Re: [Avid-L2] Re: File Disaster Lessons

Bloody hell, $2700 for a terabyte? I'll never balk at redundant storage
prices again.
On Feb 28, 2013 7:38 AM, "timmangini" <tim_mangini@wgbh.org> wrote:

> **
>
>
> Wilson,
>
> Ahh, the comfort of tape. Unfortunately we were unceremoniously swept into
> the file-based revolution a few years back and it is hard to put that genie
> back into the bottle now.
>
> Love your matrix. The post model is close to ours. Producers complain, but
> just a few months ago one of them was ready to deliver to the online the
> week before air and his primary drive failed and then a courier dropped the
> backup drive. Both were unrecoverable. He went to his third source
> (offsite) and recovered everything.
>
> John, I believe you asked about pricing. We were quoted a variable based
> on drive size and turnaround. For a 1 TB drive "Economy" was quoted at
> $700-2700. Standard Service: $900-3900. Priority Service: $1800-8900. I
> don't know what the variability was based on. We ended up paying $2900 for
> about 250gb.
>
> Jim, We have not used Shotput. We've used some others with decent success.
> Visiting 1-Beyond tomorrow for a look at a shoebox solution that does drive
> and tape backup at the same time.
>
> tim
>
> --- In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, Wilson Chao wrote:
> >
> > Tim,
> >
> > Thank you for sharing your cautionary tale, which underscores the
> > risks of today's common file-based acquisition workflows.
> >
> > I'm working on a large documentary project (3 hours for PBS prime
> > time), and here are my rules for shooting:
> >
> > 1) Record tape (usually DVCPro HD) plus files (usually Pix 240)
> > simultaneously, plus double-system audio.
> >
> > 2) Never recycle media in the field. This means that when shooting
> > for a single day, we carry sufficient media for the full day, eg. a
> > pair of 240GB SSDs for the Pix 240. When shooting for many
> > consecutive days, I'll take 4 days' media, eg. eight 240GB SSDs. This
> > gives me 48 hours to backup and verify my files, while still having a
> > day's worth of media plus a day's worth of spares on set.
> >
> > So far we've shot about 70 hours of material, with the following errors:
> >
> > * On a shoot last year, out of 5 hours of interviews, a half hour
> > never made it onto files. We recovered the material from tape.
> >
> > * One file (from a nanoFlash) has a digital error which renders about
> > 20 seconds of material unusable. We'll wait to see whether we use it
> > in the final cut, and go back to tape if needed. AFAIK this is the
> > only corrupted file in hand.
> >
> > * Two weeks ago our Pix 240 recorded two files MOS, though the video
> > was fine (audio returned after a re-boot.) This is the only instance
> > (so far) in which we've needed to use our double-system audio.
> >
> > As for post workflow, as opposed to shooting, here's what I do:
> >
> > * Camera originals are on a NAS (RAID 5) in the office, where I also
> > have a set of backup hard drives.
> >
> > * A second set of backup hard drives are off-site (at my home).
> >
> > * Videotape originals are also off-site (at the producer's home.)
> >
> > * Transcoded mediafiles live on local hard drives on the Avid.
> > Several times a week I incrementally back up all mediafiles onto the
> > NAS.
> >
> > I'm lucky enough to be working with producers who trust my "belt
> > and suspenders" approach. It costs a bit more, but hey, when I
> > learned to skydive, nobody saved money by skipping the reserve 'chute.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Wilson
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 8:52 PM, Tim Mangini wrote:
> > > Had a recent shoot go very bad. Halfway through day the DP copied
> cards from three cameras on an important shoot to backup drive 1 then
> started copy to backup drive 2 and went back to finish shoot. He had to
> wipe and re-use his cards and when he got back to his computer the first
> drive had crashed midway through the copy. Looked like we lost all of one
> interview and half another. Would be embarrassing and challenging to
> re-shoot. Ran Data Rescue 3 on the drive and it indicated drive damage.
> Immediately powered drive down and sent to Drive
> Savershttp://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com>. Took 7 business days but
> they appear to have recovered every bit of data. Great relief
> > >
> > > Producer and shooter followed most of our protocols but came up short
> on a few and it almost bit us in the butt. Lessons learned:
> > > 1) If you have a "critical" shoot, you should not be under-resourced.
> In this circumstance there should have been at least one more "tech" body
> on the set (2nd camera, sound person, data wrangler, etc). Three cameras
> and sound was just too much to do for one person.
> > > 2) A shooter should never go out without enough cards to get through a
> day or two of shooting. Data wrangling in the middle of a shoot is fraught
> with peril.
> > > 3) Backup drives should be raided drives to protect you against this
> situation by having the data in two places at once. Unfortunately, they
> cost more money and are bigger and heavier, so shooters don't like to carry
> them. For a signature shoot, they are worth the extra investment.
> > > 4) Never wipe/re-use camera cards until you have verified that the
> material is on both your back-up drives. It is also preferable to use file
> copying software that uses check-sum verification to insure that every bit
> of data made it safely to the back-up drives. There are "shoe-box" systems
> that have been designed for data backup that are ideal for these scenarios.
> Unfortunately they are also expensive and bulky, but they do provide a
> level of security that can be re-assuring in critical situations.
> > >
> >
>
>
>


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