Well… where to start? This isn’t going to be a huge long review as this isn’t a complicated device, but that is exactly what you want for backing up in the field. The NextoDi NVS2500 is really simple to use, very fast and well though out.

So what exactly is it?

It’s a small one piece box that allows you to back up most forms of media to an internal hard drive. It has it’s own internal rechargable battery, a small LCD screen and 2 controls. A power button on the side and a thumbstick on the front. It’s made from a very tough looking plastic and is supplied with rubber boots that go on the top and bottom to protect it from the knocks and bumps it is almost certain to receive out on location. On the top there are slots for Compact Flash, SD cards and Memory sticks while on the side there is an express card slot. It’s this express card slot that makes it different to most of the other backup devices on the market as this will accept Sony SxS cards from the EX cameras as well as a supplied adaptor for Panasonic P2 cards. On the bottom of the device there is a standard mini USB port, a combined Esata/USB port and a Firewire 400 port. In addition there is a power socket for external power and charging. The unit is supplied with a charger plus a cigarette lighter adapter and a small battery box that takes 4x AA batteries.

First Use:

The NVS2500 arrived on the morning of a shoot, so I just threw it in my kit bag and went off on the shoot. At the end of the day I had several full 8Gb and 16Gb SxS cards, so it was the ideal opportunity to test it out. In the past I have used a small Netbook PC with a USB drive to backup my footage on location. This has worked well, but it’s a little awkward as you have both the computer and a drive attached by a cable to deal with. So before I started to pack away my gear I dug out the 2500, turned it on by pressing  the button on the side. After a couple of seconds the device was ready so I popped a 16Gb SxS card into it the side. The NVS2500 checks the card and then asks you if you want to back it up. A short press of the thumbstick starts the card backup, it’s as simple as that!

Now when I used to use the laptop and USB drive I would at this stage continue packing up my kit, go and have a coffee or start the journey home as each 16Gb card would take about 12 minutes to backup. As I watched the copy bar graph on the NVS2500 however I realized that I wasn’t going to get much kit packed before I would need to swap cards. This thing is fast, seriously fast. My full 16Gb card took less than 4 minutes to backup! How did I ever put up with the backup speeds of my laptop? I can now backup my footage at over 10x real time.

Verification:

So what about file verification? Well you need to be sure that your backups are good. There are several ways to do this with the NextoDi. One way is to use the preview function of the NextoDi to play back your clips, that’s right, it can playback footage that has been backed up. It can play XDCAM EX as well as many other formats including Convergent Design NanoFlash files, HDV and most Panasonic DVCPRO and AVC files. AVCHD playback should be coming via a firmware update as well. Admittedly the screen is small and a little dark, and the playback is a bit jumpy but for checking that the backup is good it is perfectly acceptable. Another way to verify your backup is to re-insert the original card. The NextoDi box will automatically tell you that you have already backed up the card (assuming of course that you have) and then give you the option to do a partial or full backup verification. All clever stuff!

So what else can it do?

If you plug a USB drive in to the Esata/USB host port on the bottom of the unit you can copy backups from the NextoDi to the USB drive using the Sync function. It should be noted that the USB drive must be FAT32 formatted. You can also make simultaneous backup copies to both the NextoDi and the USB drive. These functions are great for creating double backups, either to hand off to a client or for extra security. The only down side is that the copy speed is restricted by the USB interface so using this mode I was back to similar speeds as my old laptop backup system. However the NVS2500 is a lot more portable than a laptop and it’s simpler to use. Trying to create folders and copy files while bouncing down a road in a car with a laptop on your lap is frustratingly hard to do. With the NVS2500 it’s simply a matter of pluging in the USB drive and then pressing the little thumbstick to start the sync process. One small point to note is that if you are using an external drive you must provide the NVS2500 with an external power source. The cigarette lighter adapter works well in a car, but if your out in the field you can use the supplied AA battery box.

Back at base:

Once back in the edit suite there are no surprises. It’s just as simple to use here too. If you have an Esata port on your computer you can plug the device in via that for ultra fast transfers. If you don’t have Esata then you can connect via USB or Firewire, while not as fast you still have full access to all the backups on the device. Each backup is stored in it’s own folder with the time and date of the clips it contains, which is an excellent way of naming folders, helping you find footage easily in the future.

Conclusion:

Well I have to say the NVS2500 has really impressed me and everyone that has seen it. Especially when they see how fast transfers from SxS cards are. My backup laptop is now sitting in a corner in the office gathering dust. I just love the fact that I can pop the 2500 in a rucksack or even a large pocket and I really can do a quick backup just about anywhere with the very minimum of fuss. I really don’t know how I managed without one. It will be coming with me to the Arctic in January so I’ll be able to see how it deals with the cold. The NextoDi NVS2500 gets 9/10 from me. If the LCD was bigger and playback smoother then it would be 10/10, but all in all an excellent device that has been given the nickname “the magic box”.

So you go on a shoot and start filling up you expensive memory cards, at some point you will have to start off loading your material onto something else. In the field this is likely to be hard drives of some sort. Backing up to a single hard drive should only be done as a last resort or for media that you don’t mind loosing. You have several options here, you could use Shotput Pro to backup to single or multiple drives. I really like shotput as you can use it to eliminate a lot of user errors. For a start shotput can be set to backup to multiple locations simultaneously from the source media. Then once it has made the copies and verified the copies it can, if you wish, format the card, ready for re-use. Allowing Shotput to format the media helps prevent human error. How? Well if I ever put a card in my camera and find it has footage on it, it means that card has not been backed up and verified by Shotput. This is better than backing up yourself as there is always the risk of a mix up between backed up and not backed up cards. The other way to backup with a computer is to use the Sony XDCAM EX Clip Browser. You should never use the windows explorer or Mac finder to backup your valuable media as there is no form of error checking. Clip Browser has built in error checking which is enabled under the preferences tab.

A further option is to use a dedicated backup device such as the NextoDi products or soon to be released Sony PXU-MS240 backup device. These are easier to use than taking a laptop into the field. The NextoDi devices can backup to 2 drives at once (full review of the NVS2500 comming soon) and the Sony device backs up to removable esata drive cartridges.

So what sort of hard drives should you use? Well I am currently using pairs of USB Western Digital “Elements” hard drives. Where possible I use 3.5″ drives as opposed to the smaller 2.5″ laptop type drives. These are low cost yet so far have proven to be reliable and of good quality. The larger 3.3″ drives should be more reliable, but they are bigger and bulkier and require mains power, so in the field I use the 2.5″ drives. By storing these drives at separate locations, one at home and one in the office, I have a very safe system. If my office were to burn down or get flooded, I would have a spare copy at home. Over time however these drive will fail so every couple of years I move my footage on to new, larger hard drives. Another hard drive option is to use G-Tech G-Raid drives. These units contain two separate hard drives and can be used in raid 1 mode so should one of the drives fail your data should be safe. The cost is similar to using a pair of drives and it’s certainly less fiddly than using pairs of drives but it doesn’t give the security of separate storage locations. If you are doing corporate videos then you could consider selling drives to your clients. The client then keeps the drive and as a result you are no longer responsible for it’s storage or safety, just like if the client kept your rushes tapes.

For longer term storage, again there are many options. I backup a lot of my material to BluRay discs. This is not a fast process, use high quality discs and you should be good for 20+ years. Another option is to backup to Sony Professional discs using a Sony PMW-U1 drive. This is a lot faster than most current BluRay burners and the discs are protected in a rugged caddy. Sony claim a life of 50 years for the discs so it is a very good long term storage solution. The new Sony PMW-350 and EX1R as well as the Convergent Design NanoFlash (next firmware release)  have shooting modes that allow footage to be saved on XDCAM discs (Sony Professional Discs) as video clips and not just data files. Using these modes you can put the discs in a player and play back the material directly.

A further long term storage solution is LTO tape. It seems strange to be going back to tape, but LTO4 tape is very reliable and widely supported. It’s not suited to applications where you need quick access to your footage, but is very good for long term security. A good compromise may be one copy on a hard drive as a working copy along with a backup on LTO for archive.

Raid Arrays can be used for long term storage, but even Raid arrays can fail. If the lookup table becomes corrupted it can be next to impossible to recover the data off the discs, so do be careful. Do remember however you store your footage try and be organised. Store your material in a sensible folder structure that will help you find your rushes quickly and easily. If you are out shooting for a day you may be generating a hundred or more files, do that day in, day out and you will generate thousands and thousands of files. Make sure you work out you clip naming and clip prefixes in such a way that you won’t get duplicate names and can find your footage quickly and simply.

And just one more reminder, always save the full file structure. In the case of XDCAM EX keep the full BPAV folder and all it’s contents, also don’t rename the BPAV folder. Even if you edit on a Mac and use the Sony Transfer Tool to make .mov files you should keep the BPAV folders as trying to edit the  .movs on a PC or AVID is a nightmare. If you have the original material you can easily work with it on any platform.

http://www.xdcam-user.com

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Sunday Night Snooker Opener, Grand Prix 2009 from Idustrial Revolution on Vimeo.

All shot on the Canon 5DmkII, this opener was at the top of the show for the BBC’s sunday night coverage of the Grand Prix Snooker 2009.

Cameraman Colin Nuttall got some amazing low light behind the scenes action. Edited in FCP by Peter Wiggins after being converted using some custom Compressor droplets.

Full credit to IMG & the BBC for getting never seen before images onto the screen for snooker fans.

Lenses used
Canon 50mm F1.2 L 
Canon 300mm F2.8 L
Canon 24-105mm F4 L

Here we go again just as tape takes stage left we are back with the same old problem…deciding what format to go with…again ! Don’t these companies ever learn, surly the battlegrounds of dead tape formats would be a hint that we are not interested in going to war again.

Now that I have embraced solid state for myself here is my professional leader board of importance…

1. RELIABILITY

2. ARCHIVE/CLIENT HAND OVER

3. PRICE

Breaking this down I have been using the SxS format for almost two years now and thanks to the boys in Australia have been using the MxR adapter for 8 months. Just in case you have been in a ca-coon for the last year… SxS is Sony’s solid state card used in the Sony EX-1 or 3…as you can see from the price above a 32GB SxS card will set you back £632. I have to mention here that if you are going to over crank which is an old film term for running your frames above 25/29 frames per second (fps) causing a slow motion effect when played back at 25fps/29fps, you cannot use the SDHC cards as yet.

MxR (eHDR, eLCR) is an adapter for SDHC cards which inserts into the Sony EX-1 or EX-3. The adapter costs £40 and a Transend class 6 SDHC card costs £85… totalling £125 against Sony’s £632 !  Sony as if you didn’t know do not recommend this route for obvious reasons but I reckon over 85% of EX-1/3 users use the MxR adapters.

So unless you are going to film a lot of slow motion (Over cranking) you do not need to use the SxS card . I only use 16GB Transend Class 6 SDHC cards and at £30 a card I now have a reliable way to archive my days filming.

NONE of the above companies have thought about client hand over, that’s obvious when you see the prices of the media which is a strong suspicion why more companies don’t use HD and continue with DVCAM.

Archive… this has been completely missed off the map…It’s the major factor that companies like Sony and all their brain power had not properly researched when trying to convert tape users to solid state. Over the years tape users have become creatures of comfort…comfort in knowing that if all else fails you can access the original camera footage and start again from scratch, this “comfort zone” is missing with expensive solid state media, you can’t even keep a camera copy, yes you can back up onto 2 hard drives but this waists a lot of time and space in my opinion and is by no means a safe solution. SDHC is cheep enough to allow archive and Sony still don’t recommend using SDHC simply because they did not think of it first !

Price…well what can I say… even the broadcasters are looking after the pennies these days so charging silly money for these cards means your product will not have the same uptake…Panasonic can vouch for this with their previously ludicrous pricing of the P2 media.

So with Ikegami/Toshiba coming in with their 32GB GFPak at £950 not to mention the GFCAM at £20,000 upwards…I think they are holding onto prices that companies will no longer pay and to testify to this Creative Video nor Preston Media have this camcorder on their web sites, so if you can’t sell the GFCAM camcorder you are not going to sell any GF media either !

Greenpeace: Voices of change. Shot on Canon 5dmkII from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

This is a fine example of what can be produced using a Canon 5DMk11 digital stills camera with full HD movie mode. When I see footage as good as this I get sorely tempted to produce something with my 5DMk11.

Mr Bloom “I am once again on my travels…this time I am in Delhi, India. Shooting a commercial/ mini Doc for Greenpeace based out of Amsterdam. It’s to go in the ad breaks of CNN, Al Jazeera and National Geographic. The plan is to have a series of case studies highlighting how climate change is affecting different countries and people around the world. This is the first one and it’s all about the effect on the big urban cities.

Lucy Campbell-Jackson from Greenpeace is the director, Prajna Khanna is the producer and I have my twitter buddy Guarav Sharma as my assistant as well as his friend and fellow 5d owner Umesh

We’re here for a week and so far today we have just shot B-Roll. We went into Old Delhi and into the Spice Market. Wow that was pungent! We went up into one of the shops to get a top shot and we walked through where they were bagging all the spices, I actually felt quite dizzy and sick it was so overpowering!

Once again I am shooting on the Canon 5dmkII. Popular camera this…I get asked a lot for it! I like shooting with it, great pics and small, but the limitations and frustrations still get to me a bit. Loved to do some nice timelapse or overcranking but that’s a no go with the 5d. You can shoot stills for timelapse but that’s a pain for the client.”

My thanks to Bob Hawtin for giving us a heads up on the new SxS drivers from Sony you can find the drivers here….

http://www.sony.ca/promedia/drivers.htm

EDITOR : The best part about this news is that it should start reducing the price of Class 6 cards especially the 32GB Class 6 Transend card.

“The new SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash line is the direct result of SanDisk’s passion, commitment, and break-through engineering innovation to provide best-in-class flash memory cards for professional photography,” said Eric Bone, vice president, retail product marketing, SanDisk. “The SanDisk Power Core Controller delivers unmatched write speed and reliability, providing photographers with a spectacular combination of performance, capacity and peace of mind that images are safely stored.”

SanDisk develops its flash controllers and memory chips together, allowing the company to perfectly match and fine-tune the two technologies throughout the testing process, resulting in high-performance products with industry-leading endurance. The SanDisk Power Core Controller brings numerous benefits to the SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards, including:

• High-Performance:The SanDisk® Power Core™ Controller’s dual-lane architecture and software algorithms double card performance, enabling the SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards’ read/write speeds of up to 90MB/s over a UDMA-6 bus.
• Increased-Reliability: The SanDisk Power Core Controller’s firmware algorithms and 42-bit ECC engine maintain data integrity and extended card endurance through optimized wear leveling.
• Simplified Design:To further increase overall card durability, the SanDisk Power Core Controller features an integrated design that requires fewer individual components on the card’s printed circuit board.

Professional-Grade Memory:
Faster read and write speeds mean more opportunities to capture the winning shot and less time spent offloading gigabytes of images afterwards. Large storage capacity enables photographers to capture RAW images and high-definition video clips in a single session without running out of space.

This unique combination of speed and capacity makes the new line of cards well suited for professional usage models involving large amounts of data and tight deadlines. The SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards’ 16 to 64GB capacity range offers the storage space needed to allow extended shooting sessions without having to reload.

“As a professional sports photographer, I rely on a speedy camera and high-performance SanDisk Extreme Pro cards to capture as many images as possible within a few seconds using continuous burst mode,” says Jeff Lewis, professional photographer and member of the SanDisk Extreme Team. “How fast you can download and edit images from the cards makes a big difference when it comes to getting sports images distributed. The first images out of the media room tend to be the ones that get picked up. Speed really counts for getting selected by the top photo editors.”

Renowned for their world-class durability, SanDisk Extreme cards guarantee operation at extended temperatures ranging from minus 13 F (minus 25 C) to 185 F (85 C). SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards feature RTV Silicone coating for added protection against moisture and humidity. The cards can withstand accidental drops of up to nine feet, and carry a lifetime limited warranty.³

SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards are fully compatible with any camera, card reader or other device that supports CompactFlash cards⁴. The SanDisk Extreme Pro ExpressCard™ Adapter will be available in late October on SanDisk.com and at select retailers. The reader is optimised to take advantage of the SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash card’s up to 90MB/s read speed.

SanDisk is also introducing new SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash cards at increased performance of previous SanDisk Extreme III CF cards. The new SanDisk Extreme and SanDisk Extreme Pro cards represent the step beyond SanDisk Extreme III and SanDisk Extreme IV cards, respectively, with exact pricing to be set by retailers.

I can’t stress enough the importance of using the correct cards for the job. Only tonight I had a timely reminder the difference between true class 6 and class 5.5 !  I was filming a local Cub and Scout group using a Sony EX-3 and decided to use 2 8GB cards…One Transend Class 6 and the other a Panasonic Class 6.

Filming in 1920 x 1080 I had 28 mins per card the 1st being the Transend. Seven thirty PM the Scouts barge in and I am swapping slots, the second card (Panasonic) kicks in and all seemed well till I got a “restore media warning” I decided to switch off the camcorder and when it came back on I was asked to “restore media” with a choice to cancel or execute, so I decided to execute.

Everything seemed well till this happened again, I went through the same process and took a decision to swap out the MxM card holder with the Panasonic SDHC card for an 8GB SxS card, I only had this card and a 16Gig Transend which I was saving for another job.

I have tried a 16GB Verbatum Class 6 and an 8GB Panasonic class 6 in the MxM card holder, both gave me trouble in fact the Verbatum was a non starter.

The moral of the story is if you are using the Sony EX-1 or 3 and you intend to use the MxM card holders you must stick to a brand that you know is truly class 6 like the Transend SDHC card. Transend also produce a specific video SDHC Class 6 card which I have also tested and works fine. Do not be confused by the times given on front of the card this is for domestic customers.

SanDisk chose the Photo Marketing Association show in Australia to debut its latest-generation SDHC card, as well as announce some much-needed rebranding. In August, the company will ship the new Class 10 32GB cards as SanDisk Extreme SDHC, simultaneously rebranding the current Extreme III line as simply Extreme. Which is what it used to be called.

I’ve ranted before about the FUD surrounding the whole SD speed and Class rating issue, and in response to articles like that, SanDisk’s PR team included an FAQ (which doesn’t seem to be available online) to clear up our seeming confusion.

On one hand, the FAQ does clearly delineate the difference between minimum sustained (Class ratings) and burst transfer rates (maximum attainable speed); video requires a certain level of performance for the former while dSLRs need the latter for optimal burst shooting results. And it also points out, as I’ve said, that past a certain fixed point, the camera or camcorder cannot take advantage of a faster card, though a reader might be able to.

However, it fails to say that some cards–many of which are SanDisk’s, ironically–already offer sustained transfer rates far higher than their Class ratings. Which it then proves by announcing when it rebrands its 30MBps Extreme III SDHC their Class rating will magically rise from Class 6 to Class 10. Because now there’s a Class 10 spec. Of course, the company’s Ultra II SDHC cards have tested with sustained transfer rates greater than 6MBps, the necessary speed for a Class 6 card, yet they’re only rated as Class 2. Of course, they’re also cheaper than the company’s VideoHD-branded cards, rated as Class 4. But the ones labeled “Video” say “Video” so you know to buy them for video. Helpful!

Panasonic announced the immediate availability of its new 16GB (model AJ-P2E016X) and 32GB (model AJ-P2E032X) E Series P2 cards at low costs of $420 and $625 respectively. The E Series P2 cards provide high quality recording for an average of five years with normal operation.

Incorporating a newly-developed memory technology, E Series P2 cards transfer recorded content at a faster rate (up to 1.2Gbps) than professional solid-state memory cards offered by other manufacturers. For example, users can transfer a full 16GB E Series card’s content (any format) in less than two minutes. E Series cards offer the same high-quality recording and capacity as standard Panasonic P2 solid-state memory cards, and feature Panasonic’s signature aluminum die cast casing for exceptional durability compared to plastic-based memory card products.

Unlike other disc-based or solid-state recording systems, P2 cards are a high-speed bit bucket, offering high-quality video recording and optimum flexibility, including reliable performance, instant access to content and compatibility with all P2 camcorders, P2 recorders and workflow tools and all major nonlinear editors and servers. P2 cards store content in the complete range of P2-supported frame rates and formats, from high definition to standard definition and from DVCPRO to AVC-Intra 100. P2 cards offer recording of video, audio, and metadata in any environment, even in challenging conditions of extreme temperature.

E Series P2 cards are reusable for up to five years when recorded on once daily, at full capacity (100%); when used at half capacity (50%), the cards can continue to record for up to 10 years. A notification is given (in the camcorder’s LCD/viewfinder or the card reader’s display) as the card approaches the end of its life cycle.