Reducing file size

euser1984

Hi,
I've a load of data recorded in Final cut pro with prores422 4k....

Is there anyway to reduce the file size without reducing quality? Similar compression to the likes of winzip or 7-zip for example?

Considering I have 10TB of data what way should I manage this going forward considering an addition of 5TB per year for example?

NAS & Tapes??

Thanks.

ScumLord

I'm just after buying a Synology DS1515+ NAS, it's at the top end but it you want to be storing 10+tb with an additional 5tb a year you're going to need something significant. I wouldn't go with tapes, they're a bit dead now, equipment can fail and you can lose everything.

The Nas I got has 5 bays but you'd probably want something larger, I ended up with 8tb (5 x 3tb-hds) after setting the Nas for raid 6 (two hard drives are for fault tolerance. I've also linked it to cloud storage so everything gets backed up automatically. In all the system was about €1400 once you include the proper Nas hard drives.

I don't know about compressing video outside of your video editor, if it reduces the files size at all it could be undoing any work you've done in the editor. Remember that the only way to make files smaller is to remove data. You're video editor is designed to do that, ordinary file compression isn't going to be as good at it.

Are you sure you've compressed it as much as you can in FCP? If these videos are going to end up online then there's no point in keeping quality that's going to be lost anyway. Unless these are originals, then you're going to have to look for another format to get them smaller. It's all swings and roundabouts, a saving in one place will cost you somewhere else.

euser1984

have you had bad experiences with tapes?

dingding

euser1984 wrote: »

have you had bad experiences with tapes?

I suppose the issue with tapes is that is an outdated technology. At some point you will have an issue getting a suitable hardware device to read the tapes.

As an example I used zip disks and 51/4 floppies in the past. It would be almost impossible to get a drive compatable with a modern pc that would be reasonable. As an example i have a portable zip drive that uses a parallel port to connect to a pc.

At some point the tapes Wil be very hard to read without a lot of expense.

Another example in the 80s i had a lot of music on cassette tapes. Every year there are less devices that can read them as new technologies come out.

euser1984

I know it's old technology but it's still the best method for what they do....

here's an example of dells new tape drives!

http://www.dell.com/ie/business/p/powervault-tape-drives

ScumLord

I wouldn't be a fan of tapes. They mount up, get lost, the drive doesn't work, there's so much to go wrong, but bottom line is I don't like them, they're old and outdated. If you think they'll work for you, that's all you need to know.

A NAS would keep everything backed up and easy to transfer. It will be so much easier to access what you want when you want too.

If the day does come that you want to move from tape to something else you're going to have to go through each tape individually to transfer. A NAS will likely last you well into the next decade.

AndersLimpar

A NAS with cloud backup is the way to go. There are synology nas's available with expansion storage so you can store huge amounts of data on them. With an Amazon cloud unlimited account (which runs automatically on the synology) to backup everything up you are good to go.

Wont be the cheapest solution but the best never is!!

AndersLimpar

I meant to ask also, once you have the footage edited do you not delete the original files to help with space?

euser1984

AndersLimpar wrote: »

I meant to ask also, once you have the footage edited do you not delete the original files to help with space?

I'm not sure - out of curiosity what format do the 4k cameras tend to save in?

euser1984

I thought some of the new WD 6TB or 8TB disks would be part of the solution but whoa they're bloody well expensive.

ScumLord

euser1984 wrote: »

I thought some of the new WD 6TB or 8TB disks would be part of the solution but whoa they're bloody well expensive.

If you went down the five bay NAS route you'd need to buy their red edition NAS drives which are also pricey. I got five 3tb drives and they cost as much as the NAS itself. I ended up with 8tb of usable space but if a hard drive fails I can just pull it out and replace it without losing data.

I wouldn't recommend getting just one hard drive for your back up, if the drive fails, you've lost everything. At the very least you could set up raid in your computer, see how many sata ports you have available, if you have four you can do a raid 6 setup with your own PC. If you have less sata ports available you can do other versions of raid that will protect data, It's going to be using up your PCs resources is the downside and probably wouldn't be as available as a dedicated NAS you could run 24/7.

Lump

A NAS Raid is needed, QNAP do cheaper high volume storage - We use team at work for nearline storage. From memory 48TB is about £4,000

John

12Phase

Cloud Storage is only practical for video if you've very fast upload speeds.