P2 archiving to Blu Ray?

J

j4940

New member
[SIZE=+0]Lucky I started out bald before trying to find the info I have been seeking. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]My shop has been told to dream big and look at new camera formats. We are on up to date Avid Xpress pros and are considering p2 or xdcam. I am leaning p2 based on editing compatability but I need to answer the long term archive question.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+0]With the new bluRay drives is it as simple as copying the clips from at p2 card, firestore, or p2store to the bluRay disk as data to archive raw footage? Then to use it again in the future just import the clips back into avid?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+0]Also how are you archiving masters? We will be exporting to a play to air server for broadcast. But would like some type of master format that could be reingested easily. We are trying hard to get completely away from tape. we are leary of hard drives for long term due to data corruption.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+0]Thanks for any input you might have.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+0]John[/SIZE]
 
I archive to DVD5 and DVD9 recordable discs now.

The smaller ones hold 4 Gb cards, and the larger hold the contents of the 8 Gb cards.

Blu ray should obviously hold more data.
 
David, are you simply copying selected clips directly from the cards like any computer file? Then in the future you would be able to just pop the disk in an import the clip back into avid correct.

Thanks again for you reply,

John
 
Yes, keep in mind P2 data is not "video" data, it's COMPUTER data. So you can treat the files as you would any file, such as a word processing document or whatever.

So yes, you copy the files to a DVD-R, and when you want to restore you put that DVD-R back in the drive and copy the files back.

With that said, blu-ray is far from an optimal archival system because it's very slow. 72mbps maximum data transfer rate means that it'd take an hour and a half to restore an hour's worth of 1080 footage. It'll work, obviously; I'm just saying there are faster/better choices out there.

If you can stomach archiving to tape, look into LTO3 tape drives. With LTO3 you also archive as files, so restoring is as simple as telling it which files to restore. But LTO3 runs at 640mbps, which means an hour of footage could (theoretically, in an ideally-configured computer system) be archived in as little as 10 minutes. An hour of 720/24pN could archive in 4 minutes (or restore in 4 minutes).

For disk storage, look into HVD. Holographic Video Disc product should be hitting the OEMs at the end of this year, and be on the market next year. It's a 3-dimensional way of storing blu-laser data, with capacities at least six times as large as the largest blu-ray disc, and speeds between two and 15 times as fast. HVD starts at 300gb per disc, at 160mbps, and will grow to 1.6 terabytes per disc(!) at speeds of 1000mbps! At that rate it'd be even faster than the P2 card itself, you could basically store uncompressed HD-SDI to the drive at that speed.

So blu-ray looks okay-ish, but I think there are perhaps better choices out there and coming soon.
 
As Barry points out, the p2 card contents contain data, not specific clips. Once you import the data into your NLE they are converted into video clips.

I also use two Hitachi SATA drives that are connected to the removable driver carriers in a MacPro for redundant backup. I store them in anti static bags when not in use.

I can archive 17 hours of 720/24pn footage per drive.
 
I've been using LTO-2 tape for around 7 months now and the results have been flawless (although LTO-3 would be a bit faster and has larger capacity tape...it's more expensive, yet an extremely good "now" option).

I found a used Dell PowerVault 110T (made by Quantum) on eBay for $750. Connected it without any issues to a SCSI adapter. I am using Yosemite BackUp and have been able to buy new tape (200-400gig) for around $20 each.
 
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