Videomaker's Mobile Workstation Buyer's Guide
Here are some great guidelines to keep in mind when purchasing a new mobile workstation. You'll also want to check out our Videoguys' tech select recommendations here, too.
Bigger files, more files, just more data – it doesn't seem to matter what you're shooting; the amount of information being generated in production just keeps growing. For editors on-the-go, this can be problematic particularly since finding a mobile workstation is no easy task.
New cameras keep releasing with higher resolutions and higher bitrates for better image quality. Even existing cameras like the GH4 are getting firmware updates for higher bitrate recording. If you're shooting simple events, even without upgrading your camera, there's a good chance you've added a second or third camera — or will soon — effectively doubling or tripling the amount of data generated.
We usually think of our footage files as a data storage problem, but it may be a bigger challenge for your editing system. In many cases, we can just buy more hard drives for the footage, but you can't always buy more hours in the day to get your projects through post. So when you look at mobile workstations, you need to think about the amount of data that needs to be processed today, the speed at which that data is processed and how much the data demands will increase over the time you expect to use that workstation.
MOBILE WORKSTATION BUYER'S GUIDE
From Videomaker MagazineBigger files, more files, just more data – it doesn't seem to matter what you're shooting; the amount of information being generated in production just keeps growing. For editors on-the-go, this can be problematic particularly since finding a mobile workstation is no easy task.
New cameras keep releasing with higher resolutions and higher bitrates for better image quality. Even existing cameras like the GH4 are getting firmware updates for higher bitrate recording. If you're shooting simple events, even without upgrading your camera, there's a good chance you've added a second or third camera — or will soon — effectively doubling or tripling the amount of data generated.
We usually think of our footage files as a data storage problem, but it may be a bigger challenge for your editing system. In many cases, we can just buy more hard drives for the footage, but you can't always buy more hours in the day to get your projects through post. So when you look at mobile workstations, you need to think about the amount of data that needs to be processed today, the speed at which that data is processed and how much the data demands will increase over the time you expect to use that workstation.
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