Offload bad, P2 Good...

[stephenvv]

I've been reading and mulling over all the various shooting options for the ol' HVX and I think despite all the intriguing offload options (thanks Barry) that off-loading in the field is high-risk.

Note before flaming that I shoot everything on my DVX right now straight to cheap USB laptop drives...but...I keep a tape running in my DVX. I've shot 4 shorts this way and only had to use the tape once, but that's the difference between a full day's reshoot because.

The offload corrupted the file, someone dropped, bumped etc. the drive. The possibilities for something to happen to footage offloaded onto 2.5 drives is pretty high. Whereas if it's on the P2, as long as you don't lose the damn things, it's pretty safe, relatively speaking.

Now, for desperate people with the zero budget that somehow turned up with a HVX, you can live on the edge. But for those who need to get 1-2 hours of 1080p a day, having the whole days work on a USB drive is little scary.

Either there needs to be a extra copy made (with verification built in) or some very robust raid-1 kind of enclosure with shock protection etc.

Otherwise, I see myself renting a lot of P2 cards...

 

[Haakon]

Well, it is possible to dub a copy of your footage (that will even include the variable framerate stuff) to DV, but then you lose your HD advantage if you've shot in 720/1080 and you certainly won't have that wonderful metadata that makes shooting with the P2 so cool. Unless you're burning discs on set (or you have a truckload of P2 cards), archiving to hard drive is really the only way to handle mass amounts of footage in the field for the time being.

Honestly, I don't really think it's that big of an issue. While I do not trust hard drives for long-term storage, if they're treated well by a responsible person on your crew you shouldn't be running big risks for storing the footage on them temporarily from your set. People keep talking about how fragile they are if you drop one onto a concrete floor or it falls into a swimming pool, but seriously, how are the risks of that any greater than film? Film must be kept in a cool, dry place, and although it's less seceptible to damage from shock, if you expose even the smallest bit of stock to outside light, you can ruin your entire project. Not to mention you have to send the film off to be processed and developed (where a myriad of other problems can occur), and making 1:1 backups is extremely difficult (and not possible in the field). Your hard drive can be kept securely in your possession at all times and the sole responsibility is delegated to yourself and not an intern responsible for loading your film into a developing machine.

Believe me, I'm not the defender of all things hard drive... I can't wait until solid state takes over everything and they go the way of the Hi-8 tape, but it's not as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be. Shoot on reliable P2, offload to an isolated hard drive a few times per day, transfer the footage to your core system at night and make backups of your material if you need extra security. Be thankful that you don't have to capture a single frame or deal with video compressed beyond usable means any longer.

 

[xray]

" Batteries do not "loose" charge and hard drives don't "loose" data. "

You are right, hard drives say ´Clunkk´ and it's lost forever.

 

[Haakon]

At least you said "you are" and not "your." :thumbsup:

This is exactly why P2 - and not hard drives - are the way to go with this camera. Don't buy me a firestore, I won't use it.

 

[steindj]

This is exactly why P2 - and not hard drives - are the way to go with this camera.

I wish it were that simple for doc and event people. P2 will have to get up to a min. of 32GB (using 2 cards of course) to be fairly usable for us. Until that it's Cineporter with RAID for the next two years.