Best storage solution for collaborative editing between two editors

Hello!
I was wondering what would be a recommended hardware storage solution for collaboratively editing Final Cut Pro X Libraries. Our current process revolves us copying all the video footage onto a portable drive and copying it over to each others machine. This is a time consuming process and the process gets broken up if one of us isn't in the office. We are working only with 1080p (and less) footage and both machines are MacBook Pro's (both have Thunderbolt connections).
I've dug around the internet and found network solutions (setting up another machine as a server w/ the storage drive there) but that setup seems like a lot of work.
Is there another way to do it with a single shared drive, no additional computer setups that would allow us to edit videos concurrently? I'm not looking for a scalable solution, just something to allow us to edit from the same pool of  footage at the same time.
Thanks,
Aaron

If you want to edit concurrently, you are looking for a networked solution: either a drive on a server, like you mentioned, or a NAS (a drive connected directly to the network) or a SAN (storage area network, which is a more sophisticated, professional setup - that would likely be overkill in this case).
In any case, you need a fast network - at the very least gigabit ethernet. There exist NAS options for a decent price.
In this kind of setup, you would save all your media in the NAS, work on your libraries locally, and use "external media" - so the media would stay in the designated places in the NAS, and the libraries point to it. Libraries will be fairly small, and you could pass them around.
In any case, you would share the media concurrently, NOT the libraries.

Similar Messages

  • Best storage solution for FCP HDV projects?

    What is the best storage solution for Final Cut Pro HDV projects (i.e. internal or external drives, SCSI, external firewire drives, etc.)?

    Don't forget you can also use the "Send to Tape" command to send your footage back to miniDV HDV tape. This isn't the ultimate solution, but is a good way to cheaply "backup" large projects to inexpensive tape without killing your drive storage with every project.
    Here's a new feature request for Media Manager... Forget that. I'll start a new post for it.

  • What's the best storage solution for a large iLife? RAID? NAS?

    I'm looking for an affordable RAID storage solution for my Time Machine, iTunes Library, iMovie videos, and iPhoto Library. To this point I've been doing a hodgepodge of external hard drives without the saftey of redundancy and I've finaly been bitten with HD failures. So I'm trying to determine what would be the best recommendation for my scenario. Small Home Office for my wife's business (just her), and me with all our media. I currentlty have a mid-2010 Mac Mini (no Thunderbolt), she has an aging 2007 iMac and 2006 MacBook Pro (funny that they're all about the same benchmark speed). We have an AppleTV (original), iPad2 and two iPhone 4S's.
    1st Question: Is it better to get a RAID and connect it to my Airport Extreme Base Station USB port as a shared disk? OR to connect it directly to my Mac Mini and share through Home Sharing? OR Should I go with a NAS RAID?
    2nd Question: Simple is Better. Should I go with a Mac Mini Server and connect drives to it? (convert my Mac Mini into a server) or Should I just get one of those nice all-in-one 4-bay RAID drive solutions that I can expand with?
    Requirements:
    1. Expandable and Upgradeable. I don't want something limited to 2TB drives, but as drives get bigger and cheaper I want to easily throw one in w/o concerns.
    2. Simple integration with Time Machine and my iLife: iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto. If iTune's Home Sharing feature is currently the best way of using my media across multiple devices then why mess with it? I see "DLNA certified" storage on some devices and wonder if that would just add another layer of complexity I don't need. One more piece to make compatible.
    3. Inexpensive. I totally believe in the "You Get What You Pay For" concept. But I also realize sometimes I'm buying marketing, not product. I imagine that to start, I'm going to want a diskless system (because of $$$) to throw all my drives into, and then upgrade bigger drives as my data and funds grow.
    4. Security. I don't know if its practical, but I like the idea of being able to pop two drives out and put them in my safe and then pop them back in once a week for the backup/mirroring. I like this idea because I'm concerned that onsite backup is not always the safest. Unfortunately those cloud based services aren't designed for Terabytes of raw family video, or an entire media library that isn't wholey from the iTunes Store. I can't be the only one facing this challenge. Surely there's an affordable way to keep a safe backup for the average Joe. But what is it?
    5. Not WD. I've had bad experiences with Western Digital drives, and I loathe their consumer packaged backup software that comes preloaded on their external drives. They are what I meant when I say you get what you pay for. Prettily packed garbage.
    6. Relatively Fast. I have put all my media on an external drive before (back when it fit on one drive) and there's noticeable spool-up hang time. Thunderbolt's nice and all, but so new that its not easily available across devices, nor is it cheap. eSata is not really an option. I love Firewire but I'm getting the feeling that Apple has made it the red-headed step-child of connections. USB 3.0 looks decent, but like eSata, Apple doesn't recognize it exists. Where does that leave us? Considering this dilemma I really liked Seagate's GoFlex external drives because it meant I could always buy a new base and still be compatible. But that only works with single drives. And as impressive as Seagate is, we can't expect them to consistently double drive sizes every two years like they have been -cool as that may be.
    So help me out without getting too technical. What's the best setup? Is it Drobo? Thecus? ReadyNAS? Seagate's BlackArmor? Or something else entirely?
    All comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    I am currently using WD 2TB Thunderbolt hard drive for my iTunes, which i love and is works great.  i am connected directly to my Mac Book Pro. I am running low on Memory and thinking of buying a bigger Hard drive.  My question is should I buy 6TB thunderbolt HD or 6TB NAS drive to work solely for iTunes.  I have home sharing enabled for my Apple TV 
    I also have my time capsule connected just as back up only.   

  • Best storage solution for a G5 tower?

    Hello,
    I'm trying to figure out what the best storage / performance strategy would be for Aperture/Lightroom/Photoshop use. I'm an amateur digital photographer, and I shoot with a 10 MP camera so my hard drives are filling up! I currently use a 74 GB Raptor as my boot drive/sandbox and a 400 GB WD as my OS & file storage drive. I love the speed of the Raptor, but it obviously has a massive storage size limitation.
    I already need more storage space, so I'd like to change my set-up. Whatever changes I make, I'd like them to also make sense for a Mac Pro which I intend to upgrade to in about six months.
    I've heard it's better when using Photoshop and Lightroom to keep photos 1) on an internal drive rather than an external one (not a problem with the Mac Pro's 4 drive bays) 2) on a different drive than the OS install (is this true?) and 3) on a drive with lots of free space.
    With only two drive bays in the G5 tower, what's the best option in terms of maximizing speed and storage space?

    I still feel the g5 is slow. I have a huge aperture library, on the magnitude of 95k photos, and I have a lot of slowdowns and beach balls, even with my RAID, and they are only 8 megapixel 20d files. I have plenty of RAM, don't run a lot of applications when I am running aperture. I have the slower video card (6600 I think), but I still have a lot of "loading image" time, which I think is RAM/cpu/disk access. In other words, get the Mac Pro with the mid level graphics card with enough RAM. I think you can load up the mac pro with a bunch of internal hard drives (get the enteprise class drives). I use apple RAID formatting; again, I like as much of it to be in the box as possible--third part solutions make me nervous; will the be available in the future? If my hardware raid controller goes down, can I still rebuild my drives? A lot of questions with no easy answers for me.
    As for jrg_uk, I know firewire is just the enclosure, but there are new SATA external drives that can connect directly to your computer without going through the Firewire bridge (as I understand it). The reason why I am not a big fan of firewire is because of the bridge. I like the idea that my data is going through as few hoops as possible.
    I have had several firewire drives fail on me. I just had a OWC RAID die on me three times in a row; all because the hardware failed inside the drive. It was in a metal case with a fan. I also recently had a LaCie big drive fail on me. I think it is a hard drive failure, (ie., not the enclosure, as I can still see the enclosure); although I cannot be sure. I have had a host of other drives fail as well, including another OWC drive with a fan, a grainite digital RAID enclosure, and a bunch of the notebook firewire enclosure. The only enclosure manufacturer that I would recommend is Wiebetech. I, and one of my friends who owns a retouching studio, have had very good results with their enclosures. I have two of them plus a drivedock. So far so good. But again, I only trust my mission critical stuff to SATA. Preferably internal, although I am hoping to get an external SATA RAID soon, as I am running out of space again.

  • Best storage solution for central itunes library?

    I'd like to create a 4 Gb central library, running itunes permantenly on a headless Mac Mini. The library will contain all music and videos and should be available to an Apple TV, PC and Iphones (remote).
    I am not sure about what kind of storage solution to buy.  I want a second disk for backups, ideally also for storage of system backups of my PC and iphones. Should I buy and install a NAS and connect via Ethernet or are two firewire or usb 3.0 external hdds connected to the Mac Mini a better solution? I want to avoid issues with corrupt itunes libraries, missing files, connection issues with home sharing, etc. And are external hdds built to run 24//24 in terms of life span, energy consumption and heating?
    Thank you.

    Derekeys wrote:
    I believe there is a way to have my itunes library on an external, but can the iMac read the external and stream to Apple TV with quality?
    No problems at all.
    Get an external USB drive.
    Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder to the external drive.
    Hold Option, launch iTunes, select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
    That is all you need to do.
    You can do this with on the laptop and and later use the same iTunes library on another computer just by connecting the external, holding Option, selecintg Choose library... and selecting the iTunes folder on the external.

  • What is the best storage solution for the new Mac Pro

    Hi All,
    With limited funds when purchasing the new Mac Pro, I'm starting to look at storage for music/pictures/video etc - I'm thinking of storing this data externally and connecting via Thunderbolt or Firewire or USB3 to access the data... Not sure what type of storage to use, upgrading to 1TB PCIe-based flash seems excessive for costs and I would like at least 2TB, anyone have any suggestions?
    What are the alternatives for storage... (single disk Raid) I've recently had to replace my internal WD hard drive (lost everything) and the backup time capsule failed, again knackered disk (looks like WD format error with Maverick OS bug), don't want to format them just incase..
    With the new Mac Pro coming with 256GB PCIe-based flash storage, I'm reluctant to upgrade the storage because of costs and would like some redudancy when it comes to storage.
    Any suggestions?
    Many thanks
    Russ

    landing page at OWC for Thunderbolt products.
    Helios enclosure (the new dual-slot Helios PCIe chassis) and moving various hard drives into Thunderbolt cases (in time) but mainly into my favorite USB3 hard drive enclosure.
    For those without eSATA enclosures, a simple eSATA to USB3 adapter might do the trick.
    USB3 is plenty fast to house two hard drives.
    If you can, I'd try to order with 500GB to get started and have more room for system and default for scratch or even for Aperture/iPhoto or Lightroom.
    Always take the precaution and zero a drive before use. Want a solid enterprise ideal for RAID, then look no further than Seagate Constellation series. 128MB cache doesn't hurt and fine for RAID5, NAS or whatever you want.
    There should be retail PCIe-SSD products in 2014.
    Large storage, http://macperformanceguide.com/topic-thunderbolt.html

  • Central storage solution for video & digital content

    I'm looking for advice on storage solutions for a small scale (audio) recording studio which is expanding into video and post production.
    There is a simple wired/wireless network connected via a simple Netgear wireless/ethernet router to which two MacPros (ethernet), one iMac (wireless) and one MacBook (wireless) are connected.
    Currently audio is recorded onto 10,000rpm drives in the main MacPro and then archived onto SATA drives in a firewire Wiebetech traydock system. There is also an Apple Time Capsule which backups up the other computers.
    The system is rather fragmented and messy and I'm looking to upgrade to a simpler and more resilient system for managing all this. I've been using Mac for a long time but haven't kept abreast of central storage solutions.
    Advice on a simple central storage solution would be appreciated. Thanks.

    One thing I'm unsure about is the difference between Firewire 800 and Ethernet as connection protocols between a computer and an external drive or RAID. I've seen "Networked" external storage devices that look quite simple ( eg IOMEGA StorCenter ix2-200 Network-Attached Storage - 4TB)
    Are both suitable for connecting an external drive/RAID, providing adequate bandwidth for uncompressed HD video editing?
    With a standard 4 year old MacPro and ethernet routed via my Netgear Wireless Router, what would the bandwidth be?
    Thanks for any answers to these basic questions.

  • Best Storage Solution?

    Most probably already debated in several threads (but I cannot find a straight answer), my request for help/advice is about the best possible storage solution for backing up my system and photographs.
    Currently, I've got my Aperture 1.5.6 library backed up in the Vault on the second internal 500Gb HD. Is this safe enough or should I really look at an external back-up solution on external HD?
    Although my use of the Mac is almost exclusively for photography (not professionally though), I wondering whether I should be thinking of backing up the whole of my system, rather than Aperture only.
    In essence, my question is: should I get a massive external HD (1 tera) and back the whole system there (including the Aperture library), or add another couple of internal HD in the free slots of the Pro and back everything up internally? Also, I've read in some posts about RAID. Can someone tell me what this is in very simple words, please?
    Any help/advice is welcome as, like it can probably be seen from this post, I am rather confused
    Many thanks

    Fotoamatore wrote:
    Most probably already debated in several threads (but I cannot find a straight answer), my request for help/advice is about the best possible storage solution for backing up my system and photographs.
    First we need to know your primary apps and how you take photos (DSLR RAW or point-and-shoot or film/scans) as well as what hard drives you have now and your current backup protocol, both on-site and off-site.
    Also, I've read in some posts about RAID. Can someone tell me what this is in very simple words, please?
    RAID means redundant array of independent drives, and is not simple and cannot arbitrarily be made simple without missing essential concepts. Basically multiple drives are hardware or software combined in arrays to improve speed and/or data security depending upon each individual scenario. All RAID configurations add cost of some kind: speed, dollars, reliability or capacity; usually a combination of those.
    There are many different RAID configurations and what may or may not be appropriate is 100% dependent on each individual setup. Wiki has an excellent white paper on RAID:
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID>
    Anyone considering RAID should first become fully conversant with all the concepts discussed there. Heavy reading when you get to concepts like atomicity but necessary.
    Note that RAID by definition requires multiple drives, so internal RAID configurations are fairly limited. Many vendors offer preconfigured RAID setups that can be connected externally (ideally eSATA, FW800 second choice, USB2 unacceptable). Full conversance with RAID concepts is also necessary prior to purchasing external solutions.
    -Allen Wicks

  • What is the best Apple notebook for video editing and pro music creation?

    What is the best Apple notebook for video editing and pro music creation?
    I know I could opt for the most expensive and probably get what I want that way, but I´m not made of money, so what are your suggestions for minimum criteria and which would you recommend?

    MacBooks Pro are great Macs with a good hardware, so all of them will work for the use you want, but I think that you want the biggest display possible because of your uses. In this case, it has to be a 15-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro, with the settings you want. Note that, after buying the Mac, you can upgrade the HDD and memory without voiding the warranty, so you are free to install as much memory and the HDD size you want after buying it. It's my opinion, but you are free to do whatever you think it's better

  • What is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

    what is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

    It is the GPU that is important.  All the CPU's will be fast enough.  If you can affords it, the 15" with the NVIDIA GPU is the best.
    Ciao.

  • Best Apple Computer for Video Editing (when you're on a budget)?

    I shoot video on a Canon XL2 and edit with Final Cut Express. I am looking to get a more powerful computer to edit as I currently edit on a 2007/8 MacBook with 120GB hard drive. It gets the job done but rendering takes forever and I can tell my MacBook is slowing down. What is the best apple computer for video editing? And, what would you recommend if you're on a budget? iMac? MacBook Pro? Thanks for any and all help.

    Well, depending on budget...
    Today, this would be my personal choice...
    http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC560LL/A?mco=MTg2OTUwMjQ
    (3.33 GHz “Westmere” 12 GB Memory)
    http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC511LL/A?mco=MTg1ODA4MDM
    (2.93 GHz “Quad-Core i7” 8 GB Memory)
    If portability is an issue...
    http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC024LL/A?mco=MTc0Njg1NzI
    (2.8 GHz “Intel-Core i7 ” 8 GB Memory)
    Regards
    Nolan

  • Has anyone ever installed OWC 1.0TB Aura Solid State Drive and Envoy Storage Solution for MacBook Air 2012? Did it work out?

    Has anyone ever installed OWC 1.0TB Aura Solid State Drive and Envoy Storage Solution for MacBook Air 2012? Did it work out?

    Has anyone ever installed OWC 1.0TB Aura Solid State Drive and Envoy Storage Solution for MacBook Air 2012? Did it work out?

  • Wireless application for files exchange between two computers,pls Help

    Hi everyone,
    I need your help,pls.I have to make a wireless application for files exchange between two computers,but I don't know where to start from.I guess that this should be a client/server and after establishing a connection I have to be able to exchange files between each others.Please help me

    the wireless connection does not matter.
    This is a socket (client server as you said) same way.
    look out:
    http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/networking/index.html
    cya

  • Single best external storage solution for Mac Pro & MacBook Pro ...?

    Hello,
    I'm still waiting for the Mac Pro delivery I have around me something like four external hard drives from different vendors and different sizes and all containing important data ... it is really a mess, cables, lack of redundancy, etc.
    I wanted to replace all these once and for all by a single elegant long-lasting and reliable solution to combine with my new Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. The best I could find was OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 8.0TB containing four internal HDD in double RAID with multiple possible setups: RAID 0 and RAID 1, RAID 10 configurations:
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEQX2T8.0S/
    Looks like an excellent choice for the only one external storage solution! does anyone has experience with this model? are there better contenders?
    Many thanks in advance,
    Best regards,
    Giovanni

    Giovanni,
    I have the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 (6 TB) external HD array in a Raid 5 configuration (as received from OWC). I have found it to be excellent when connected to my Mac Pro using a PCI SATA card and the SATA output on the Elite-AL Pro Qx2. The speed of the system under Raid 5 easily supports all but uncompressed high definition video, and the system came with Prosoft's Data Backup software which does an excellent job of backing up other external drives installed on my Mac Pro.
    I highly recommend the Qx2 and think you will find it is a good single source solution to providing you with reliable and safe storage for your data. With Raid 5 if one of the HD's in the Qx2 fails, you simply remove it and allow the system to rebuild the data when you insert a new HD. Thus unless two HD's fail simultaneously (high unlikely) you are protected against data loss. Note also that your Mac Pro does not have to be left on while the Qx2 is rebuilding.
    Tom

  • What is the best set up for video editing?

    What is the best computer? The best software? The best external storage? The best ram? 3D editing? Everything!!!!!!
    Running full HD and 720p at 60 fps videos. Clips ranging from a few seconds to 10-30 minutes.
    Cost isn't an issue.
    What is the best set up, not the most excessive. If it doesn't need to be there or it isn't greatly needed I would like to know. This is looking at the production aspects, not the camera and such. What is the best plug in for slow motion? Pros and Cons of the set up?
    I would greatly appriciate everyones input in this. Thank you so much.

    That is a hard question to answer.. Nothing is best for everyone... However if i am to generalize it I would put it this way.. If you want to cut everything from a short promos to hollywood pictures..
    A high end windows pc (only cause mac pro hasn't been updated in ages)
    Avid Media Composer with Nitrus DX
    Two monitors
    Broadcast monitor
    HD Deck
    pimping 5.1 speakers
    A good mixer
    You are looking at over 70,000 or 80,000, could even approach even more.. HD decks run atleast 15k.
    If price is not an issue then there you go....
    However this is not realistic for most people nor best solution by no means... I run a macbook pro with Avid (as primary) Final Cut 7, Final Cut X (for practice, didn't have to use it for a job yet), and Premiere (just in case)
    I am a final cut child who grew up on it and love it however everything I am doing in last few years is on AVID...
    Have a second monitor..
    I am very portable and rest of the gear I usually get where ever I work at.. I am looking into getting a good broadcast monitor connected with AJA thunderbolt..
    Like I said this is very open question, there is no (BEST) it all depends what you will be doing.. If you get AVID (which can do everything, however is cluncky as **** and counter intuitive) but you are only cutting wedding videos and short format stuff, it would be an overkill galore.. Just get FCP X in that case... Simple,easy, one app...
    Be more specific and you will get clearer answers..

Maybe you are looking for