High Speed Fibre based video editing stations with Fibre RAID

Hello. Thanks for checking my post. I hope I can find a solution here…
So, my situation is this. There are two video editing stations (MacPro 8 Core 2.8Ghz/24GB RAM/4x1TB HD/sATA card/2-23” Cinema) in my office. Each tower has 4TB LaCie Biggest Quadra (through sATA connection).
About 3 month ago, I started getting claims from those video editors that the file transfer speed is too slow for their work flow. Basically editors move video footages back and force between two LaCie scratch discs. They’ve tried through our office network (managed gigabit) first, but it was too slow for them. So, for an instant solution, I added sATA card on both towers. Then, I suggested them to use sATA direct connection and swap the drive as they need. However, it was almost impossible for both editors to eject/remove LaCie drive and swap out at the same time. (I didn’t think about their work flow…)
So, they've been using gigabit network to copy files back and force. They do it at the end of the day since it takes many hours. Then, all of the sudden, we started getting very busy and amount of work has got almost doubled. Copy files through network takes all night. And when editors show up early enough morning, file copy is still going. So, we just need to find the better work flow now.
Since then, I started researching online for solutions. I’ve actually visited a real video editing company and had a tour for hardware set up in San Francisco. I came up with, may be, two ways to resolve this, but I’m not sure. So, I would like your opinion.
One is to use the 4GB Fibre switch, then add a new network storage device (may be 8 bay model for $5k+), which comes with Fibre connection. This was recommended by the real video editing company, but they didn’t know much about hardware manufacture. What they had was all high end models. Anyhow, in this way, two Macs and network storage will be connected through Fibre switch. If this seems to be a good solution for my case, does anyone have suggestions on brands/manufactures of Fibre switch, and also the network storage device (RAID) with Fibre connection? I’ve talked to FireWireDirect folks in TX, but they didn’t seem to be too helpful…
Another possible solution, which is more complicated for me is to set up the new server just for the video editing macs with XSAN. After I read its description, it sure sounds like the best way for video, but…..1) its hardware requirement is high 2) Need a new server, 3) Need to buy Promise RAID? (not sure) 4) Needs Mac OS 10.5 server. So, this whole set up looks pretty challenging to me. We use 10.4 Server as our file server. So, I’ve no experience on 10.5.
Anyhow, if any of you who are in the video industry have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much!

Thank you very much for your info. I called CalDigit and a person told me that they 're releasing the new product within this quarter. So, I may need to wait till it comes out... As per CalDigit, there is no sharable RAID yet.
So, I'm still curious, currently how are video editors using Network Storage Device (more than likely RAID) over the network without using SAN among several computers?
I thought it was easy to find the RAID box with Fibre connection, but I guess not.
Thank you again for your time. I appreciate it.

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I need to count intermittent high speed pulses from an outside source with cFP-CTR-502 and labview.

I need to count intermittent high speed pulses from an outside source with cFP-CTR-502 and Labview 8.2 . I've found example code for generating pulses and creating intricate count setups but no straightforward examples of a simple counter. Any suggestions?

Hello tinfish,
I could not find a simple example that implements simple counting either, but it should be straightforward enough for us to try. Do you have the CTR module configured properly in MAX? If so, can you monitor the channels on your CTR 502 for input? Try connecting a square wave or some other digital pulse to the terminal to test the functionality of the counter module first (before programming). If you monitor the input channels with somethign connected you should see the count increment each time it sees a rising edge (assuming default configuration).
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C:\Program Files\National Instruments\FieldPoint\documentation\Online Help\fplv.chm
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Visit ni.com/gettingstarted for step-by-step help in setting up your system

XServe RAID connected to Video Editing Station via Ethernet -Fibre question

I'm looking into switching from ethernet connections from our three desktop systems to the Xserve Raid set up we currently have to fibre. I can't seem to get a clear answer as to if it is possible to just add the cards and cables to the switch we have or if I would have to go the XSAN route in order to have fibre as the direct connection to the RAIDs...
I'm a photographer, not an IT person so please feel free to speak down to my level... : )

In theory GigE ether allows for 1000 Mb/s with a theoretical throughput of 125MB/s and 2GB Fibre is about 70% faster than that at 1700 Mb/s with 212.5 MB/s of throughput.
Now the big differences are that TCP/IP is not optimized for steady stream delivery and you're sharing the connection over a single server that works to schedule fairly and parcel out resources among users. Fibre is a single connection designed to stream data to you so you get to use a lot more of your fibre bandwidth then you do over GigE. At this point the 7 drive array is not able to saturate the fibre so you won't test the theoretical limits of the bandwidth because of the headroom in the system. At max throughput I would expect the drives are putting out something in the range of ~100-130MB/s so even with a direct connection that is your max.
If I was forced to guesstimate I would think you would be getting somewhere between 3-4x faster throughput over fibre. You're certainly more likely to hit the upper-limit of max drive output over fibre so if you say you're getting 100 MB/s over fibre and 25 MB/s over ether then that's about right. If your ether is <20MB/s then it's theoretically possible you could see a 5-6x improvement. Maybe you should test your ether with some transfers and see what your through-put is to make your own estimations.
If an 80GB file takes 55 minutes that then that's about 25MB/s. If you could bring that down by a factor of 3 then that would be 36 minutes of saved - and hopefully billable - time. But if you're getting 40 MB/s a 80GB file would take 35 minutes and then your max savings is probably 15 or 20 minutes and it becomes less compelling depending on how many times a day you do it.
+You've been very generous with your time answering all of my questions, thank you again.+
You're welcome, hope it all works out for you,
=Tod
PS Remember that large single files get much better throughput than many small files on transfer tests. Also you might want to do your own math on what time = what throughput too. Those numbers were off the top of my head.

What's the most effective way to speed up AVCHD video editing?

Hello Everyone,
I'm having the same problem, my wife and I have a small wedding videography company, I film jobs on weekends when I'm not working full time and my wife stays home with our 2 year old daughter and edits during the week.
When jobs come in we both are using our macbook pro's for the import process because it takes SOOO long to import all the avchd clips. We're filming with the Panasonic HMC40 shooting in 720/30p on Class 10 16GB SDHC Cards.
I have an early 2008 macbook pro, 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo 2GB of ram, and my wife has a 2010 unibody with a dual core i5 w/ 4GB of ram.
As a test, I imported an 8 minute and 47 second clip in my machine, and the import takes 20:39. I went to my local apple store and ran the same import test on brand new machines and here are the results:
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mbp dual core i5 4GB ram time: 7:08 (my wife's machine)
mbp quad core i7 4GB ram time: 4:50
mba core 2 duo 1.86Ghz 2GB ram SSD 64GB drive time: 12:17
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I watched the quad core i7 macbook pro's performance monitor, and at one point it had 63 iMovie threads running to import the footage. The biggest bottleneck for importing avchd seems to be the processor. With an import time of about have of the real time, that has the biggest appeal to me, but comes at a starting price of $1799 + tax, and is expensive.
What I'm looking for is the most cost effective way to cut down on import and export times for either new hardware or software. I haven't tested the elgato h.264 HD encoder yet, nor have I tested the new Final Cut X. Has anyone done this? What about Adobe Premier Elments or Premier Pro
Our compeditors are offering 'same day edit' services, and making basically a trailer of the events that happen at the ceremony, then editing them on site in a 3-4 hour time window between the ceremony and reception, then using a projector and screen to show that trailer at the beginning of the reception, usually added to the slide show.
That's the kind of thing that we want to be able to do for our customers, but also to cut down the massive amount of editing time it takes to get every finished product out the door.
What does everyone think? Is the elgato h.264 HD encoder worth it? Is there a more professional avchd / h.264 hardware / software solution that can speed up the import process faster?
I'd love to know everyone's thoughts.
Thanks.
Chris
[URL="http://freedomvideography.com"]Wisconsin Wedding Videography[/URL]

One thing you might consider...
Go to Final Cut Pro X.
In FCP 10, you can import AVCHD and begin editing immediately. You can edit natively in AVCHD if your needs are very simple, but most people would use FCP to "optimize" the AVCHD to ProRes 422, which is an intermediate codec like Apple Intermediate Codec, but provides higher quality. The optimizing to ProRes 422 as well as analyzing for stabilization, sound, and color takes place in the background if you have cores available.
But you can edit immediately, and as the optimized clips become available, FCP will automatically use them instead of the AVCHD clips.

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With this release, Apple has made it very clear that there isn't enough money in the professional NLE market. I suggest people look at the other alternatives out there. I can relate to your anger, but the fact remains that the divorce is most likely final and its time to make money using another product.

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I've been using a pretty high specced iMac for video editing for a couple of monthes;
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2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
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256GB Flash Storage
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the better USB3 sockets (a godsend when you have 64 gigs of footage to download).
More thunderbolt sockets (I could use two external monitors).
Faster RAM (1600mhz against 1333mhz).
Better screen res (although I have some questions on that).
More graphics RAM (1GB against 512mb)
So thats a lot of things that look better. Im not worried about the small 256mb HD as only the footage Im currently using will be on the MBP's HD itself.
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Am I just being stupid getting rid of a desktop for a notebook as my main working computer...?
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Thank you!
Alex

I think the MBP Retina would outperform the 2011 iMac as far as CPU due to the updated Ivy Bridge processor. Since the CPU's are similar (hyper threading) the clock speed is important, but the MBP Retina can have TurboBoost of up to over 3GHz. That's faster. Remember, the iMac is still in the 2011 model. The MBP Retina is a 2012 model.
GPU Wise, the NVidia GeForce 650 outperforms the Radeon 6775. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html. Now, the Intel HD 4000 isn't really about performance (in my opinion), so if you do get the MBP Retina, turn off automatic graphic switching.
Editing photo or video on the MBP Retina would be amazing. The display is really quite vibrant. Have you had the chance to see a MBP Retina in action? I would definitely do it, if you're serious about dropping that kind of cash.
I don't think using 2 monitors is too much to ask at all; I would love to have a triple monitor setup with coding and that sort. But I can live with one . I also think it's a great idea to use the MBP as a desktop. I currently do it, and have been since January 2011.
One other thing to add, you may want to look into a USB3 hub (with full speed), so you could hook up a large USB3 drive to store files on.

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Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
Attachments:
multidevicesync_analoginput_streamtodisk.vi ‏197 KB

Hi,
i can suggest following
Refer to an example VI called as "High speed data logger.VI" in conjunction with "High Speed data logger reader.vi" in Labview examples. Alhrough the logger might be in Tradiditional Daq format, it can be quite easily converted to Daq Mx format to store data in Binary (I32 format) . I have used this for many of my applications and i have found that the data retrieved does not have any "messups".
Why not keep a seperate file for each card? This way, you do not have to load your application with extra process. You only have to acquire and save. After saving in Binbary format, you can retrive it offline, convert it to ascii format and merge the data files of various cards to get one consolidated ascii data file.
hope this helps
Regards
Dev

No high-speed USB ports?

When my I-Pod Shuffle is plugged into either of the two USB ports in the back of my computer's modem, my computer states that there is a "High Speed USB Device attached to a non high-speed hub" and that "There are no high-speed USB host controllers installed on this computer". So I take it I'm going to have to buy some sort of high-speed USB device to fit the I-Pod, but I have no earthly idea where I would buy one!

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Never used adobe video editing software

I am considering Adobe cs4 but hesitate because my only experience with video editing is with Pinnacle studio. I am not the fastest gun in the west learning computer programs. My questions are:
How difficult is it to learn?
Are there good video teaching aids to help someone like me?
Is cs4 more stable than premiere elements 7?
Does cs4 have everything I need to do wedding videography?
Do I need more computer power than Adobe recommends?
thanks
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David G,
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Kind Regards,

Hi Helen19411,
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hiya!
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love, b

High Speed Fibre based video editing stations with Fibre RAID

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