HPX170 Workflow

Lobotany Pictures

Lobotany Pictures

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Hey, If this is covered somewhere please disregard this post!

But I just was hoping I could get some help building an ultimate HPX170/FCP workflow. I have an HPX170, 32GB P2, iMac (1TB internal).

I was hoping I could get some expert advice on building a winning workflow with a focus on data management. Some points of interest are:
1. Where to keep my capture scratch when editing.
2. What files to keep from the P2. (the imported .mov files or the raw P2 files and all their folders)
3. What is the most effective archiving system so I can free up space on my drives from completed projects, but keep the files nice and safe. (what files are considered crucial to keep)
4. How do you work around having only one FW800 on the new iMac.
5. Any products you truly recommend.

I really appreciate any input, as I have very little knowledge of where to go from here! I am not new to video, but I've always worked for someone else who had their own system and now that I am on my own I need some input!

Thank you all!
Joel
 
there is a LOT of debate about how to go about things with P2+mac+FCP. and there are many right answers. a lot of it comes down to personal preference... here are my answers:

1. Where to keep my capture scratch when editing.
- get an external drive. its not a good [performance] idea to work from the same drive you boot from.
the example i use to explain this is imagine trying to read and write the same book at the same time ; )

FCP will (unless you manually change it) put everything in a folder called "Final Cut Pro Documents" in your documents folder on your internal boot drive

there is ongoing debate about some people having issues with P2 on a mac. ive been spending time trying to sort out why some people have a lot of problems and others have years of trouble free use. and one of the looser theories i have is maybe having your scratch folder on your boot drive is a possible root cause...


2. What files to keep from the P2. (the imported .mov files or the raw P2 files and all their folders)
- every time i fill a card i make a new folder on my laptop (or whatever im working from in the field) named something like this:
"12_25_10_CARD01"
"12_25_10_CARD02"
etc... (ALL CAPS, NO SPACES, NO SYMBOLS)

open the card icon from the desktop then do a select-all and simultaneously drag-and-drop the contents folder and lastclip file from each card onto each named folder. then do the log and transfer step from that.

i have a file management approach that keeps me out of trouble. its built around file types, and looks something like this:

DRIVE_NAME
- CLIENT_NAME
-- PROJECT_NAME
---- SCRATCH (this is the file i point FCP to)
------ Audio Render FIles
------ Autosave Vault
------ Capture Scratch
------ Render Files
------ Thumbnail Cache Files
------ Waveform Cache Files
---- SOURCE
------ P2
-------- CARD01
---------- CONTENTS
---------- lastclip.txt
-------- CARD02
---------- CONTENTS
---------- lastclip.txt
---- AE (for after effects projects)
---- AI (for illustrator files)
---- MOV (for movies, titles, etc. rendered out of after effects)
---- PSD (for photoshop files)
---- RASTER (for tif, jpg, png, etc. files)
---- SOUND
------ VO
------ SFX
------ MUSIC
---- EXPORTS
------ FULLSIZE
------ WEB
-------- SITE
-------- YOUTUBE

this approach works best if you tend to work on one FCP project (or at least one client) at a time. which i typically do.
if your work has you working on several different FCP projects at the same time. you might be better off leaving the SCRATCH folder at the drive root (outside of the CLIENT_NAME folder) that way FCP will send specific files to specific folders. this will make final archiving a bit more labor intensive. BUT day to day scratch folder management easier.

DRIVE_NAME
- SCRATCH (FCP will create separate named folders for each project in here)
-- Project Name 1
---- Audio Render FIles
---- Autosave Vault
---- Capture Scratch
---- Render Files
---- Thumbnail Cache Files
---- Waveform Cache Files
-- Project Name 2
---- Audio Render FIles
---- Autosave Vault
---- Capture Scratch
---- Render Files
---- Thumbnail Cache Files
---- Waveform Cache Files
-- Project Name 3
---- Audio Render FIles
---- Autosave Vault
---- Capture Scratch
---- Render Files
---- Thumbnail Cache Files
---- Waveform Cache Files
- CLIENT_NAME
-- PROJECT_NAME
... like above example


3. What is the most effective archiving system so I can free up space on my drives from completed projects, but keep the files nice and safe. (what files are considered crucial to keep)
- i wouldnt worry about freeing up space. drives are cheap. i often roll a new drive ($300 or so) for each new client into the job price.
this is another BIG point of argument. some people say (and they are right) that a hard drive is not intended to be a long time data archive format. and that you should use something like LTO tape drives. ive been using hard drives for archiving for over 15 years and never had a single hard drive go bad on me. i did have one get thrown a tizzy from a lightning strike once, but i was able to recover it


4. How do you work around having only one FW800 on the new iMac.
- about the ONLY thing you can do with an imac is daisy-chain multiple fw800 drives. and that will be a noticeable performance hit.

the problem that you're going to have with the imac is data transfer speed and the lack of 3rd party interface options.
speed of data transfer has as much (or more) to do with video performance than processor or ram. i saw more of a performance jump moving from firewire800 to eSATA than i did by doubling my ram or moving from a G5quad to an octocore macpro.


5. Any products you truly recommend.
- products for what? data management, effects, transcoding...?

a lot of people will tell you you need a P2 transfer/management tool like p2cms (free) or shotput pro ($99). but ive been simply dragging and dropping P2 video for about 4 years now without a single hiccup.

----
STAY AWAY from drive enclosures you can buy at places like frys, best buy or office supply stores. lacie, maxtor and WDmybook are PRIME offendors. these drives often use low-quality interface components and often lead to file corruption. some people are going to argue, but ive been in the digital video business since 1995 and about 80% of the drive failure discussions will mention one of these brands.
(NOTE, though WD's external drive enclosures are known to cause problems. their drives mechanisms are very good)
the drive enclosures ive had the best luck with over the years have been: (in no particular order) glyph, promax, caldigit, iomega and owc. owc being my current brand of choice
 
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Thank you so much for your thorough reply! I really appreciate the time you put into it.
Another question that comes to mind is what style of harddrive do you recomend working from? (RAID 0, 1 etc? enclosure w/replaceable drives?)

Thanks!
 
again, its a matter of personal preference and the type of work you do. i use a mix of all of that for different projects (and some just for experimenting)

for day to day work. i like a good fast and simple eSATA RAID 0. this one specifically:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/PerformanceRAID

for one-off, small projects. i like these:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock

and i have a couple of these as well:
http://www.caldigit.com/S2VRDuo.asp

have a small squadron of these too:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

as you will see. thats a mix of single drives, RAIDs, and docks with naked drives. for my needs, which encompass print design, web, and long and shortform video. i find each has it's place.

if i were strictly a video house, id probably employ a single, dedicated, scalable, redundant system. but for what i do, i find the smaller, PORTABLE individual units make the most sense

and no. i dont get kickbacks from owc/macsales. ; )
i just like their products and SUPERB service
 
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