ready to go.

In terms of price,

A QNAP 6-bay TVS-672XT-i3-8G NAS 24 TB (6x4TB) with 10GbE and TB3 ports at Span is UK Pounds 1853.00
A Promise 6-bay RAID 24 TB (6x4TB) at the UK Apple Store is UK Pounds 1939.00
An Areca 6-bay ARC-8050T3-6 TB3 RAID 24 TB (6x4TB) at Rent a RAID is UK Pounds 2130.00

As RAID 6 the above 3 will actually give you 16 TB usable space.

If sharing is a useful thing for you, you can get an 8-bay NAS which will be fast than a 6-bay, for slightly more than a good 6-bay DAS.
A Qnap 8-bay TVS-872XT-i5-16G NAS 24 TB (8x3TB) with 10GbE+TB3 ports at Span is UK Pounds 2242.00
As RAID 6, the TVS-872XT NAS will give you 18 TB usable space.

———————————–
Neil Sadwelkar
neilsadwelkar.blogspot.com
twitter: fcpguru
FCP Editor, Edit systems consultant
Mumbai India