Anybody got a better work flow for backing up multiple shoot day projects?

Steve,

For my lecture videos, I use Sony's HDR-PJ50V camcorder. These videos are recorded at remote locations and usually last 4 or 5 days.

At the end of each day, while in my room, I transfer the video via Sony's "Direct Copy" to an external HD. Each time I transfer, it only adds what is new for that day. At the end of the week, I have the complete series on both the camcorder and remote HD.

When I get home, I plug in the external HD and work from it. The original is left on the camcorders HD, as a back up.

David

What you need:

You will need two identical external drives and a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner. CCC is free. The drives could be USB 2 if all you are doing is backing up. If you plan on editing with the drive(s), you'll want firewire. Each needs to be large enough to contain the raw card contents for the duration of your gig.

The Process:

At the end of the first day's recording, connect the two drives to your computer (if firewire, daisy chain them / if USB, you'll need two USB 2.0 ports)

On the first hard drive (Drive 1) create a folder - call it BigDealLecture

Inside of BigDealLecture, create a folder and use the nameing convention "BDL_Date_card number for that day" - so if you used 2 cards today, you should create BDL_2012-02-15_01 and BDL_2012-02-15_02

Attach your card reader or camera to the system.

Lock the cards so they can not be erased

Insert Card 1 into the reader

Select ALL contents of the card and copy them to the folder you created for the first card for today

When it is complete, eject the card, insert card 2, copy its contents to the folder for card 2

eject the card

Launch CCC and do a clone of Drive 1 to Drive 2. You can set it to do a complete block by block clone or an incremental backup. Either will work.

When finished cloning, test a random sample of the clips on both drives to make sure they work.

When satisfied the copies work, put Drive 2 in the hotel safe.

Put the Drive 1 in a place where you can grab it if there is an emergency in the night and erase the cards to get ready for the next day.

Take Drive 1 with you to the lecture site the next day.

Rinse and repeat daily.

When the conference is over, send one of the drives via FedEx or some other same day service to your office. Pack the second drive in your bags for the trip home.

A note: If you have enough downtime durning the conference between obligations, you can do the transfer from the cards to Drive 1 on site and do the clone when you get back to your room. Don't unlock and erase the cards until you are satisfied the copy/clone process was without incident.

Have fun.

x

If you are shooting with SD cards, some of them have become so inexpensive that you can use them as "camera masters". This workflow yields an alternative to the 2 hard drive system noted in my previous post.

Have enough cards to record the whole gig without reusing any. If you can calculate the amount of time to be recorded each day and can fit it all on one card, so much the better. Label the cards for each day.

Record during the conference, then back up to a hard drive at night. Keep the SD cards separate when done. When you get back home, put the SD cards away as your archive and use the hard drive for your online.

Have fun.

x

Why can't you just use the "create camera archive" button to archive your shoot media before you load it into FCX? That way you have your footage saved and then duplicated for editing.

Another way of going is to set up an automated backup program that will look at your edit drive each night and copy the new data (Carbon Copy Cloner?)

Doesn't FCX want to create a new Event for each day's shoot? Are you somehow making it ingest into one single event? If you have separate events for each day's shoot, then the copying may not be so complicated.

If you have separate events for each day's shoot, then the copying may not be so complicated.