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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Editing with two computers

J

Jeremy Drake

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So we have a feature film transferred to one giant scratch folder of pro res files. We want to edit this thing with two computers. We have 2 Raids with all the files transfered to pro res and we're wondering how to go about this. Maybe we can just edit sequences off our respective raids that contain all the same files and then send the xml files back and forth? At the end we want to relink the r3d files and send them to color for timing. We don't really have time to experiment and its frustrating but whats the best way to go about editing a feature with two computers.
 
Jeremy Drake said:
Maybe we can just edit sequences off our respective raids that contain all the same files and then send the xml files back and forth?
Click to expand...

Yes. If you already have all the media in two places, than sharing XMLs or even FCP project files is easy.
 
Has anyone used Final Cut Server? I can't give you a firsthand account of how well it works, but from what I've seen and read, that might be an option. It allows multiple users to edit the same projects simultaneously, by checking files in and out. I'd suggest looking into it:

http://www.apple.com/finalcutserver/
 
Final cut server relies on shared storage like an XSan. Trust mr when I say that if you have no experience of setting this up, either via Fibre or Ethernet, you do not want to start now. Your separate machines sharing project files will be far cheaper and simpler to work with
 
We are editing a Broadcast Documentary on the Andes of Peru, featuring Machu Picchu and we are using the following two mac computer setup:

We have a mac pro 8 core 2.66 which is connected via 4 esata to an addonics rack mount sporting Three 4TB RAID 5 Configurations and 3 hotswapable disk we use for transport.

Check out the rack mount at:
http://addonics.com/products/raid_system/rack_overview.asp

One of our 4TB RAID 5 Drives holds the original .R3Ds and some organization daily clipfinder files. Another drive, nicknamed Editorium, is synced to both of our computers as the location for the Final Cut Pro Documents with the standard file architect. Both Computer save and utilize files from that storage by way of a file share from the mac pro to the second computer which is a hackintosh specifically built for non-multiprocessing renders. Since the file share is not through a OSX Server OS we had a lot of problem with sharing preferences on our office server. The addonics drives show up as externals, which can only be shared without user account preferences, thus my accounting division could read/write the backups of the .r3ds, which wasn't going to work. In the end we ended up just access the File share computer as the admin user and kept it off the whole office network. This is our older equipment that we are temporarily using until we get access to our new xserve system with a network to a LTO 4 possibly 5 backup system. I am also looking toward JMR FibreStream as our next raid temp storage. They will not only grant us the stack-able architect, but also get rid of our read/write bottleneck which sits around 300mb/s with the addonics, where it is almost at 4000mb/s with the FibreStream. We also have a lot of issues with drive lag/wakeup time with the addonics, but i must say for the price they are rock solid. Took one with us to peru and nothing but success.

Anyways back to your question:
Our workflow: We created two final cut pro projects labeled based on computer names. Each project had all of our rolls with the online wrapped .mov which where added to the capture scratch on Editorium through final cut L&T, doing a red rushes workflow next time. Both have access to all the files for editing purposes. My editor and i seperated the film into sections and edited them simultaneously then compiled them into our final project file for picture lock. We also used this method when wrapping the .r3ds. This method has worked out great for us thus far, but it is really a temporary setup for us, but it is a great semi pro setup that should quickly get your job done.

Once the picture lock is compiled in the final project you can export xml edl whatever flavor for relink and color. Since we are online we send directly to color through the final cut studio interface, which still grants the metadata.

Final cut server:

Had and apple rep come in to help us scheme out our new server systems and we chatted briefly about final cut server. According to him it is basically an organizing suit with batch processing capabilities. The best way to do this would be to run it on a separate xserve connected two your storage that both computer would have access over the network, but you could also use it through one of the computers and share to the other. Note that if your xserve is also supporting your office network, then i might become a problem when you send that sucker a bunch of batches. You might be happy but your financial division might be without access to there file structures :(. Final Cut server seems to be good for finding clips that are scattered throughout your server storage and creating offline batches that sit on the server. Not sure if this works with the .r3ds which would require a L&T or Rushes pass intially, but maybe they have a batch L&T for R3d on the server suite, unlikely though because red does not have a driver on the support page for such application. Final Cut server will also help you to manage your final cut project files and make it easier for different computers to establish links with the resources & footage, but i didn't personally see its advantages over say finder. You can take a project file and view all of its attributes and batch them into offline or move/copy them.

The check in and out system is interesting, but there are hickups when two users start accessing the same file simultaneously. In most cases it will hinder you because the file is currently check out. In either case you would normally edit with two separate project files and combine in the end just to be save. Well, plus two or three backups along the way.

It really all depends upon what you want to do and how much money you want to spend. If you are trying to quickly solve this problem i would just share files from one computer to the other via file share in system preferences, just be aware of its limited separate accounts preferences so you don't share all of your footage with your open network.

Hope this help. If you have anymore questions you know where to find me.

JP
 
I've been cutting about 20tb of R3D proxies in esata raid enclosures for over 1 1/2 years. I have two machines running simultaneously and they are simply connected via an ethernet cable (the reverse kind - what ever it's called). It has worked flawlessly (knock on wood). I can play the same file (from one source) on two different timelines on two different machines at the same time. How - I have no frickin' idea, but it works and it's very inexpensive. I have 3 of the 5 bay Burly boxes with slide out trays and they have got to be some of the best computer purchases ever made.

After our r3d proxy cut on fcp I export xml via clipfinder and online in AE.
 
We have been able to stream M_proxies off of a Promise RAID, served by a X Serve in a NAS configuration via gigabit ethernet for cutting to multiple workstations. This doesn't require FCServer or a SAN setup. We don't rely on this, typically cut with DAS (direct attached) RAIDS, but it can be done.

The OP here already has all the media in two places, so provided the volumes are named the same, the folder structure is the same, importing XML of sequences to either machine should automatically relink to the clone of the footage. It is the easiest solution. You certainly don't want to get into FC Server at this stage.
 
Brandon Kraemer said:
We have been able to stream M_proxies off of a Promise RAID, served by a X Serve in a NAS configuration via gigabit ethernet for cutting to multiple workstations. This doesn't require FCServer or a SAN setup. We don't rely on this, typically cut with DAS (direct attached) RAIDS, but it can be done.

The OP here already has all the media in two places, so provided the volumes are named the same, the folder structure is the same, importing XML of sequences to either machine should automatically relink to the clone of the footage. It is the easiest solution. You certainly don't want to get into FC Server at this stage.
Click to expand...

Agree, and if the drives (as well as folders) containing the cloned files are named the same you shouldn't even have to relink. Just bring the same FCP project file (if that's what you're cutting on) over to the other machine and it will work fine.
 
Stornext type SAN solutions over fiber are the bomb for this sort of thing. If you're doing more than one show and can invest in the infrastructure it can be a really, really good thing. With R3D's you can have something ridiculous like 32 concurrent streams going without any performance hit.

Bright Systems BrightDrive G2 is a good example of this technology. Last I heard Pixar, Dreamworks and a few others have been using Bright. I've used them on a few projects and fallen in love with their stuff. Not cheap but a real improvement over the typical.
 
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