Storage Buyer's Guide: Safeguarding Your Digital Creations

Whether you're recording a client’s wedding, your child's birthday party or have just wrapped the final scenes of your latest feature-length indie production, few things would be more disastrous than finding yourself with lost or corrupt files. There are no do-overs with events like weddings and birthdays. And while commercials and movies can be re-shot, it is very time-consuming, expensive and will seriously compromise your clients' and producers' faith in your abilities.

As with all things video, you have to look first at your needs. Will you always work on the same computer system or are you likely to carry your work from one system to another? Is your work of high commercial value and will it require a great deal of security and redundancy? It is very important to be perfectly clear on what you want the storage system to do for you, in order to be happy with your final decision.

Next, consider your budget. Storage solutions can range widely in price and archiving footage takes up space. Typically, what you'll end up with will be a compromise that lies somewhere between what you need and what you can afford. Understanding a few important points about storage components will assist you in making the most out of that decision. So let's take a look at several internal, external, and network attached devices, their uses and features. read more...