Editing and External HDD
- Thread starter ksduded
- Start date
I'd look more at spec's than any particular brand. Almost any 7200 RPM 1TB drive in a sturdy case with an Esata port will suffice, but an added USB 3.0 connection would be optimal. The G-Raid Mini (primary editing/storage) and a G-Drive Mini (mobile back-up) are my traveling combo for editing/logging via laptop and work great for HDSLR editing.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
usb3 is faster than firewire, which is faster than usb2
(but you need your hardware and OS to support usb3, if one of those fails then it doesn't make sense)
get a 7200rpm drive if you want a bit more speed, get 5400 if you're much more worried about heat and reliability (not that there's a big problem with 7200rpm drives, that's why I said "much", but the speed diferential on current generation drives is not that dramatic either)
(but you need your hardware and OS to support usb3, if one of those fails then it doesn't make sense)
get a 7200rpm drive if you want a bit more speed, get 5400 if you're much more worried about heat and reliability (not that there's a big problem with 7200rpm drives, that's why I said "much", but the speed diferential on current generation drives is not that dramatic either)
Are you 100% sure that the sustained data rate is faster than firewire 800. Not taking about short burst speed. People thought that USB 2.0 was faster than firewire but it actually turned out that eventhough it is.... it is for only short burst speed. Where as firewire 800 is for sustained, for this reason being better than usb 2.0. So is it better than usb 3.0 or has the sustained data rate changed? I understand it is faster for short burst. Also I know of no editing facilities using USB 3.0. Maybe folks editing at home but none in the post world.
Also the G-Raid's have multiple connections in the back including esata. Why go out of your way to get a USB 3.0 connection when they are not widely supported yet and new. I made the same mistake in the past someone telling me that USB 2.0 was faster than firewire and I was mislead because someone didn't really look into the facts. I wasted my money buying 4 USB 2.0 drives.
Not trying to be an ass but just checking if this is true. At every post house I've worked at if they use external harddrives to move around they always use firewire 800. I've asked the techs and they said it was the best choice and less CPU hungry. Can anyone share? I'd like to know myself, but I can tell you since I've switched back to firewire 800 I've definitely seen speed improvements and a quicker timeline scrub in final cut. Lastly I wouldn't recommend any old drive. There is a reason why G-Raids are widely used in post. There is a difference in performance.
Why would you recommend a 5400 speed for video editing? That seems flat out wrong. Speed makes a difference, from copying to editing, to scrubbing on the timeline and rendering. Seriously curious. I'm only going by what I see at the post houses in hollywood. Of course we always use super expensive stuff like Avid Raid Drives to online 1 to 1 uncompressed 10bit HD, ISCIS systems and Unity. But any other misc things we use G-Raids with firewire 800. We won't use anything of say a cheap MYBOOK or anything.
Again not trying to be a jerk. Just trying to get clear answers and clear up things from what I've seen and this all sounds different from what I've heard. If you can clear up my thoughts then go ahead, much appreciated.
Also the G-Raid's have multiple connections in the back including esata. Why go out of your way to get a USB 3.0 connection when they are not widely supported yet and new. I made the same mistake in the past someone telling me that USB 2.0 was faster than firewire and I was mislead because someone didn't really look into the facts. I wasted my money buying 4 USB 2.0 drives.
Not trying to be an ass but just checking if this is true. At every post house I've worked at if they use external harddrives to move around they always use firewire 800. I've asked the techs and they said it was the best choice and less CPU hungry. Can anyone share? I'd like to know myself, but I can tell you since I've switched back to firewire 800 I've definitely seen speed improvements and a quicker timeline scrub in final cut. Lastly I wouldn't recommend any old drive. There is a reason why G-Raids are widely used in post. There is a difference in performance.
Why would you recommend a 5400 speed for video editing? That seems flat out wrong. Speed makes a difference, from copying to editing, to scrubbing on the timeline and rendering. Seriously curious. I'm only going by what I see at the post houses in hollywood. Of course we always use super expensive stuff like Avid Raid Drives to online 1 to 1 uncompressed 10bit HD, ISCIS systems and Unity. But any other misc things we use G-Raids with firewire 800. We won't use anything of say a cheap MYBOOK or anything.
Again not trying to be a jerk. Just trying to get clear answers and clear up things from what I've seen and this all sounds different from what I've heard. If you can clear up my thoughts then go ahead, much appreciated.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
* I have five 7200rpm drives and one 5400rpm drive, which is a year younger than the others; I haven't found any significant speed differences; your mileage may vary, but I'm not the only one feeling this
samsung 7200rpm F3 1TB vs. samsung 5400 rpm F4 2TB (just about six months younger):
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/2tb-samsung-hd204ui-z4-spinpoint-ec/845276/#post10305572
and lower in that same post, a comparison with a 7200rpm F2 from 2009, and a comparison with a 7200 rpm 2008 drive from WD
see what I meant?
* with current drives, usb3 is nearly as fast as internal storage, except for the additional latency; the second graph here shows a samsung 5400rpm 2TB drive hooked to a PC through usb3:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-superspeed-external-drive,2703-9.html
this is the same drive (ecogreen F3), installed internally through SATA:
http://hothardware.com/image_popup....ecogreen-f3-2tb-hdtach.jpg&articleid=1490&t=a
* one of the reasons nobody uses usb3 yet is lack of support: both apple and intel have been very slow at incorporating the technology to their products; there are alternatives, but I'd understand how a big house would prefer to wait instead of walking that route; that's not my case (at least it wouldn't be if I had to use external drives; all I use right now is internal SATA)
(no idea on cpu usage, though: thay may also be a reason)
samsung 7200rpm F3 1TB vs. samsung 5400 rpm F4 2TB (just about six months younger):
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/2tb-samsung-hd204ui-z4-spinpoint-ec/845276/#post10305572
and lower in that same post, a comparison with a 7200rpm F2 from 2009, and a comparison with a 7200 rpm 2008 drive from WD
see what I meant?
* with current drives, usb3 is nearly as fast as internal storage, except for the additional latency; the second graph here shows a samsung 5400rpm 2TB drive hooked to a PC through usb3:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-superspeed-external-drive,2703-9.html
this is the same drive (ecogreen F3), installed internally through SATA:
http://hothardware.com/image_popup....ecogreen-f3-2tb-hdtach.jpg&articleid=1490&t=a
* one of the reasons nobody uses usb3 yet is lack of support: both apple and intel have been very slow at incorporating the technology to their products; there are alternatives, but I'd understand how a big house would prefer to wait instead of walking that route; that's not my case (at least it wouldn't be if I had to use external drives; all I use right now is internal SATA)
(no idea on cpu usage, though: thay may also be a reason)
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I bought the lacie minimus 1TB drive with USB 3.0. The salesperson mentioned that it is 7200 RPM, but i cannot confirm after looking for the specs all over the manual and website. Anyways, as I don't have a USB 3.0 slot, I am using USB 2.0 and have to say it is pretty darn slow. I can't even playback the 1080p movies properly. Anyways, I have decided to use my internal 7200 HDD for editing purposes and keep the lacie as backup. I notcied that copying from one partition to the other in my internal drive it would do it at 24mb/sec, and it was the same for copying to external as well.
But not sure why the movies won't playback properly on the external. Anyways, once I have a USB 3.0 pci-e card installed I would be able to post some test results.
But not sure why the movies won't playback properly on the external. Anyways, once I have a USB 3.0 pci-e card installed I would be able to post some test results.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
copying from one partition to the other on the internal drive means the drive has to read a bit, then write it, then read the next bit, then write it, etc
when copying from internal to external, one only has to read, the other only has to write
so from your test your internal drive is at least twice as fast as the external one; it probably is quite a bit more, as there's some important latencies when switching from "read, here" to "write, over there"
usb2 is quite short of ideal...
(edit: but it should be good enough to play HD files!! if it is not, blame the definition of the protocol, not the maximum theoretical speed)
when copying from internal to external, one only has to read, the other only has to write
so from your test your internal drive is at least twice as fast as the external one; it probably is quite a bit more, as there's some important latencies when switching from "read, here" to "write, over there"
usb2 is quite short of ideal...
(edit: but it should be good enough to play HD files!! if it is not, blame the definition of the protocol, not the maximum theoretical speed)
Usb will never work properly.... Master and Slave connection will ALWAYS cause Hiccups. The best connection is eSata, than firewire as they use a constant system.
Now we should be getting firewire 3200, but who knows when....
Finally to answer the op's question, get a Western Digital Black Hard Drive ( 7200rpm ) and put it inside of an external case that has Usb, Firewire and eSata. Hopefully your computer has those connections, if not you're going to have problems
Now we should be getting firewire 3200, but who knows when....
Finally to answer the op's question, get a Western Digital Black Hard Drive ( 7200rpm ) and put it inside of an external case that has Usb, Firewire and eSata. Hopefully your computer has those connections, if not you're going to have problems
I tried to talk you out of the USB 3.0 route. But cool that you did what you want. Anyway as I mentioned above I was pushing for firewire and actually eSata too even though I didn't mention eSata. Anyway interested now in your results for USB 3.0 once you get that running.
eSata performs just as well as an internal drive. Using anything else simply means you want a headache. The ONLY reason to use usb is to transfer files, but as a workflow of constant reading and writing your hard drive is going to blow up.....
actually i read your post after i had purchased the drive. But since then I have decided to use it as back up only. I will be doing my editing on the internal drive which is esata and 7200 rpm
Teddy Danh
Member
I cut on a powered G-Tech G-Raid 1TB 7200rpm drive using Firewire800 on my macbook pro, it works great!