editing Gb here there and everywhere

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Absolution_Films

So i currently run a iMac with 500gb on board memory and a 1TB External Hard Drive....

I have done a lot of documentary style shooting this past 6 moths for different clients and have inevitably run low on memory....

All original footage was recorded onto DV tapes which i have kept... and most projects have been finished and submitted and i have recieved payment.

Obviously i would love to just delete this footage now and free up space... i don't know what the protocol is for how long to keep footage and files on your comp after a project has been completed?

A few of the projects are up to 90gb worth.... is there anyway i can shift them onto another format without shelling £100s on new external Hard Drives?

Any ideas welcome! :)
 
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Nit-pick: Hard drives are not "memory". RAM is "memory" and empties out when you turn off the computer. RAM is very fast.

Hard drives are "persistent storage". Hangs around even when you shut off the power. Is an order of magnitude slower than RAM. Solid-state drives are constructed out of similar hardware to RAM, but is both persistent and slower.

Key difference: Data can only be manipulated in memory (RAM). When you have a video file larger than your total RAM, your computer is loading fragments of video from your hard drive and into RAM, working only with what it needs at the moment.

Why am I being such a dork about this? Running out of memory and running out of hard drive space are two completely different things. RAM limits what you can work with at once in a program before that program has to temporarily swap things out to the hard drive. Running out of hard drive space limits what you can store. Also, your OS will complain when you run out of hard drive space because it uses some of that hard drive space as temporary storage for stuff it can't fit into RAM when it's working on something.

DV runs at 12GB per hour. Your best bet is to get two 2-TB drives -- one as a master storage device and one as a backup drive. It's kind of expensive, but it's what you need to do. You can't bring back footage you've erased and written over with new data. Erasing is permanent. It's best to keep that footage around for awhile, just in case.
 
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The way postproduction houses do it in this country, the USA, is customers have to buy their own external hard drives and all files related to their production are copied onto the hard drive. At the conclusion of the project, when they have all the latest files, the editor and post people's hard drives are wiped clean of the client's files.
 
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You mean the storage of the project files is not built into your contract? Do that from now on and include it in your itemized billing.

Contact your current clients and ask them if they want you to maintain the files and for how long. There is an initial charge of $1.25 (I guess about £1 for you) per gigabyte and an additional fee for each year. The initial charge (set a minimum) pays for a USB drive (even a thumb drive for small projects); the yearly fee is to help cover the cost of maintaining a safe deposit box (which is water proof, fireproof and theft proof) for the drive and the tapes. (And no, you don't need a box for each project, but if you have enough clients/projects you'll need a large box, maybe two. Plus, at £10 per year you could even show a profit.) Each year they get 90 days to renew or the drive and tapes are delivered to the client and your responsibility ends. Have the materials delivered by a certified carrier (FedEx, UPS, etc.) with insurance and a signature of receipt; bill the delivery charges back to them. Of course, they can always take charge of the drive and tapes themselves.

Just be sure that you get everything in writing so your butt stays all warm a toasty and not hanging out in the breeze.
 
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Also a thought: you don't need to shell out for the largest drive you can find. Do some research into some older, reliable drives. If your projects are 90GB, look for some 100GB drives. Given current prices, they shouldn't be that expensive. Buy what you can, and archive as you go.

In my experience, deleting something is a good way to assure that two months from now you will need it!
 
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