Do you guys delete your footage on your computer?

I tend to over obsess about deleting footage that I need and about losing footage if a harddrive (HD) crashes/gets lost/burns up, so I copy all the footage to my 3 external HDs and 2 internal HDs. 1 goes in a fireproof/lockproof safe. I delete the footage from my laptop.
 
I have 6 projects on my iMac, only 3 are strictly my projects. I'll be deleting that other stuff ASAP so that my HD does not fill up. I'm almost at a point where I can dump every unnecessary thing out of my PowerBook as well. I'll be sending it out to pasture in a leisurely life of web surfing and writing story ideas. No heavy lifting or major editing projects on it anymore.


-- spinner :cool:
 
Nope. Footage costs too much to get (if not cash, then time and probably blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids) and HDDs are so cheap that it doesn't really make sense to nuke it.

If I have a one time client that is incommunicado for a long time, their stuff eventually disappears.
 
what about bloopers, do you guys delete those too? i probably need an external hd soon even though i have less than 1 gb of footage lol.
 
I have
1) all of the original media I've shot (tapes)
2) a 3Tb working drive with my projects backed up on it.
3) a stack of 250Gb bare internal drives that attach that with a wiebetech dock and those are long term storage of the projects.
4) my working drive has 3 or 4 current projects on it.

Stay paranoid, stay safe!
 
Burning bridges assures you that you'll never retreat!

I have exactly one project with all of the original files still intact -- my most recent.

I believe in moving on to the next project. I will NEVER pull a Lucas. When my movie is done, it's DONE.
 
I tend to delete most of the footage on my harddrive-save one or two pieces for my own memory. I've actually made a couple of "blooper" type pieces with music. I'd like to get an external drive for footage, hope to get one in the future.
 
I'm afraid to, honestly. My thoughts always circle back to, "Crap! I need an external shot of an apartment in a city....wait, there was that thing I filmed in DC 6 months ago..."

Now, since that I've gone HD I've gotten rid of most of the old SD Handi-cam footage.
 
Much of mine is backed up for when I make it big and need "where I came from" footage for the BTS on my latest blockbuster -- no... what I meant was, YAFI offers folks who work with us on a regular basis to edit a reel for them as a thanks for the continued dedication to the co-op.
 
I'm in a different position than the rest if you. The client supplies two drives - one for work, one for back-up archiving - and they take the drives with them when the project is done; so I don't keep anything. I do pull almost all of the the sound FX and Foley I created onto my personal sound FX library drives.
 
My footage starts on tape or external HDs and it will end up on an external "Project Drive."

As the editors I've worked with in the past always recommend, "Buy a project drive for your production and keep all of your footage on that drive. When you start a new production, buy a new project drive for your new production." I'm even labeling the drives with the name of the production drives I bought them for.
 
Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
As the editors I've worked with in the past always recommend, "Buy a project drive for your production and keep all of your footage on that drive. When you start a new production, buy a new project drive for your new production." I'm even labeling the drives with the name of the production drives I bought them for.
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That's exactly what I do.

I never use the hard drive on my computer, I only use external
drives - a new one for each project. Well, actually two - one as
back up. I then store both of them in different places. I just can't
imagine deleting files - it makes no sense to me at all.
 
directorik said:
I never use the hard drive on my computer, I only use external drives - a new one for each project. Well, actually two - one as back up. I then store both of them in different places.
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You should run only software on your internal hard drive and run the projects on external drives. I know that this is asking a lot in the laptop age, but this is what separates the amateurs from the professionals; if your internal hard drive crashes you still have the project files, if the project drive crashes you have the back-up drive.
 
Alcove Audio said:
You should run only software on your internal hard drive and run the projects on external drives. I know that this is asking a lot in the laptop age, but this is what separates the amateurs from the professionals; if your internal hard drive crashes you still have the project files, if the project drive crashes you have the back-up drive.
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What's wrong with running two internal drives? One for software one for projects then run an external drive for backup? Running externals all over the place is messy.
 
Messy? How is it messy? I have a rack that keeps all of the sound FX and project drives organized.

If the internal drive crashes you can't access the project files, and when you have clients waiting that can be a huge problem.
 
I work off of multiple internals and archive to externals.

What Alcove is saying is keep it separate from your system drive. Your system drive runs OS and software, other drives hold data.

I need the internal Sata connectors for speed. I don't have enough external ports for drives and I work on several projects each week so a drive per project doesn't work for me. I organize by client and cometely move to an external when making room or their files go unused for a while.

I did have a data drive crash once years ago... That hurt. Two of my biggest clients and a lot if personal stuff went down. Now I include an extra $50 on the invoice for their own backup drive.
 
Alcove Audio said:
Messy? How is it messy? I have a rack that keeps all of the sound FX and project drives organized.

If the internal drive crashes you can't access the project files, and when you have clients waiting that can be a huge problem.[/QUOTE


What? Open the side of the computer, yank the drive out, put it in an enclosure and access it. Easy! 5 minutes.
Maybe now with USB externals are okayer than before, but if the choice is between firewire or usb and internal SATA, you sacrifice a lot of speed. I'll wager not many here have the new usb or thunderbolt that mac has.


Messy? buncha cables and enclosures all over the place, where am I supposed to put my pizzas and cokes?
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