[MacDV] Re: External HD sizes

[Zane H. Healy]

> On Dec 8, 2003, at 1:44 PM, Dwayne Bradley wrote:
> 
> > I have a couple of quick questions that I am sure a genius or two (or 
> > three) on this list can answer for me.
> >
> > I just got my copy of FCE (which by the way I think is awesome 
> > compared to iMovie in the short time that I have got to play with it) 
> > and I am looking at getting a couple of external HD's for external 
> > storage/work space.  I have seen before on this list that the external 
> > HD approach is advisable.  Would two 80GB drives be sufficient for 
> > about 1-2 hours worth of finished video work?  This length of time 
> > would be for all projects that I am working on at the same time (3 to 
> > 4 max), not just one project.  Would you suggest using the drives 
> > independantly or put them into a RAID 0 (stripe) or a RAID 1 (mirror) 
> > configuration?  Also, where do you suggest that I store the project 
> > file?  Internal HD or on one of the external drives?
> >
> > Everyone's opinions and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I'm still getting the hang of FCE.  I've got to admit, I had to buy a book
on it.  I'm really likeing it as well, and am pondering the drive issue. 
For the past year and a half I've been using a Windows box for very limited
video work (basically capturing, trimming, and encoding).  On that system I
have an 80GB Capture disk, and a 80GB Encode disk.  That way when I encode
to VCD or DVD, the datapath looks like this DiskA->CPU->DiskB, the disks are
both on separate controllers as well.  I've found this gives me a slight
performance boost, and I expect the same to be true on the Mac, as this is
more of a hardware issue than an OS issue.

As someone else pointed out, RAID 0 (Striped) isn't really necessary.  I'd
say that RAID 1 (Mirrored) is a matter of personal preferance and/or what
you can afford.  Using RAID 1 would keep you from loosing your work if a
disk goes bad, but it will double your cost.

I'm personally thinking of a three disk solution.  Once for Capture, one for
encoding, and a Scratch disk (for holding the work while I edit).  Though
initially at least it will probably look like this:

Capture (80GB) -> Scratch (120GB) -> Encode (back to the 80GB)

Basically all I need to set this up is the Firewire enclosure(s).

Now I've got a question, with Firewire how should the disks be setup?  I've
got a G5 2x2, which I believe means I have two Firewire400 ports, and a
Firewire800 port.  Are these seperate, or shared buses?  Should I have the
disks in seperate enclosures, and on seperate ports, or can I daisychain
them on one port, and in a big enclosure?

I've got to admit, I'm really drooling over the thought of a nice 8 disk
enclosure, as it would have lots of room to grow, and I could stick several
40-80GB disks I have laying around into it..

			Zane