Field Video/Audio Data Offload Storage solution?

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for some kind of hard drive type device with card reader incorporated to which one could dump the camera card or sound recorder card while out there during production. Obviously, many people bring along laptops and the like, but a laptop is pretty big and somewhat unwieldy. I've seen some such things like this:

Nexto DI 1TB NVS2501 Field Video Storage UDF Special - HDD

But it's like 1TB for $1300, which I simply can't pay. So I'd like something more economical if possible. Is it possible? What do you use?
 
I recall seeing some stuff like this across the last few years, much of it geared to semi-pro/enthusiast market.

I'd just give B&H a call (and Adorama too). If something like that exists, they're likely to know about it and stock it.

There was a thread on here where someone took a pelican case and made an awesome location DT station with battery backup, speakers, dock, and raid. Yeah, you're looking for small & simple, but damn, it was cool. If you need to review footage with a client it would be killer.
 
You got me curious, so i started looking. Found the Sanho HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA2 Backup Storage Device. You put whatever 2.5 drive in it. I talked to their tech person and it backs up the whole card, but will only obviously display pictures on the screen. So if you already have 2.5 internal drive or can find one cheap, it seems like the way to go. It can also be used as a wi-fi drive with IOS and Android apps. One downfall is they don't recommend SSD drives.
http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive/UDMA-2/

About $250 on B&H.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/887222-REG/Sanho_shdcsudma2000_Casing_for_UDMA_2.html
 
Thanks, sk810, that's far more affordable. It's strange how few options there are for this type of device.
 
Yeah i remember looking into this a few years ago and even now there's not much options. There may even be a way on a cheap android device to transfer the files.
I would only get it if your looking for a secondary backup. Otherwise I would just buy more Flash cards and don't erase anything till you get home and can confirm the transfers.
 
I've used a similar device for transferring stills from CF cards when out on location and the USB 2 speed was painfully slow. (if I remember correctly, 8GB cards took around 20-25mins to transfer)

In the end, I gave up and purchased more CF cards so I didn't run out of space during the shoot. As you know, shooting video chews through cards like theres no tomorrow.

Because I use Apple, I would look at a basic Macbook Air with USB3/Thunderbolt, a fast card reader and TWO SSD drives in a USB3/TB enclosure.

This way backups will happen quickly and you can verify the material before you pack and leave.

You could even do some basic editing.
 
In todays production world, it's pretty much a necessity to have a computer or something to make on-site copies of files for clients(it's a good idea to have even if they provide the media). Sometimes I use my NEXTO with an external drive connected to make a copy for the client and a copy for me to hang onto(the internal drive) and sometimes I use my laptop(RMBP) with card reader and ext. drive. If you're copying something like P2 cards, the speed and simplicity of the NEXTO is worth it(I've made two simultaneous verified copies of a full 64GB card in approx. 25 mins with an eSATA drive attached). For me, it's much slower to use a laptop for P2, currently the only P2 reader I have is USB 2.0 and it uses both USB ports on my laptop, so the drive has to be TB or FW, but it's still bottlenecked by the (lack of) speed of USB 2. CF cards with USB 3 reader and USB 3 drives can be done very quickly through a laptop. You can probably get a super cheap laptop/"netbook" with USB 3 and some ext. drives and save some cash vs. a NEXTO. The nice thing that a true computer has over a NEXTO is that you can set-up and name files/folders with custom/logical names to organize and make post quicker and easier. The NEXTO just basically copies the data and you'll have to sort it out later.
 
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