Ultraportable DIT-Station

[Sascha Rossier]

Hej

I've a pretty nasty shoot comin up: Documenting a bunch of silly guys exploring a dirty small cave-system.
So everything has to be small. I'll be on a ultra-small Scarlet Package (with only 2x 64GB Mags) So i thought about
a ultrasmall DIT-Station:

1 Zotac Nano Mini PC with esata (like this one) with an internal 1TB-Disk 2.5"
1 15" LCD-Screen (also thought about my SmallHD DP6 - would be even smaller)
2 1-TB External Drive 2.5"
1 Red-Station

My planned workflow would be:
Unload the full 64GB Mags onto the internal 1TB of the Nano via e-sata. And have SyncBackPro
backup these files automatically on the two external HDs. The whole system would fit into
a Small Peli und be powered via Batteries.

I'm fairly ok with sticking together some diy-computer stuff but im no pro.
Anyting i might be missing? Or is there even a better solution that is
Ultraportable, reliable and low on watts?

 

[Phil Holland]

I went with the MSI GT780DXR-446US (1 esata and 2 USB 3.0 ports) laptop. This has been fulfilling my desires for my ultra-portable field DIT work. Plays back at 1/4 resolution in the field with no issues. This allows me to connect two drives and one RedStation and also have some disk space for "online" smash edits and reviews.

One bit of advice. I wouldn't get any system that doesn't have an nVidia card with CUDA support.

 

[axel ebermann]

If access to power is an issue I would get a laptop with an esata card and esata/firewire 800 drives.
So if worse comes to worse you can power the drives and the Red Station directly from the computer ports.

plus the entire system would be more shock proof and less prone to failure than anything else.

oh - and get some bigger SSDs while you are at it. Interrupting the shoot to download - especially in a dirty cave system -
sounds like a nightmare...

 

[Rob Gardner]

Cave shoot?

Cave shoot?

Maybe this is stating the obvious but my limited experience in caves had m soaking wet by the time I came out. Moisture might be a big issue.

 

[Dane Henry]

Get more SSD's...or just rent some.

2 more SSD's are a hell of alot more ultra-mini than any DIT station. Download when you done shooting for the day.

 

[Andrew clemson]

Please buy/rent some more SSDS. Even if you pull it off, youre just convincing some cheapskate producer somewhere that they only need 2 FOR EVERY SHOOT THEY DO AFTERWARDS.

* Mini Rant over. *

 

[Anthony Vu]

This is so true!!! I couldn't agree more. But it doesn't apply to just producers.

Please buy/rent some more SSDS. Even if you pull it off, youre just convincing some cheapskate producer somewhere that they only need 2 FOR EVERY SHOOT THEY DO AFTERWARDS.

* Mini Rant over. *

 

[Sascha Rossier]

he he he ... *convinced* ... and after all those damn Mags ain't that big'n'heavy ... just awefully expensive ;-) Actually there is no such thing as a producer ... i successfully convinced myself I could pull it off with 2 64GBs ;-S but I guess I'll have to talk to me again ;-) ... Thanx 4 the inputs guys. Good tip with the notebook, phil ... seems a little big'n'heavy but solves a lot of issues i guess ... how about the battery-life? Notebooks tend to die very fast, innit? ... The Lead-Speleogist told me that moisture isn't such a big issue where we're gonna be shootin' ... but maybe i should make sure that the dude and i have the same understanding of "not such a big issue" ;-)

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Hej

I've a pretty nasty shoot comin up: Documenting a bunch of silly guys exploring a dirty small cave-system.
So everything has to be small. I'll be on a ultra-small Scarlet Package (with only 2x 64GB Mags) So i thought about
a ultrasmall DIT-Station:

1 Zotac Nano Mini PC with esata (like this one) with an internal 1TB-Disk 2.5"
1 15" LCD-Screen (also thought about my SmallHD DP6 - would be even smaller)
2 1-TB External Drive 2.5"
1 Red-Station

My planned workflow would be:
Unload the full 64GB Mags onto the internal 1TB of the Nano via e-sata. And have SyncBackPro
backup these files automatically on the two external HDs. The whole system would fit into
a Small Peli und be powered via Batteries.

I'm fairly ok with sticking together some diy-computer stuff but im no pro.
Anyting i might be missing? Or is there even a better solution that is
Ultraportable, reliable and low on watts?

Keep in mind that computer you linked is a nettop, basically the slowest possible desktop computer you can still buy new. I would highly recommend a laptop over that setup since a laptop is self contained and can be protected from moisture quickly between downloads. What are you trying to get out of this computer? Just downloading? Inexpensive price? Small footprint? Can you describe what it is about your situation that you feel warrants something other than a laptop? A laptop would be cheaper, faster, have a built in LCD and battery compared to a nettop or mini-pc but if you want a system you can put a redrocket in or is more expandable then I can see why you might want to do something other than a laptop, but that does not seem to be what you are after.

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

It just occurred to me you are building a system that would work in a pelican case while closed, so it can always be protected is that right? I think with any system you will have a lot of difficulty keeping components working in a closed system without ventilation. Everything needs to be passively cooled since anything with active cooling essentially becomes passive since fans are not much use without ventilation. In that case, your very low powered nettop may make some sense, though I still feel something more powerful will be more useful in the long term and probably no more expensive. Where would the LCD be and how would you see it without exposing the components to moisture? You mention battery power and external drives, will those be inside the case as well?

I still say get a laptop and a pelican case for it, it can be cheaper, have a smaller footprint, easier to power, and much more useful in the future with a better resell value, etc. Get a laptop you can put two hard drives in (nearly any laptop 14+") and back up to both internal drives. Most of your devices are expecting different voltage, regulated DC input, how will you supply that from a battery without adapters converting DC-AC-DC (highly inefficient)? A laptop is designed for battery power and has hours of battery life built in. You can always undervolt/underclock a faster computer if you want to try to get it to work in low/no power/ventilation environments. I'd be impressed if a netbook cpu could even open redcine... the ones I've used barely open firefox.

 

[Southworth]

If the production is scrimping that much on cards, it honestly sounds to me like they're shooting on the wrong camera. I have a Scarlet, which I love, and have gotten great footage out of on my first two shoots with it, but its not a low-light camera, and its not a 2x64MAG docu camera. You need 4x 64 MAGS at a minimum to comfortably shoot continuously. So either buy two more, or, suggest the production look at the C300. You're in a cave which will benefit from its lowlight capabilities, and you're shooting to much cheaper media, which you could easily shoot a day or two worth of footage before even backing up. Hell, you could shoot two cards, your master and protection, simultaneously, and never even have to backup, and it could cost less.

That said, the versatility of the Scarlet shooting at 4k is amazing. I shot a MS with a shallow DoF and can extract the MCU and CU out of it, and it looks great. Unbelievable flexibility and image quality for a camera at this price point, but to consider one camera right for every task, or to use one just because someone "wants to try it out" causes more problems than its usually worth. I just would never want to handcuff myself the way it sounds like you're being set up to.