External Storage for EX1 - Possible solution

I was trying to figure out how NOT to lug around a laptop and external hard drives to back up EX1 footage. I thought maybe I could use a micro laptop with a couple of 320 gig Passport drives for redundant backup.

Then I thought, "crap, why doesn't someone make a sxs reader direct to hard drive like some of the CF flash units out there. Low and behold, the company below has a unit that comes close and has been tested with the usb transfer function of several sony hdd camcorders. It has NOT been tested with the EX1. So Im going to do it for us.

One of the extreme ND2700 is on the way as I write this for under 300 usd for 320 gb. Although not as good as having its own sxs reader and having to use the camera to transfer (if it works), it could be a compact redundant backup for 600usd (two units).

Of course I will try it with the external sony sxs reader as well. Also going to see if hard drive is field replaceable.

http://www.nextodi.com/en/product/eXtreme_en.html - product

http://www.nextodi.com/en/support/view.php...otice&id=13 - camera test

Any thoughts from the bleeding edge?

-Mark

I haven't got a clue what you just said... But when you get the results back give us the low down... Alls good I'm in brother...

Dive safe

DeanB

Hold a while........Pioneer are working on a, wait for this, 16 Layer 400GB disc storage solution. Whilst they have had just one work in the labs thus far its not to say it wont happen. Amazing what the white coats are doing. A lot less bulkier than carrying a bunch of hard drives around.

Cheers,

Mark.

Looks like a great idea but what happens if you accidentally drop it out in the field?

Goodbye data, it has a hard drive in it.

And you need two, one for backup incase ones fails

Wags.. come on.. what if.. what if... What if someone breaks into your pad while your away and steals all your footage (YES!! the masked footage thief of old kentish town )... WHat if your driving your motor with all your tapes and back ups jump out to buy some incontinence pants and lightning strikes your car and destroys the lot... I mean

Dive safe

DeanB

Hilarious Sounds like my Mother-in-law, what if you drink too much, what if you eat too much red meat, blah, blah , blah

You have been a bit quiet recently there Dean - nice to have you back - have you just been let out again or is there a 'secret' project going down ?

Paul C

You have been a bit quiet recently there Dean - nice to have you back - have you just been let out again or is there a 'secret' project going down ?

 

Paul C

Aww thanks Paul.. But i've been posting bits and bobs but been busy with the 'day jobs' lately... As my techno mind is slowly increasing but at a really slow rate "I'm an artist (insert jokes) not a machine" i leave the techno babble talk to those who know.. theres plenty of them on here... But once in a while i will strike like a deadly viper, with a venomous piece of hilarity that strikes hard into all who come across it... Or just drop in my 5p worth...

Hope your well mate and working hard...

And yes theres things in the pipeline.. some small some that could be good...let you know more when i do.

Dive safe

DeanB

Well dropping hard drives that are running at the time present the biggest danger but I have stepped on a few dv tapes in my cluttered studio as well. My favorite is running them over with the chair as I back up trying to avoid my dogs. (I run over the paws now and it conditions the dogs to jump whenever the wheels move).

I'm trying to be as protective with my footage as possible without having to lug around large 3.5 drives, power supplies, and a laptop. If I can get 320 gigs of lightweight traveling backup in the palm of my hand, then that is a win for me. That device can also back up my digital SLR as well.

No doubt storage solutions like Mark mentioned are going to be forthcoming. I will be watching for them. But I need to have it now if possible. I'll keep you guys up to date as I get somewhere with it all.

-Mark

Three hours of HQ footage fits on a Blu-Ray disk. That's going to be my backup for the foreseeable future.

And since I don't need to run in full HQ mode for nearly anything I shoot, my trusty Firestore will nearly 6 hours of footage on it which I can dump at my convenience.

When I can write to compact flash or SDHC for a reasonable price, I'll move that direction, but that data pumping out of the HD-SDI connection is going to need a LOT of room!

Three hours of HQ footage fits on a Blu-Ray disk. That's going to be my backup for the foreseeable future.

 

And since I don't need to run in full HQ mode for nearly anything I shoot, my trusty Firestore will nearly 6 hours of footage on it which I can dump at my convenience.

 

When I can write to compact flash or SDHC for a reasonable price, I'll move that direction, but that data pumping out of the HD-SDI connection is going to need a LOT of room!

What I am trying to solve is the dive trip solution, or the in the field solution. I should have made that more clear in the subject line.

Storing while in the studio isnt an issue as hard drive space and dual layer dvds the bill. I'm using the method suggested to me in the vortex video. 1. Shoot on 8 gig cards (or use the clip importer to split into two 8 gig sections) 2. Place one backup on hard drive. Place another on dual layer dvd. 3. Copy the footage onto the editing drive from either source and edit. 4. Save projects and edls onto backup mediums. This method costs me about 40cents per gig for two backups. I can save the dual layer part for downtime since I have two copies at the time (one on editor , one on hard drive)

-Mark

I have pulled apart a mini DV tape that got damaged and put it into a new one once.

The bottom line is you are going to have to use hard drives to store it in the field and that is risky unless you buy a heap of $$$ cards. Mmmm maybe 16 GIG cards will cost $5 bucks in a few years...problem solved.

I had a 320 GIG drive fail, just caused by being in the car driving back from Queensland over 5 days.

Burning any faster than 4 x increases the chances of errors.

At 2x speed it will take about 45 mins to burn 25 Gigs to a Blue Ray disk.

At 4 x speed it will be about 23 mins.

3 hours fits on a BluRay disk?

I thought at 35mbps rate you can get 50 mins of footage on a 16 GIG card.

So that's like 50 mins of footage per Blu-Ray disks unless you spend time chopping up bits to make up 25 GIGS.

Normal Dual DVD's that's about 25 mins max per disk.

So while you guy are messing around archiving your footage to a $$$ Blu_Ray disk, I would have sucked in another tape and thrown it into the cupboard all archived.

Those drives are great for shorter trips but on longer trips past 10 days you hit your limit, unless you are REALLY judicious in your shooting or edit out what you don't want, but then you'll need a laptop again anyhow.

Having 2-4 1TB drives are now a reality for a production shoot, especially for longer 3-4 week or more trips.

Tape vs media is something that depends on the type of shoot, quality vs practicality. I'd like to see any HDV camera give the quality of the XDCAM EX picture and noise or DVCPRO HD color quality.

Tape is great for backup but it fails as well and if you account for bulk on an extended trip, it takes up a lot of space. Shoot according to your main needs, not what someone else says.

When will someone come up with a SxS to Bluray (or whatever?) machine the size of a dvd case.. Put the card into the slot and transfer to disc to archive... Job done...

Hmmmmm ?? Im off to my lab to make one..

Laters

Dive safe

DeanB

What we need is a PDW-F350 XDCAM HD camcorder setup where it goes straight to a Disk.

http://www.expandore.com/product/Sony/Proa..._HD/PDWF350.htm

What we need is a PDW-F350 XDCAM HD camcorder setup where it goes straight to a Disk.

 

http://www.expandore.com/product/Sony/Proa..._HD/PDWF350.htm

Nice thought but tooooo Big... An EX1 or even A1 size HDCAM would be cool....

Dive safe

DeanB

Wags.. come on.. what if.. what if... What if someone breaks into your pad while your away and steals all your footage (YES!! the masked footage thief of old kentish town )...

Nope that would be the BBC...... Sorry in joke

Cheers, Mr Angry

50GB Blu-Ray, not 25.

3 hours fits on a BluRay disk?

I thought at 35mbps rate you can get 50 mins of footage on a 16 GIG card.

So that's like 50 mins of footage per Blu-Ray disks unless you spend time chopping up bits to make up 25 GIGS.

Nope that would be the BBC...... Sorry in joke

 

Cheers, Mr Angry

Some parts of the BBC Simon .. all the People I've met, worked and dealt with are supa dupa... So far !!!

Dive safe

DeanB

Break into our house...Gee I had better lock it from now on then.

50 GIG blu-Ray...so how long will it takes to burn that at 4x speed.

Kelly hands me the tape from Whale Sharking yesterday.

I suck it in, 15 mins, add graphics at start and end, drop the music on, no edits are needed cause I taught her well..... and 20 mins later I had the 7 DVD's made.

Throw the now full $5 tape into the cupboard ....archiving done.

But footage from the EX1 would of been much better that's for sure, but if I was using tapeless I would have not saved any time as I would have had to burn the raw footage to a Blu-Ray or dual DVD for safety.

Dean so have you cut up any footage yet on that MAC? We want to see some....