Hard Drive Suggestions at DVinfo.net

Bob Armstrong · March 6th, 2007, 12:06 PM

We're in the process of slowly switching over to XDCAM HD for everything. Currently I'm editing everything in SD, including the stuff we shoot with our 330. I'm looking to buy some external hard drives that will satisfy our future needs for editing XDCAM HD, or just HD in general. Here's two I've considered that seem to have a lot of bang for your buck...

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=WDG2TP10000

The RAID configuration is nice, but is firewire 800 fast enough?

http://www.pc4usa.com/DetailSales.as...catn=29&Catn=6

The SATA connection gives me more speed, but will a regular 7200 RPM handle my needs?

Anyone found any reasonably cheap external drives they like for editing HD?

Thanks in advance!

Harm Millaard · March 6th, 2007, 12:22 PM

Bob,

Refrain from USB2 or Fire wire connections. Only use eSATA for external disks.

Rob Stiff · March 6th, 2007, 12:54 PM

I have edited 3 camera shoots with XDCAM footage at
HQ 1080 24p setting using a lacie 200 gig drive; with only a firewire
400 connection running Apple's FCP. The footage is basically better
quality HDV. Don't get me wrong, XDCAM footage blows away
basic HDV. A high speed RAID is great if you are sharing XDCAM
footage across a network with multiple users. A level 5 RAID is also
nice little security blanket with your edited footage for realtime protection.

Any firewire 800 drive will do the job nicely and some!

Bob Armstrong · March 6th, 2007, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harm Millaard

Bob,

Refrain from USB2 or Fire wire connections. Only use eSATA for external disks.

Even Firewire 800?

Nate Weaver · March 6th, 2007, 04:12 PM

I've been using firewire drives for 8 years of editing. They work fine.

Modern ones only get sketchy when the data rate of your media approaches 30MB/sec. Native XDCAM HD is almost a sixth of that.

ALTHOUGH, if you have the means/inclination to go with eSATA, and having drive(s) that are not as compatible with other computers doesn't mean anything to you, then eSATA is the superior choice. Latency while scrubbing is lower, and multi-stream/camera edit operations are faster.

I have both. I only use the eSATA when I need to work with uncompressed HD (110MB/sec+).

Klaas van Urk · March 6th, 2007, 04:27 PM

On a Mac
USB 2.0 gives 15-20 MB/sec transfer speed
Firewire 400 gives 30-40 MB/sec
Firewire 800 gives 40-60 MB/sec
eSata gives 80-150 MB/sec

One stream XDCAM HD 35Mb/sec needs just 5 MB/sec.

A slow processor, lightweight videocard and lack of memory gives you more problems.

The only trouble comes when you want to copy many Gig's at once (as usual). Slow technology keeps you waiting for a while.

Bob Armstrong · March 6th, 2007, 04:30 PM

I think I'll go with the 1TB firewire 800 RAID 0 drive. I like how it also has firewire 400 and USB 2.0 options for more compatibility. And for $410 I don't think I could go wrong.

Dan Brazda · March 12th, 2007, 03:45 PM

We've been cutting for almost a year now with XDCam HD 35mbps/ 24p using OWC Firewire 800 Raid 0 drives with zero problems. Aja System Tester Software says they are a hair faster than even our internal SATA drives (don't know if I buy that but I can't argue that they have been flawless so far...knock wood...)

March 6th, 2007, 12:06 PM	#1
Bob Armstrong New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: East Lansing, MI Posts: 21	Hard Drive Suggestions We're in the process of slowly switching over to XDCAM HD for everything. Currently I'm editing everything in SD, including the stuff we shoot with our 330. I'm looking to buy some external hard drives that will satisfy our future needs for editing XDCAM HD, or just HD in general. Here's two I've considered that seem to have a lot of bang for your buck... http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=WDG2TP10000 The RAID configuration is nice, but is firewire 800 fast enough? http://www.pc4usa.com/DetailSales.as...catn=29&Catn=6 The SATA connection gives me more speed, but will a regular 7200 RPM handle my needs? Anyone found any reasonably cheap external drives they like for editing HD? Thanks in advance!

March 6th, 2007, 04:12 PM	#5
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	I've been using firewire drives for 8 years of editing. They work fine. Modern ones only get sketchy when the data rate of your media approaches 30MB/sec. Native XDCAM HD is almost a sixth of that. ALTHOUGH, if you have the means/inclination to go with eSATA, and having drive(s) that are not as compatible with other computers doesn't mean anything to you, then eSATA is the superior choice. Latency while scrubbing is lower, and multi-stream/camera edit operations are faster. I have both. I only use the eSATA when I need to work with uncompressed HD (110MB/sec+). __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net

March 6th, 2007, 12:22 PM	#2
Harm Millaard Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands Posts: 1,832	Bob, Refrain from USB2 or Fire wire connections. Only use eSATA for external disks.

March 6th, 2007, 12:54 PM	#3
Rob Stiff Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 173	I have edited 3 camera shoots with XDCAM footage at HQ 1080 24p setting using a lacie 200 gig drive; with only a firewire 400 connection running Apple's FCP. The footage is basically better quality HDV. Don't get me wrong, XDCAM footage blows away basic HDV. A high speed RAID is great if you are sharing XDCAM footage across a network with multiple users. A level 5 RAID is also nice little security blanket with your edited footage for realtime protection. Any firewire 800 drive will do the job nicely and some!

March 6th, 2007, 04:27 PM	#6
Klaas van Urk Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hoek, the Netherlands Posts: 67	On a Mac USB 2.0 gives 15-20 MB/sec transfer speed Firewire 400 gives 30-40 MB/sec Firewire 800 gives 40-60 MB/sec eSata gives 80-150 MB/sec One stream XDCAM HD 35Mb/sec needs just 5 MB/sec. A slow processor, lightweight videocard and lack of memory gives you more problems. The only trouble comes when you want to copy many Gig's at once (as usual). Slow technology keeps you waiting for a while.

March 6th, 2007, 04:30 PM	#7
Bob Armstrong New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: East Lansing, MI Posts: 21	I think I'll go with the 1TB firewire 800 RAID 0 drive. I like how it also has firewire 400 and USB 2.0 options for more compatibility. And for $410 I don't think I could go wrong.

March 12th, 2007, 03:45 PM	#8
Dan Brazda Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 165	We've been cutting for almost a year now with XDCam HD 35mbps/ 24p using OWC Firewire 800 Raid 0 drives with zero problems. Aja System Tester Software says they are a hair faster than even our internal SATA drives (don't know if I buy that but I can't argue that they have been flawless so far...knock wood...)