External Hard drive unit for XDCAM EX Workflow at DVinfo.net

Alessandro Zumstein · February 2nd, 2009, 11:21 AM

Hello, have a little technical question.

I need for my projects an external Harddrive unit. I have intrests for the G-Technology G-Raid series and Western Digital Mybook series.
I see that the Gtech has 32MB cache and the WD 16MB. In any of the harddrives i have the intention to work with FW800.
My question is quiet simple. With my XDCAM EX workflow, what is the better choice and is the chache memory really so important? I don't know

"Pre sorry" for my english

Thanks

Alister Chapman · February 2nd, 2009, 11:52 AM

I find that cheap, plain vanilla USB drives work perfectly well. The EX files are small and use very little band width so mega fast drives are not essential.
Obviously a faster drive will improve latency and work better if you transcode to ProRes or similar.

Andy Wilkinson · February 2nd, 2009, 02:23 PM

I'm using a combination of FW 800 drives (mostly 1TB) including a G-RAID3 Raid 0 (2TB) for EX3 workflow with a MBP. Seems to work VERY well, as long as I stick with FW800 and not try to use eSATA with the G-RAID3 (a subject of another thread on here.....). Bigger drives (>500GB) tend to have higher data density so can, generally, read faster. Go for 7,200RPM drives.

Lot depends on complexity of your projects and your "expectations" but most people seem to get by just fine with external discs with a FW800 connection. Some, I've read, are not so happy with FW400 or USB connections when using EX1/3's.

Don't know about cache size but most of the larger drives are 32MB only anyway, and it won't hurt!

February 2nd, 2009, 11:21 AM	#1
Alessandro Zumstein Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Switzerland Posts: 68	External Hard drive unit for XDCAM EX Workflow Hello, have a little technical question. I need for my projects an external Harddrive unit. I have intrests for the G-Technology G-Raid series and Western Digital Mybook series. I see that the Gtech has 32MB cache and the WD 16MB. In any of the harddrives i have the intention to work with FW800. My question is quiet simple. With my XDCAM EX workflow, what is the better choice and is the chache memory really so important? I don't know "Pre sorry" for my english Thanks

February 2nd, 2009, 11:52 AM	#2
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	I find that cheap, plain vanilla USB drives work perfectly well. The EX files are small and use very little band width so mega fast drives are not essential. Obviously a faster drive will improve latency and work better if you transcode to ProRes or similar. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

February 2nd, 2009, 02:23 PM	#3
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	I'm using a combination of FW 800 drives (mostly 1TB) including a G-RAID3 Raid 0 (2TB) for EX3 workflow with a MBP. Seems to work VERY well, as long as I stick with FW800 and not try to use eSATA with the G-RAID3 (a subject of another thread on here.....). Bigger drives (>500GB) tend to have higher data density so can, generally, read faster. Go for 7,200RPM drives. Lot depends on complexity of your projects and your "expectations" but most people seem to get by just fine with external discs with a FW800 connection. Some, I've read, are not so happy with FW400 or USB connections when using EX1/3's. Don't know about cache size but most of the larger drives are 32MB only anyway, and it won't hurt! __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production