Need advice: Storage solution
by Bahram Gueranfar
on
Feb 29, 2008 at 2:42:46 pm
Hi,
Need some advice for a disk solution. I just got a new job where I need to digitalize 400 hours + of footages and compress them in Mpeg2 for archiving. The client will store the final product, but mean while I will need the space to work and store until delivery.
Since I will have to invest into a solution, I would like it to be useful for HD editing on FCS2 after. I should start editing uncompressed hd editing by the end of the digitalisation project.
For now I am considering the Sonnet HD (8to) of G-tech speed solutions.
Re: Need advice: Storage solution by Ron Lindeboom on Mar 1, 2008 at 1:33:04 pm
[Bahram Gueranfar]"Since I will have to invest into a solution, I would like it to be useful for HD editing on FCS2 after. I should start editing uncompressed hd editing by the end of the digitalisation project."
Reading this, I am scratching my head as I cannot figure out why you say that you "need to digitalize 400 hours + of footages and compress them in Mpeg2 for archiving" but that the end destination is a High Definition uncompressed project to be edited in FCS2. I am confused.
If you are going to be working with High Def, then crunching them down into MPEG2 makes no sense -- unless I am missing something here.
If it were my project, I'd look at the SheerVideo codec. It will allow for others who may not have the latest version of Final Cut to access and work with the files, while doing it in a compressed format that won't destroy the visual acuity of you files (such as will happen if you use MPEG2).
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Re: Need advice: Storage solution by Bahram Gueranfar on Mar 2, 2008 at 10:02:21 am
Hi
Sorry , what I meant is that since I have to invest into a disk solution for the digitalization job, might as well invest in a solution that can be used later in another project (notably a 10 bit uncompressed HD).
Re: Need advice: Storage solution by Ron Lindeboom on Mar 2, 2008 at 3:10:57 pm
G-Tech, Maxx Digital, Dulce Systems, Ciprico, Sonnet, G-Max -- any of these companies have models that could be a usable solution that would work for you.
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Re: Need advice: Storage solution by Ramona Howard on Mar 25, 2008 at 4:36:15 pm
Bahram,
RaveHD offers the storage, the way to ingest uncompressed and even the means to compress down to MPEG (along with many other formats). Sits on the network and can be accessed by other systems and applications, they just see it as one big drive.
Of course there is a whole bunch more to RaveHD but it is possible to go from tape to Compressed format, in one sweep and all automated.
Need multiple compressed formats simultaneously?
Need downconverted HD to SD and compressed simultaneously?
Re: MPEG2 for archiving?! - XVID MPEG4 vs ProRes or DV50? by Mitch Sink on Apr 9, 2008 at 5:05:00 pm
[Bahram Gueranfar]"Hi,
Need some advice for a disk solution. I just got a new job where I need to digitalize 400 hours + of footages and compress them in Mpeg2 for archiving. The client will store the final product, but mean while I will need the space to work and store until delivery.
Thanks in advance
Bahram"
Hi,
I don't think MPEG2 is a good choice for an archive.
I would probably choose ProRes, DV50 or even DV25) for the improved quality/cleaner signal (Algolith makes a living selling devices that reduce the noise added by MPEG2 compression).
I plan to investigate a solution based on MPEG4, probably XVid. If anyone has any information on the video quality of Xvid vs ProRes or DV50 please post it.
Regardless of how it compares to the above formats it is much more efficient than MPEG2 so I would definitely choose XVid or another MPEG4 based solution over MPEG2:
http://www.techreviewcentral.com/?p=27 With basically the same quality, you can fit an entire DVD movie onto a regular CD, or, fit several movies onto a DVDr disc. Moreover, you can download a DVD quality movie from the Internet in just one file, that is only around 1/2 a Gig. You can watch it on your computer or some new commercial DVD players. How is this possible you ask? Well, commercial DVD movies use an outdated video format called MPEG2. It takes several large MPEG2 files to make up one DVD movie. Progressing technology and better programming gives us a new MPEG4 format, making it possible to have the same high quality DVD video with only 10% the file size. The new technology is DivX, or XviD, and this is a brief “where and how” guide explaining what you need so you may also have the same high quality video for your computer and DVD player. You can download, rip, and burn using the new Xvid DivX technology!
There are a number of reasons that may make using Xvid an interesting option for you. E.g. Xvid is Free software, can be obtained free of charge and is shipped together with many hardware devices. While being free, it offers outstanding quality and performance clearly surpassing expensive, competing products. Xvid allows you to create video for interoperable exchange with portable or home multimedia devices as Xvid is widely supported in hardware. Being open-source, Xvid is future-proof and secure to use.
For which platforms is the Xvid codec available?
Xvid is primarily developed for PC but has also been ported to other platforms. Xvid is e.g. available for PC on Windows and Linux or for Mac and iMac on Mac OS X.
I work on Windows and want to use Xvid in Quicktime – is there a plugin available?
There’s a Xvid quicktime plugin available but it’s been created for Mac and is not well maintained at the moment. We’re currently working on improved Quicktime support, which will become part of the Xvid core code base.
Xvid has been developed with highest quality in mind. Hence, the Xvid encoder is especially good at offline, multi-pass compression for storage or archival purposes.
