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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 :)

How do you back up media in the field?

James d Page

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Hello,
I was woundering what cunning ways there are to backingup/freeing up Redmags in the field when you don't have a crew to hand. As I often film with my Scarlet as a one man band, and hence a minmal rig. It would be great to have a smarter way of working than to stop pull out my laptop in order tranfer my media to a portable harddrive. Or buying vast amouts of media and face a bigger backing up task in the evening.

Many thanks


James
 
Not really much of a choice as REDMags are a proprietary physical form factor. Your best bet is to get the fastest downloading options available. I suggest multiple eSATA / USB3 REDMag readers going to thunderbolt RAID drives or bare SSDs. Best bang for your buck right now.

Some people who deliver to HD just send REDLog FIlm our the HD-SDI tap and record it on devices like the PIX240 in ProRes directly. Save a ton of time and space but there is a trade off on signal source.
 
Thanks,

What I would die for would be a one buton copy box I can set going, pop back in my rucksac and keep filming Vikings beating the hell out of each other sword and shield style.
 

This thing has the right idea but you'll still be waiting after the shoot to get it off the unit. REDMag > USB3 > Retina Mac gives me in the range of 170MB/sec which smokes their 90MB/sec speed quote. Its also going to an editable volume so no additional transfer needed. Looks like you'll need to use eSATA to get it off the unit. Great and all but if the 2.5 drive is spinning you're topped out at around 110MB/Sec and if its an SSD it might not be SATA III so it will be artificially capped by the bus speed.

The big issue is the locked in physical form factor of the REDMags. 2.5 SSD SATA III would really have been the right move for the consumer but RED can make a fortune off the media this way.

According to red:

http://www.red.com/tools/recording-time

5K @ 24fps (3:1) is 145 MB/sec. I have SATA III SSD drives that can push 450MB/sec sustained so they're clearly on the top side of speed.

Only the heaviest frame loads would bust such a drive:

5K @ 120fps (3:1) is 725 MB/sec.

*Note* all these quotes are at 3:1 compression!

I would have adored 2.5 SSD off the shelf media but that's not how it played out.

You can get a Samsung 830 256GB drive for $190.00 or less right now. Compare to $2,450!!

In the end you'll likely have to buy more media at inflated prices or start packing your download rig with you. Painful, lord knows I understand, but that's how it is.
 
My suggestion was for James' request for a one- button copy machine that he could stash in a rucksack.
 
I don't know how valid this still is, but I asked for something similar about a year or two back. Don't remember the exact answer but they (RED) were working on something like that. But who knows when or if it will be available....
 
You may find the best, actually implementable, answer is to buy more REDmags. :huh:
 
I'm traveling soon, and will be filming out of a backpack as well. I'm using a 3 lb windows netbook with USB3 ( $350 ) which has a 256Gb SSD I added to it.
For in the field backups, I'll copy to the 256 SSD. In the hotel I'll copy to 2TB western digital pocket drives ( $139 each ).
My copy speed is slowish, at about 55 MB / sec, but that is what a lunch break is for.
Light weight is critical.
 
What I would die for would be a one buton copy box I can set going, pop back in my rucksac and keep filming Vikings beating the hell out of each other sword and shield style.

I don't see a way to remove the laptop from the equation, but you could configure R3D Data Manager to auto-start copying when a mag is inserted and auto-eject when finished.
 
This thing has the right idea but you'll still be waiting after the shoot to get it off the unit. REDMag > USB3 > Retina Mac gives me in the range of 170MB/sec which smokes their 90MB/sec speed quote

Michael,

I am getting 200MB/s from my REDMag>USB3> 15" Retina Mac with an internal 512 SSD. If I plug an OWC External HDD USB3 (spinning media) I am getting 125MB/s transfer speeds. James you could consider a Retina Mac with the 512gig SSD installed and BU quickly on location and dump out to larger external HDD at night.
 
My Set up;
Mbp (retina) + REDMag USB 3.0 + OCZ Vertex 4 512GB with Seagate Goflex Thunderbolt adapter
405239_10151319186323084_2114143514_n.jpg
 
How about this: Nexto DI

I've been working with NEXTO to create a device that Red owners can use with their Nexto DI's! We're VERY close to having a protocol that works! Later in the spring, they will begin work on a device just for Red Mags (currently we're figuring out how to have the Reg Mag Station interface with the device!)

Stay tuned!
 
REDMAG 3.0 readers to a MacBook Pro w/ Retina and backed up onto Porsche USB 3.0 drives (3TB).

I'd second this recommendation. I tend to use a 256gb card per day of shooting, and use USB3.0/Mac retina/USB 3.0 drive. Forget the ESTATA solutions if your on mac. A 256gb card can offload in 45 minutes. I have a 64gb card to shoot as back up.
 
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