Building a mobile DIT station

[Kallan Gerard]

Hi Stephen.

It's a shame to hear about your case quality issues.

I really like what you've done for a setup. I'd consider something like this even for my simple data loading, because setting up a laptop, two mobile drives, card reader and power supply takes way too long on a tvc.

Some feedback about your cable management. I would recommend using cable tie adhesive mounts to provide strain relief near the ends of the connectors. You really don't want your thunderbolt connectors etc to take strain under their own weight, transport and cargo vibration.

Maybe you could look at a custom case builder to make a more durable clone for you. A good case builder should be able to replicate it for you, and it will last until MacBook Pro 2043.

Best of luck. Keep us updated.

 

[Dustin Cross]

Here is a little iMac in a Pelican case set-up I built.

UPS, thunderbolt expander, room for client drives and media readers.


Dusty

 

[Caleb MacDonald]

Cool Dustin - what model Pelican is that? 21 inch iMac I'm assuming...

 

[Leland Haushalter]

I wanted to ask you how you attached the sonnet expansion chassis to the rack. I'm planning on getting the 2u version of that case and will be using the OWC Thunderbolt 2 raid. ( it will fit I checked ) I'm just trying to think how to secure it to the rack.

 

[Jason Osterday]

I'm using that same 4U SKB case. It started off on some live gigs where it was worn down rather quickly. I may reconfigure it to be lighter. I bought the 2U soft bag from SKB and leave my UPS in there. That way, no matter the setup, I just leave the 2U bag on the side of the cart and plug everything in. It allows me to pull the 4U case up stairs and then slip the battery over my shoulder. Typically when you're more mobile, you're more susceptible to power outages, voltage spikes/variations, and less than ideal setups. I suggest a line conditioner to help keep your gear healthy.

This is a smaller setup using smaller storage and TB networking. The rMBP is great on its own, but sometimes needs a nMP to host some big drives and the D700's. Bigger jobs/features use the 16 bay TB chassis now too.

 

[Leland Haushalter]

Since i'm building this kit to be crazy lean and mean i'm actually going to order the 2U version. I hope its a little more ridged than the 4u version I keep hearing about. I too have a cart that I'll use in conjunction with the case when Im allowed to have more space.

 

[Billy Jim]

DIT STATION

 

[Leland Haushalter]

Billy, we are all pretty aware of dit station. This thread is about building your own system similar to what they offer for thousands of dollars.

 

[Andrew Benz]

Billy, we are all pretty aware of dit station. This thread is about building your own system similar to what they offer for thousands of dollars.

Don't be so quick to admonish him Leland, it may inspire others down an interesting DIY path.

Influence is good.

 

[Andrew Benz]

I'm using that same 4U SKB case. It started off on some live gigs where it was worn down rather quickly. I may reconfigure it to be lighter. I bought the 2U soft bag from SKB and leave my UPS in there. That way, no matter the setup, I just leave the 2U bag on the side of the cart and plug everything in. It allows me to pull the 4U case up stairs and then slip the battery over my shoulder. Typically when you're more mobile, you're more susceptible to power outages, voltage spikes/variations, and less than ideal setups. I suggest a line conditioner to help keep your gear healthy.

This is a smaller setup using smaller storage and TB networking. The rMBP is great on its own, but sometimes needs a nMP to host some big drives and the D700's. Bigger jobs/features use the 16 bay TB chassis now too.

Nice Rig Jason!

 

[Björn Benckert]

Stephen,
I did something similar in the past and figure I share my experience from it...
Building a lot of computer stuff and HDD into a rack mount case like that is quite risky. As you are not protecting anything from impact and as the whole thing will be quite heavy I think during a year of shooting you will brake a lot of the electronics. On my case even though the whole rack thing was padded up with (not enough) foam. I had my raid falling apart, power supply break twice and many other things just came to appart or stopped working. And having a case with wheels on it makes people want to roll it around, well that cause the worst possible vibrations high frequency vibrations for hardrives... so if nothing else, put a big sign on it saying, do not roll, carry with care or such.

Any way after a few lost drives and PS's I figured I ditch the whole concept. So instead I made the following.

I simply bought a suite case sized pellicase that I drilled a hole in the side of and put a 220V power in socket. On the inside I had one o those "foam in fabric with velcro" liners on the power in I solders on a power strip with 6 or so sockets. Then I organsed the following in the case:

Red rocket in TB enclosure.
TB Little big disk 4Tb.
Lacie TB to TB + 2x esata.
2x SSD readers hooked up to Esata and powered from 220v to USB.
Additional smaller TB backup drive.
Macbook power supply.

So all the above is seated firmly with padding all around and is hooked up to power inside the case and all is accessible, swappable etc and one longer TB cable goes to my laptop that also gets power from it's power supply seated in the case. So when not in use I just store the Mac Pro on top of everything inside the case together with the case power cord and when I use it I just open the lid put the power cable in the wall socket and the thing is on, ready to digest render etc.

This system I actually did not have much hope for but I figured I would just use it for a long trip to SA. But it worked so well so since then it stayed, and I been a feel laps around the planet with it and I always check it in and I have no worries it has never been any problem. With my more hard mounted solution the first flight killed it so I very much recommend this solution instead.

 

[Leland Haushalter]

Don't be so quick to admonish him Leland, it may inspire others down an interesting DIY path.

Influence is good.

Agreed, influence is good. But posting two words to a thread isn't exactly something I would call constructive input. Last time I checked, that's what forms are for.

 

[Leland Haushalter]

Stephen,
I did something similar in the past and figure I share my experience from it...
Building a lot of computer stuff and HDD into a rack mount case like that is quite risky. As you are not protecting anything from impact and as the whole thing will be quite heavy I think during a year of shooting you will brake a lot of the electronics. On my case even though the whole rack thing was padded up with (not enough) foam. I had my raid falling apart, power supply break twice and many other things just came to appart or stopped working. And having a case with wheels on it makes people want to roll it around, well that cause the worst possible vibrations high frequency vibrations for hardrives... so if nothing else, put a big sign on it saying, do not roll, carry with care or such.

Any way after a few lost drives and PS's I figured I ditch the whole concept. So instead I made the following.

I simply bought a suite case sized pellicase that I drilled a hole in the side of and put a 220V power in socket. On the inside I had one o those "foam in fabric with velcro" liners on the power in I solders on a power strip with 6 or so sockets. Then I organsed the following in the case:

Red rocket in TB enclosure.
TB Little big disk 4Tb.
Lacie TB to TB + 2x esata.
2x SSD readers hooked up to Esata and powered from 220v to USB.
Additional smaller TB backup drive.
Macbook power supply.

So all the above is seated firmly with padding all around and is hooked up to power inside the case and all is accessible, swappable etc and one longer TB cable goes to my laptop that also gets power from it's power supply seated in the case. So when not in use I just store the Mac Pro on top of everything inside the case together with the case power cord and when I use it I just open the lid put the power cable in the wall socket and the thing is on, ready to digest render etc.

This system I actually did not have much hope for but I figured I would just use it for a long trip to SA. But it worked so well so since then it stayed, and I been a feel laps around the planet with it and I always check it in and I have no worries it has never been any problem. With my more hard mounted solution the first flight killed it so I very much recommend this solution instead.

Im still ill looking into a pelican type solution still. That's a oodles worth of information you gave me. Do you have photos of your raid and TB enclosure set up in the case? Right now that's where I'm hung up the most.

 

[Jeff Brown]

Jason I notice you've got the Icy Docks in the echo 3. What SSDs did you go for? Or are you using spinning disk? I'm going either Raid 5/ R680 or software raid 0 with H680. Picked up a couple of Crucisl M550 today to test before buying.

Any tips to share?

Cheers

 

[Andrew Benz]

Agreed, influence is good. But posting two words to a thread isn't exactly something I would call constructive input. Last time I checked, that's what forms are for.

No need to get snarky. Why the attitude? PM me if you need too...

 

[Billy Jim]

DIT STATION

Billy, we are all pretty aware of dit station. This thread is about building your own system similar to what they offer for thousands of dollars.

Don't be so quick to admonish him Leland, it may inspire others down an interesting DIY path. Influence is good.

Isn't this a new product?
I posted the video for those who did not come across it, and for those who did not attend NAB
to see the internals, and the pull-out VESA arm....in case it inspires.

 

[Billy Jim]

Agreed, influence is good. But posting two words to a thread isn't exactly something I would call constructive input. Last time I checked, that's what forms are for.

Everyone has different needs and truths, and will come to their own conclusions.

 

[Phil Holland]

Quick random question I'd like to ask. Been tracking this thread for a bit.

With 6K capture in mind what is your ideal target for an internally built or external RAID setup with a modern DIT kit.

For instance. I checked out the Cortex CarryOn from MTI a while ago:

Which has at RAID with 12 TB of SSDs on board.

Do you all feel that this is an ideal amount of storage in the work of 1 to 3 camera 6K shoots or do you think we should target more storage?

I'll be putting together a system soonish and want a similarly compact system. I know personally I'm not shooting more than 2TB a day just yet and often I'm shooting far less than that. Though I see for shoots where recording times are in the 6-8 hour range more storage would be desirable.

 

[paul schefz]

that carry-on thing looks amazing....until i saw the price....but i guess it makes sense...
anyway: the LaCie littlebigdisk TB2 is pretty amazing...superfast, small and in terms of storage you can just keep adding them if you need more...they are a little steep but again, super fast and tiny.....the only issue i have with these are the AC adapters which are a pain (if you are actually running 3 of them)....i wish they were port powered...
you really have to be careful when raid-ing SSDs....a lot are not really meant to be raided...

 

[Phil Holland]

Agreed Paul. A portion of their price is due to the use of their software of course. Agree on the SSDs, however, more people are finding decent ways to RAID enterprise class drives and the performance is good. I think 1/2 debayer on 6K with the footage above.

Ideally I want a box with hot swappable disks internally likely in the range of 24-32 TB with a focus on I/O to offload backup disks. That's my personal whimsy. However, if I do go SSD 12-16 TB will likely be the target for now.