Setting up an edit suite for FCPX

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Setting up an edit suite for FCPX
by Luke Ogden on Jul 2, 2012 at 12:08:45 pm

Greetings all,
I like many have found myself doing a bit of NLE soul searching this past year (or since learning there wouldn't be a FCP 8) and for better or worse my go to/everyday editor will be FCPX from now on.
my question now is how to set up my machine optimally for predominately FCPX use.
I'm on a new thunderbolt iMac so I was looking into some large RAID storage to act as the scratch disk for all my project assets etc, possibly a thunderbolt drive (any recommendations?). Beyond this I don't think I need to buy anything else but I'm interested to see how people set their machines up.

At the moment my main criteria is this
-To have all my current projects in one place (like the aforementioned RAID drive)
-To be able to "check out" a project to a portable HDD to take on the road, home etc. then update it back on the main system.
-To be able to archive an old project and all its associated files from the RAID to cheap desktop Hard drives

One of the main things that drew me to FCPX was its ability to media manage for me and do a lot of these tasks. So if this is possible I'd love to hear you recommendations for how to set this up.

as always thanks for reading

Luke

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Re: Setting up an edit suite for FCPX
by Bob Woodhead on Jul 2, 2012 at 12:28:19 pm

I'll leave the finer details of X & media management to those more knowledgable than myself, but some general RAID comments -

-To have all my current projects in one place (like the aforementioned RAID drive)

Make sure you use RAID 5 or similar. Do not use RAID 0! Drives WILL die. At the worst possible time. I've used parity RAID systems since the days of Quantel, and I can't remember how many HDDs have died on me over the years. Your attitude must be "yeah, that single disk can die & it won't screw me totally". Carry that thinking across every drive you use & you'll sleep easier as your projects get larger ($$).

-To be able to archive an old project and all its associated files from the RAID to cheap desktop Hard drives

And here, use RAID 1. (Separate array for archiving.) For the same reason as above. I've been archiving this way for 5 years. Got about 12 pairs of project archive drives on the shelf. In that 5 years, 1 drive (of a pair) has failed to mount when calling up an old file. No worries, reach for it's twin, get file, buy replacement drive, mirror data to return to redundant state. I use a cheap "toaster" bare drive mounter. Just stick the bare archive drive into the "toaster slot", get what you need, eject, done. Very fast.

Play safe! ;)

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Re: Setting up an edit suite for FCPX
by Jeremy Garchow on Jul 2, 2012 at 1:57:02 pm

Check out the Promise, Pegasus thunderbolt arrays.

http://www.promise.com/storage/raid_series.aspx?m=192®ion=en-global&rsn1...

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Re: Setting up an edit suite for FCPX
by Luke Ogden on Jul 4, 2012 at 9:29:15 am

Thanks guys, I've seen the pegasus Thunderbolt RAID's before, they look great and very future proof. The toaster drive mounter sounds like a great way to manage my archiving and "recall" a project when needed. Do you have any recommendations on brand/model etc? And pardon my ignorance but does RAID 1 mean I copy projects for archiving to two separate hard drives. Do I do this manually? or is there a system that people use?

Has anyone had any experience with he "checking out a project" feature I mentioned above, would be great to know if that actually worked in a full circle sense.

thanks

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Re: Setting up an edit suite for FCPX
by Bob Woodhead on Jul 4, 2012 at 11:46:55 am

Here's the "toaster" (no T-bolt yet):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066

Here's a quick read on RAID:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

In RAID 1, data is written identically to two drives, thereby producing a "mirrored set". External enclosure holds the drives, system sees it as a single volume. I would not recommend a Thunderbolt solution, as 1) it's too expensive and 2) speed isn't a factor in archiving.
Here's an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816856074

As to moving a project around, I do it between two locations, and it's not an issue. But I'm always careful of keeping track of changes to files. Better for someone else to chime in on that.

"Constituo, ergo sum"

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
CMX-Quantel-Avid-FCP-Premiere-3D-AFX-Crayola
"What a long strange trip it's been...."

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