Is there a formula for......

Gonzoman wrote on 3/3/2004, 12:31 PM
Is there a formula for figuring out how much hard drive space is needed for how much footage? I'm wondering if I need to buy an external hard drive specifically for my editing stuff? Thoughts???

If I need an additional hard drive, what do I need to look for when buying one? Is there a brand that I should stay away from? What about specs?

Thanks,

GM*

Comments

Former user wrote on 3/3/2004, 12:53 PM
If you are talking about DV, it is about 4 gig for every 17-18 minutes. MPEG will vary based on the bitrate.

Dave T2
Chienworks wrote on 3/3/2004, 1:17 PM
DV .avi files are about 225MB/minute or 13.1GB/hour.

I prefer Western Digital drives. They are rugged and reliable. I've used many dozens of them and the only ones that have ever failed have had more than 10 years of rugged use. I've got a few 15 year old WD drives here that still keep spinning and working fine.
jtfrazer wrote on 3/3/2004, 1:45 PM
You should also look for a fast drive. Go for 7200 RPM and an 8 meg buffer. I've heard people say that the SATA drives are good, but I can't speak from experience. I have a Western Digital 120 gig drive with the 8 meg buffer that is working fine for me.

Jim
lukearndt wrote on 3/3/2004, 2:39 PM
Plus, if you're buying a new drive, I'd suggest waiting for a bargain! I recently bought a Western Digital 160 GB (149 actual gigabytes) internal drive for $140 from Office Max, with $80 of rebates. 60 bucks for 160 gigs isn't too bad! :-)
kgresko wrote on 3/3/2004, 9:05 PM
First of all, the answer to your question is yes to an additional drive. When I started this editing stuff about 2 years ago, I learned real fast that video eats up HD space real fast.

As far as brands, I have a Western Digital 160GB that I bought at Sam's club for ~$180.00. I also have two Maxtor drives, one 120GB and the other 160GB. I am not real happy with the Maxtor drives. I had one crash, replaced it, the replacement crashed. The WD just keeps spinning like the bunny!!!!

I would also select a firewire/USB 2 drive.

Oh and Back up, Back up, Back up!!!!!!!!