| Getting
started with FCP: Configuring your system |
November, 2001
Revised March 2003
Revised Sept 4, 2003
Revised June 1, 2004
-Configuration
of Non-Linear Digital Video Editing Systems-
By Charles F. McConathy
Even with the advent of faster dual processors, faster memory,
faster busses, and faster disk drives, digital video, especially
if it's uncompressed video, can still tax the best computers.
Unless the computer system is properly configured, some or all
of these components can become a bottleneck, resulting in dropped
frames, corrupted data, freeze ups, out of sync audio, or other
problems. This article is written to help video editors avoid
these issues and to make good choices when configuring a video
workstation.
Choice of Computer and Software:
Before selecting a computer system
one should consider the following:
- Amount of budget available for computer
purchase?
- Do I need portability?
- Will I be doing a lot of rendering?
- Will I be encoding content for DVD?
- Which operating system am I the most
comfortable: Mac OS or Windows?
- Which video editing software package(s)
fits my needs?
- Do I plan to work with uncompressed
SD or HD video?
You will most likely want to go with
a computer that supports the operating system, video editing
software, and hardware that you are the most comfortable. Remember
that computers are constantly changing. The computer itself will
probably be the first component in your system to become outdated.
In making a choice, go with a high-end or dual processor model
since it will serve you the longest. It is wise to upgrade or
purchase a new computer system when it is needed since they can
become outdated rather quickly. Remember that there will be faster
computers around the corner; this does not mean the one
you bought is not of value. Don't look back; use it as long as
it serves your purpose.
If a Macintosh computer is your choice
we suggest you consider a dual processor model. We believe you
will keep a dual processor computer longer than a single, especially
since many video applications are multi-processor aware. Mac
OS X also exploits dual processors to improve performance. If
your projects include a lot of rendering a dual processor is
an excellent choice since it will save you much time. The G5's
"Altivec" or "Velocity Engine" also boosts
rendering speed and accelerates Photoshop considerably - especially
with a Macintosh G5/2.0 DP or greater.
Choosing a model with a SuperDrive for
DVD authoring is a good choice. A second computer or a large
flat panel monitor speeds the editing process since you can have
longer time lines and have more pallets and bins open at the
same time.
If you need portability consider a PowerBook.
They work well with Final Cut Pro and Avid Xpress Pro. The FireWire
port of the PowerBook is excellent and works with DV camcorders/decks
and FireWire hard disk drives.
Purchase a Laptop or PowerBook for portability
reasons, not as a substitute for a desktop workstation. Desktops
are less costly to configure, especially when it comes to storage,
and they readily support larger displays, real-time and uncompressed
hardware.
If your budget is tight you might consider
an iMac with a FireWire port. For additional storage use FireWire
disk drives. Final Cut Pro works fine with an iMac. iMac's are
not as productive since they have smaller displays and slower
processors, but make a good entry-level system. The only thing
is an iMac does not allow you to install internal storage and
the built-in monitor is a bit small for productivity.
Many ask if it's worth it to upgrade
an older Macintosh with a faster CPU. Generally the answer is
no, especially when building a video editing station. Processor
upgrades are expensive, consuming funds that could go toward
a new computer with new warranty, faster drives, faster internal
cache, speedier memory busses, etc. Improving the speed of a
processor does not cure other internal bottlenecks. Upgrading
a processor often creates a system that is unstable due to mismatched
parts. We think it's best to re-purpose the old computer or sell
it, and take the upgrade cost and apply it towards a new computer.
If your choice of computers is a PC,
consider one of the faster models that are housed in a cabinet
with plenty of room for installing multiple SATA disk drives
and enough fans for good air management (needed to cool the disk
drives).
Picking a motherboard with compatible
BIOS and a VGA display card is very important. Not all motherboards
are created equal. Many NLE software and hardware vendors list
known compatible motherboards, BIOSes, and VGA cards on their
websites.
CD-RW, floppy, and DVD-R drives can be
added internally to a PC. Choose an approved FireWire OHCI PCI
card and if needed an ATA-133 PCI or Serial ATA card to support
additional disk drives. We suggest that you use only Windows
XP Pro and to go with applications and hardware supported by
this operating system.
Picking a PC laptop is not as easy as
a desktop system. Some PC laptops have excellent FireWire ports
but poor video display technology, which means they might capture
video, but could drop frames on playback. It is best to purchase
only models that have been approved by the publisher of the software
you expect to use.
Choice of Computer Monitors:
Flat panel monitors are quickly
dropping in price and improving in quality. They take less room,
consume less power, and are much easier to move. We suggest you
consider a 17-inch flat panel monitor as a minimum. However,
a 19-inch CRT monitor will cost about one third that of a 17
inch flat panel. A pair of 19-inch CRT monitors can be installed
at less cost than a single 17-inch flat panel and will be much
more productive. If your budget allows an Apple Cinema 20 or
23-inch flat panel is an excellent choice.
There are three different display connectors
analog VGA, and digital DVI and ADC, with ADC on Apple
computers only. Most CRT monitors are VGA. Flat panel monitors
come as VGA and/or DVI, and Apple's latest are ADC only (ADC
is essentially DVI with additional connections for monitor power
and USB). The new Power Macintosh computers ship with both a
DVI and an ADC connector with an adapter to VGA. There are DVI
to ADC converters that include power, and ADC to DVI adapters
is also available. There are even adapters for using ADC monitors
on PCs. Dual-display VGA host adapters for Macintosh and PCs
are available so you can have two monitors without giving up
a PCI slot for a second monitor card.
Storage and RAID Considerations:
Picking the storage that fits
the type of editing you plan to do is very important, and making
the right choice can save you hundreds of dollars. Some want
to start out with SCSI when in fact Parallel ATA (PATA) or Serial
ATA (SATA) internal or external drives are more than enough.
PATA and SATA technology has come long way and can be a good
choice especially for DV and even SD editing. ProMax has developed
SATAMAXi and SATAMAXe systems. The SATAMAXi/Mac allows you to
have five internal drives in the current Macintosh G5. This way
you can dedicate four of the drives striped as RAID-0 and the
one as a boot drive. Similar systems for Windows based computers
are available as well. The SATAMAXe allows four SATA drives to
be installed externally for use with Macintosh or Windows. SATA
storage is much less costly than SCSI and does a great job when
properly configured.
It is imperative that disk drives run
within temperature specifications and be connected to quality
cables and connectors for error free transfers. Use quality cables,
quality connectors, and make sure air management is good enough
to keep the hard disk drives cool. Drives that run at higher
temperatures not only shorten their useful life but generate
more errors. The internal chamber of a disk drive must maintain
a given level of relative humidity in order for the heads to
fly properly. If the drives get too hot, the relative humidity
drops, making it more difficult for the heads to stay on track,
resulting in retries. During these extra spins the drive's buffer
is not being refilled with data, possibly resulting in dropped
frames.
If the wrong types of cables or connectors
are used they can be a source of errors and can lead to data
corruption. The choice of cable technology is very important.
For ATA drives, we suggest only 80 pin ATA-100 cables that include
a ground line between each data line for optimum performance
and few if any errors.
Parallel ATA vs. SCSI:
PATA drive technology has improved
over the years and has replaced SCSI in many applications due
to their lower cost and improved performance. PATA technology
was designed for use with short cables (about 17 inches) inside
the computer cabinet, while SCSI supports longer cables making
it good for external storage and for high performance RAID systems.
Serial ATA allows for one-meter cables what has made it possible
to create high-speed external disk arrays.
Parallel ATA (PATA) or what has been
called ATA:
If you plan on editing using
DV or DVCAM as your source, 7200-RPM PATA Ultra DMA drives offer
plenty of bandwidth. There is no need to consider a RAID storage
system. A single PATA-133 disk drive connected to an ATA-66 or
ATA-100 port will sustain 35 MB/sec reads and high as 45 MB/sec
writes. DV and DVCAM use only 3.6 MB/sec and will run clean with
a minimum sustain rate of 7 MB/sec.
Serial ATA (SATA):
What is Serial-ATA (SATA) and why was it developed?
SATA is an evolutionary replacement
for the existing Parallel-ATA (PATA) data storage interface.
SATA is scalable and allows for future enhancements. SATA is
a drop-in solution in that it is compatible with today's software,
which will run without modification. It provides cables that
are simpler to route and install, smaller cable connectors, and
lower voltages not possible with PATA.
Will there still be PATA when SATA
is readily available?
There will be a window of time
where both PATA and SATA will be available. Many expect that
within a couple of years that SATA will dominate. Apple's G5
computers come with 2 SATA ports. Some PC motherboards come with
both PATA and SATA ports. SATA PCI cards for Windows are available
now with up to eight ports. This means that 2 TB of cost effective
storage can be installed in a computer or server. Soon over 3
TB will be possible.
What are the benefits of SATA?
End users will benefit with easy
upgrades to their storage. Configuration of SATA devices will
be much simpler, with no requirements of jumper and settings.
- A 150 MB/sec interface rate (not to
be confused with the data rate of a single drive)
- Enhanced data reliability
- Longer and thinner cables up to
one meter or about 3 feet
- Snap-in like connectors
- No master/slave jumpers to set
- Master only will improve performance
of striped hard disk drive pairs
- Latency more like that of SCSI thus
RAID-0 to be much faster than PATA
What is the cost to implement SATA
in a system?
The cost of SATA will start out
somewhat more expensive than PATA but will rapidly drop to the
same cost as PATA.
Beyond hard disks, will SATA be used
on, optical drives, DVD, and ZIP drives?
SATA supports all ATA and ATAPI
devices, including CDs, DVDs, tapes devices, high capacity removable
devices, zip drives, and CD-RWs.
What are some compelling reasons why
SATA is a viable?
- Price:
SATA was created, with desktop prices in mind, as a replacement
for PATA. Initial hard disk drives are expected to be priced
competitively for the desktop.
- Cabling:
SATA employs a thin, point-to-point connection, which allows
for easy cable routing within a system. This avoids master/slave,
"daisy-chaining", and termination issues. Also, better
airflow can be realized compared to systems with wider ribbon
cables.
- Performance:
The first SATA bus technology can deliver as much as 1.5 Gbps
(150 MB/sec) of performance to each drive within a disk drive
array and migrating to 3.0 gigabits per second (300 MB/s), then
to 6.0 gigabits per second (600 MB/s). This roadmap supports
up to 10 years of storage evolution. The maximum rate of PATA
drives today is about 72 MB/sec. But remember this is the bus
rate and should not be confused with the data rate of a single
PATA or SATA disk drive. The choke point remains the disk drive
not the bus. A single PATA or SATA drive will remain about 35
to 45 MB/sec. With SATA multiple disk drives can be striped with
performance near that of SCSI.
So you see, 35 to 45 MB/sec from current
PATA or SATA technology is more than enough for DV and DVCAM.
However, single PATA or SATA disk drives do not produce high
enough sustained rates for uncompressed SD video.
At ProMax we avoid 5400-RPM hard disk
drives especially when used with long video projects, where disk
fragmentation and complex areas on the timeline can be a source
of dropped frames. Adding multiple audio tracks can also cause
dropped frames since each audio track becomes a separate file,
causing latency issues during head movement. (Audio creates latency
issues, whereas video is more I/O intensive.) With one track
of video plus four tracks of audio with cross fades, you have
created nine separate files on the drives. Now add titles, transitions,
and effects, all of which add more files. These parts of the
timeline can become very complex and can result in dropped frames
during playback.
We suggest PATA-133 or SATA; 7200 RPM
drives that are field proven. Hatachi/IBM drives have the best
microcode for controlling the drive, and the best electronics
allowing longer PATA cables than other brands. Longer PATA cables
are often needed for installing multiple drives in a computer.
With SATA you can have up to one-meter cables.
At ProMax we avoid certain brands of
disk drives such as Maxtor due to their heavy failure rates and
errors, as reported on video forums such as www.2-pop.com and
DV-L. Note that not everybody has trouble with Maxtor drives.
However, for most people their data is very important. We stay
with tried and proven components as insurance.
If you are installing PATA storage in
one of the mirror faced G4's we have discovered that you can
install 4 additional ATA drives and still keep the original boot
drive - as well as a DVD-R (SuperDrive) or a CDRW (Combo) drive.
In this case the boot drive is mounted with side brackets in
the lower optical bay and is connected to a special cable that
is connected to the ATA-33 port on the motherboard and feeds
the top bay optical drive as well. Four additional low profile
hard disk drives can be added by placing two in the factory-mounting
bracket on the right and two in the factory-mounting bracket
under the optical drive enclosure. Data cables and power are
provided by Apple for the four drives. There are three ATA ports
on these motherboards ATA-33 for optical drive. The ATA-66
and ATA-100 are for use with disk drives. We find excellent performance
from both the ATA-66 and ATA-100 ports. In fact with OS X you
can stripe these four drives and get data rates high enough for
Standard Definition with Real-time previews using the AJA Kona
SD card. It is best to connect the boot drive to a PCI ATA-133
card to speed opening of applications, etc.
If you are installing internal storage
in the new G5's you are limited to one data drive which means
you must go externally for additional storage. ProMax is developing
cost effective external SATA storage with two and four removable
drives.
FireWire Storage Systems:
FireWire disk storage is becoming
very popular, especially for those who do not have room internally
for adding additional storage, as on a laptop or PowerBook computer.
FireWire drives are also excellent for moving large amounts of
video data between computer stations.
Like early SCSI storage, FireWire drives
have had their issues. Second generation bridge Chips have improved
performance and compatibility. FireWire drives are nothing more
than ATA drives converted to FireWire via a bridge. Early on
these bridges were bottlenecks. With the new Oxford 911 bridge,
transfer rates from 35 to 45 MB/sec is possible. These rates
are more than enough for DV/DVCAM video editing. One should be
aware that picking a FireWire drive with an Oxford 911 bridge
is only a part of the choice. Not all cabinets are created equal,
nor are all bridges and device drivers. Cabinets with internal
power supplies tend to work better than those with wall mounted
supplies.
Be aware of differences in FireWire cables.
Well-shielded cables are imperative. They should be no longer
than the IEEE spec of 4.5 meters. Don't plan on daisy chaining
more than two or three on the same bus, and it works best if
all the drives employ the same bridge technology. Mixing FireWire
disk drives and deck/camcorders on the same bus can be tricky.
If problems occur, changing the position of the devices in the
FireWire chain or trying different lengths of cables can help.
FireWire 800 ports are now included on
new Apple computers. FireWire 800 disk drives have started to
appear that employ the Oxford 922 bridge technology. FireWire
800 uses a 9-pin connector, which should be more reliable and
cause fewer problems. FireWire 800 data rates are not much faster
than FireWire 400 since the choke point is the drive not the
bus. Remember the limiting factor is the read/write channel of
disk drives not the interface. In time drives will be faster
as higher density disk drives come to market.
PATA to SCSI Storage Systems:
Medéa, Huge and other
companies build storage systems that use less costly PATA drives
converted to SCSI. These drives need a PCI SCSI Host Adapter.
They are less costly than SCSI to SCSI. If the system supports
Ultra SCSI 160 connections they can sustain from 65 to 95 MB/sec.
These systems use hardware RAID-0 or RAID-3 with large buffers
dedicated to each drive. These drive systems are excellent for
DV/DVCAM and uncompressed standard-definition real-time video
SCSI to SCSI RAID Storage Systems:
SCSI is about twice the cost
of PATA/SATA storage. Ultra SCSI 160 or 320 is best used for
uncompressed SD/RT and HD video systems. For high-demand RAID
storage, SCSI technology is best since it imposes minimum overhead
during the connect-burst/ disconnect/connect-burst routine of
RAID-0. The recent introduction of the Apple Xserve RAID, which
employs Fibre Channel to PATA, makes it an excellent choice for
high-demand applications and is much cheaper than SCSI RAID systems.
The Xserve RAID is 2 Gb Fibre Channel, dual channel hardware
controllers capable of RAID-0, -1, -3, -5, as well as -30 and
-50. It is easy to connect and maintain and can be setup as true
SAN with optical cables as long as 100 meters. SCSI cables have
to be reasonably short, so storage systems must be installed
within a few feet of the workstation. For some, however, this
is not acceptable due the noise the drives and fans make.
At ProMax, if one is going to go with
SCSI, we recommend eight LVD 320 drives striped as RAID-0, as
four and four on each channel of a dual channel Ultra 160 or
320 PCI host adapter. We recommend disk drives that include an
8 or 16 MB buffer, as these are especially good for SD/RT and
HD applications.
Many have asked if adding a high performance
RAID storage system to a DV/DVCAM workstation will improve functions
like rendering. The answer is no, it's a waste of budget. Rendering
is computer intensive, not I/O intensive. DV/DVCAM uses only
3.6 MB/sec thus adding a RAID system with high-sustained rates
is overkill.
We think that SCA (80 pin Single-Connector-Attachment)
drives in removable bays are superior to fixed 68 pin drives.
The reason is that replacing a drive is very easy. Removing disk
drives from the cabinet and packing them in foam before shipment
keeps them safe. A cabinet with 8 to 15 internal fixed drives
is very heavy and hard to ship without damaging the drives and
the cabinet.
SATA Storage Systems:
ProMax has developed cost effective
external SATA storage especially for the G5's. The systems include
2 or 4 removable drives that can be striped as RAID-0 to serve
DV, DVCAM, SD, and SD/RT.
Choosing a Storage System:
It's not a matter of if, but
when, your hard disk drive(s) or computer hardware will fail.
Even the best hardware comes with an MTBF (mean time between
failure) rating. One of the most common failures is with disk
drives. While there have been many technology improvements by
disk drive manufacturers such as rapid positioning of heads to
a zero position on normal power down but not all disk drives
have this technology. Heat is also a major cause of hard disk
failure. Other failures come from blocked fans, bad cables and
connectors, and inadequate cooling which can shorten the life
span of hard disk drive(s). When handling a bare hard disk drive
do not touch the data connector or any component on the printed
circuit board.
Another source of disk drive failures
can be during power-on when restarting a computer before the
drives have stopped spinning from a shutdown. This can cause
components to burn out and fail because of a voltage spike caused
by residual voltage in the circuits. To minimize hard disk drive
problems one must recognize some of the most common reasons that
disk drives fail and try to prevent them. Like something as simple
as the 10- second rule - No computer or hard disk drive system
may be turned on again before 10 seconds has passed from the
time the unit was turned off. This gives adequate time for all
parts to fully discharge which will lessen power stress when
powering the drive(s) or computer system back on.
It is wise to use a power-conditioning
device to lessen the chance of surges especially in areas that
are prone to electrical storms or where the voltage varies a
lot. Also some buildings are not wired with ground return lines
to the electrical panel which can be a source component failures
and the loss of data.
For DV editing via FireWire the most
cost-effective storage is internal PATA or SATA hard disk drives.
Modern drives produce as much as 45 MB/sec, which is far beyond
the 3.6 MB/sec that DV consumes. And there is no need to stripe
PATA drives as RAID-0 for added performance. If one drive fails
in a RAID-0 all data is lost.
Other than following preventive measures
here are some ways to protect your data. One way is to use tape
backup. The only thing with tape back up of large amounts of
video data is that it takes a lot of time and the data set is
changing frequently making it all most impossible to use tape
for backup. Some editors have resorted to using removable or
FireWire hard disk drives to backup data since the price of storage
has dropped and takes much less time than tape. Also there is
no restore time should loss of data take place. Use of removable
or FireWire disk drives to archive projects is becoming popular
as well.
Many people ask if mirroring is practical
with non-linear video editing systems. There are several potential
problems with mirroring. Mirrored systems replicate bad data
as well as good data. One of the most common causes of data loss
is software failure or human error. A mirrored system will replicate
the error. Another drawback to mirroring is their cost-effectiveness
even with the lower price of disk drives. A mirrored drive(s)
cost as much as the primary drive(s). Also most software RAID-1
or mirrored drive systems will not have high enough sustained
'Write" rate to capture video due to the fact that the data
must be written twice which cuts the "Write" rate in
half.
For data protection hardware RAID-3 or
-5 is a better choice than RAID-1 mirroring. RAID-3 or -5 is
less expensive requiring about 20% premium in disk costs while
providing the same level of data protection. If a drive fails
in a RAID-3 or 5 configuration there is enough redundancy
to deliver the information from the remaining disk drives.
Although RAID-3 or -5 is more cost-effective
but it does have an additional cost such as enclosures and a
SCSI host adapter. Low cost ATA-to-SCSI RAID-3 storage systems
are becoming very affordable. They are an excellent solution
for disk drive fail-over.
It's a good idea to keep spare disk drives
on-site. This may seem obvious to most yet many people using
RAID-3 or -5 do not have adequate replacement drives to cover
drive failures. These spare drives should be of the same capacity
so that a proper rebuild can take place after a failed drive
is replaced.
Problems Associated With SCSI RAID:
RAID crashes occur for various
reasons including the following:
- Cable failure, resulting in data getting
scrambled.
- A replacement drive installed with the
wrong SCSI ID.
- A disk drive fails. User pulls out a
good drive rather than the faulty one causing the
RAID system to become irreversibly corrupted.
- Replacement drive is a different size
than the other drives in the RAID-set causing
problems with rebuilds.
In short RAID is not a 100% solution
to solve data loss. Other types of hardware failure may affect
your data such as bad memory module, a bad cable, or a bad supply.
How do you decide if you need a RAID
solution?
Consider these factors:
- The cost of lost data - How important
is your data?
- Critical data-protection window. This
is the interval of time elapsing between your
last backup and time of a crash. The longer this interval, the
more costly the loss.
- Determine the amount of data you can
afford to lose.
- Bare-metal recovery is very costly and
takes time.
RAID-0 adds performance by striping the
data across two or more drives, reducing the workload for each
individual drive. RAID-0 is often done with software, but hardware
RAID-0 is better especially if the hardware adds additional memory
buffers for each drive. Note however that RAID-0 offers no redundancy:
if one drive crashes, all the RAID's data is lost.
RAID-1 mirrors one set of drives to a
second set. The problem with mirroring is that it takes twice
the time for each write since the data must be written twice.
And mirroring is expensive since you need twice the amount of
drives. RAID-1 thus provides redundancy for reliability purposes,
but at the expense of performance, although hardware RAID-1 controllers
minimize the penalty.
RAID-3 and 5 stripes data over multiple
drives, perhaps 4, 5, 6, or more. One drive is a "parity
drive" providing redundancy, thus you "lose" storage
space equivalent to one drive. If any single drive fails, you
replace it and the system rebuilds the data on it. Some systems
take a lot of time to rebuild especially if done while the storage
system is under use. Some RAID-3 and 5 systems have very fast
reads with slower writes, since it takes time to scatter the
data over multiple drives. Other systems have overcome this with
special hardware.
You need to determine which RAID system
best fits your requirements. Don't just take the word of manufacture
with published data rates, but try to get real-world results
from other users. Benchmarks don't always tell the whole story.
An old timer in the storage industry once said, "there are
liars, damn liars, and benchmark liars!"
Some companies quote the data rate of
the storage interface, like Ultra 160 as 160MB/sec or Ultra 320
as 320 MB/sec. No single drive can sustain these rates: it's
the burst rate, not a sustained rate. To get a sustained 160
MB/sec you typically need 8 drives striped as RAID-0 across a
dual channel host adapter.
Fibre Channel RAID Storage Systems:
Early Fibre Channel was based
on one-Gigabit technology. Two-Gigabit Fibre Channel systems
with data rates high as 200 MB/sec. These are excellent for use
in editing SD/RT and HD video. It is possible to mix 1-Gbit and
2-Gbit Fibre technology, but the results will be performance
at the 1-Gbit level. Optical Fibre Channel cables can be 100s
of meters long, so noisy storage cabinets can be placed in a
machine room away from the edit suite. Fibre Channel storage
can be configured to safely share files with multiple workstations
in a SAN (Storage-Area Network) configuration, though the ease
and flexibility of this sharing varies by vendor.
Added productivity is a key consideration
when choosing a Fibre Channel SAN that often has fast payback.
Fibre Channel SANs are best suited where multiple editors need
to share the video data in order to finish large projects in
a timely manner.
Much study must be made before installing
a Fibre Channel disk array. Take care in picking the right host
adapters, cables, software, and switches before ordering. Switches
are expensive but are highly necessary. A switch isolates each
station from the others, guaranteeing uninterrupted bandwidth.
Also the switch protects each station from "LIP"(Loop
Initialization Process). LIP is the process of polling the Fibre
Channel bus each time a workstation starts up, which interrupts
data transfers for a split second. During LIP dropped frames
will take place on active workstations, which is eliminated with
a Fibre Channel switch.
Apple Xserve RAID - Fibre Channel
Storage System
Apple's Xserve RAID, a high-performance
storage system that delivers data protection and enormous capacity
of up to 3.5 TB at a groundbreaking price. The innovative Apple-designed
Xserve RAID architecture combines affordable, high capacity PATA
drive technology with a dual independent 2 Gb Fibre Channel host
inter-face for fast, reliable data access. Each 250 GB Apple
Drive Module uses a dedicated drive channel, maximizing the 400
MB/s Fibre Channel host connection. This also means that as you
add drives, Xserve RAID scales in both capacity and performance.
And by adding more systems, you'll have virtually limitless expansion.
High-speed throughput comes from dual independent 2Gb Fibre Channel
host interface with data rates at up to 400 MB/s - fast enough
for demanding HD video editing. High-availability architecture
and dual independent RAID controllers support RAID levels 0,
1, 3, 5, 30, and 50.
Current Suggested Retail Prices:
1.0 TB Xserve RAID - with 4-250
GB Modules $ 5,999
1.75 TB Xserve RAID - with 7-250 GB Modules $ 7,499
3.5 TB Xserve RAID - with 14-250 GB Modules $10,999
Apple Fibre Channel 2Gb PCI Card -w/Two Cables $ 499
250 GB Drive Modules - Xserve or Xserve RAID $ 499
Even as a stand along - point to point
- storage system Xserve RAID is much cheaper than going with
a SCSI to SCSI software RAID-0 system. For example: A 19-in rack
filled with 10 - 146 GB - LVD 320 disk drives for total of 1.46
TB - sells for as much as $15,999 and more. The system is software
RAID with no data protection and short SCSI cables. The Xserve
RAID offers more features, is much easier to install and maintain,
easier to expand, offers more reliability, and is SAN capable
making it an excellent choice.
Installing RAM:
The cost of memory is at an all
time low. The minimum we suggest is 768 MB or better yet 1024
MB or more. Not all RAM is created equal, so make sure you pick
a known proven source when purchasing RAM. Be sure to handle
memory by its edge and ground yourself before installing modules.
Do not touch the contacts or parts on the SIMM. This could cause
damage that might not show up for months. Some low cost RAM modules
are made using mismatched parts, which can become source of errors
that can be hard to isolate. G4's and G5's use DDR technology
and require PC-2100 or PC-2700 memory.
Software Conflicts:
Conflict Catcher, Virex, and
other such utilities can cause conflicts when used with video
editing systems. It is best to create a complete set of Extensions
and then by trial and error eliminate troublesome extensions
if conflicts become a problem. Sherlock's indexing feature (on
Macs) and Microsoft Office's FindFast indexer can bog a machine
down and should be turned off while editing. Appletalk networking,
especially on slower Macs, can also cause dropped frames or interrupted
playback.
Partitioning Data and Boot Drives:
It is best to run video editing
applications from their own boot partition and to keep that partition
(and computer memory) free of applications such as web browsers
or games that are memory and CPU-hungry. It's OK to run web browsers
and such from their own boot partition (remember that even if
they aren't being run, installing such applications on your video
partition can add extensions or services that run in the background,
reducing the efficiency of your machine). AfterEffects, Photoshop,
Commotion, and other video editing applications can be installed
in the video partition.
Large data drives do not have to be partitioned.
It might be advisable to partition large data drives especially
if your projects are small and you work more than one at the
same time. The reason is that it is advisable to start each new
project on a freshly erased partition. If you partition a large
drive you can erase any partition without harming data on the
other partitions. Erasing clears the directory; thus no fragmentation
is left on the partition.
Data Backup:
Backing up large disk storage
takes a great deal of time even with the best backup devices.
With video editing the data set is constantly changing, making
it even more difficult since even if one wanted to there might
not be enough down time to perform a backup. And remember that
it takes as much time to restore as it does to backup.
Many editors simply keep their EDLs and
project files backed up on a CD, ZIP disk, or a floppy, and keep
the original videotapes. It's also a good idea to keep graphics,
titles, and other files that take only a small amount of room,
but take a lot of time to create, on ZIP disks or other removable
media as well. By doing so, should a failure take place, getting
a project going again will take much less time.
Adding a Digital Video Source
Deck or Camcorder?
Many people begin editing using
their camcorder as a deck. However, once an editor uses a deck
like a Sony DSR-11 he or she will never want to use a camcorder
as an editing deck again. Why? A camcorder transport is slow.
With a camcorder it will take a lot more time to log a series
of tapes, and you're placing additional wear on its heads.
A DSR-11 will rewind a 60-minute miniDV
tape about 3 times as fast as camcorder and will record and play
standard size tapes up to 3 hours. In fact, if you place a 3-hour
DVCAM tape in a DSR-11 and set it to record DV, you can record
4.5 hours on it. If your budget allows a deck you will not be
sorry, since your productivity will be much higher than when
using a camcorder. Note that some of the less costly walkman-style
decks have camcorder transports, so will not be as productive
as a DSR-11, DSR-25, DSR-45,or other professional decks.
FAQ:
Q: Can I use an older computer to
build a video editing system?
A: Yes but be aware of
the bottlenecks and conflicts when attempting to use an older
computer.
Q: Can I use an older computer such
as a Beige G3/266 or Power Macintosh?
A: Yes but you will need
to select a compatible PCI FireWire card and storage along with
compatible Mac OS, QuickTime, and FireWire drivers. And be aware
that the newer G5's are many times faster, and the built-in FireWire
ports tend to be more trouble-free and more compatible than those
on a PCI card.
Q: Do I need SCSI storage for DV/DVCAM
editing?
A: No PATA/SATA or FireWire
drives are satisfactory.
Q: What is the best way to convert
Hi8 to DV/DVCAM?
A: Copying a Hi8 or SVHS analog
source via S-Video to a DV/DVCAM deck offers very acceptable
results. Often the digital copy looks better than the original
since the DV decks comb filter eliminates noise. New time code
will be created on the digital tape, which can be used for batch
capture. Some decks offer E-E direct analog to FireWire
conversion without making a copy, so you can capture the analog
video directly (although without its timecode). Sony, Canopus,
and other companies make converter boxes that take S-Video or
Composite along with RCA audio connections and transcode to DV
over FireWire.
Q: Can I make BetaSP dubs to DVCAM
with Time Code?
A: Yes Excellent quality
dubs can be made with a properly equipped BetaSP deck like a
UVW-1800 or BVW-75 and a DVCAM deck like a DSR-80 or DSR-1800
via component YUV and balanced audio connections. For direct
input into DV/DVCAM editors, it's also possible to use media
converters such as the ProMax DA-MAX+ or ProMedia Converter (PMC)
with the following connections: component, S-Video, composite,
balanced and unbalanced audio, and FireWire ports. The DA-MAX+
and PMC also converts FireWire machine control to RS-422 Sony
protocol, so you can control a BetaSP deck and transfer its TC
as well.
Q: Why do some want to work with uncompressed
video using AJA Kona or Pinnacle CineWave cards instead of DV
via FireWire?
A: Simply put, uncompressed video
offers 4:2:2 color sampling instead of DV's 4:1:1which means
that chroma-keying is easier. Also, added graphics, text, and
animation will not have edge problems and will end up much cleaner
with uncompressed video, without needing careful filtering and
preprocessing.
Copyright 2003 by ProMax
Systems, Inc., Irvine, California.
Permission is granted
to republish as long as no alterations are made and the copyright
notice is included.
By Charles F. McConathy,
President
ProMax Systems, Inc.
16 Technology Drive - #106
Irvine, California 92618
Irvine: TEL: 949-727-3977 o SALES: 1-800-977-6629 o FAX: 949-727-3546
EMAIL: mcconathy@promax.com
or sales@promax.com
Web Page: www.promax.com
Click HERE
for Print Friendly version
About Charles
F. McConathy
Charles F. McConathy is the President and CEO of ProMax Systems,
Inc which is
a leading provider of Turnkey solutions for NLE workstations.
You can contact Charles at mcconathy@promax.com
TOP
|