Harddrive solution to succesfully Capture HDV footage?

panzer948 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 02:19 AM

Have a question about hard drive setup to capture HD video. Spec'ing out a new machine per the following to edit my new Sony HC-7 HDV camcorder, photoshop, and maybe play a game or two:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-38-DQ6 (new X38 CHipset)
Ram: G. Skill 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2 1000 (PC2800)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Video Card: Geforce 8800GT with 512GB ram
Harddrives: 2 WD Raptors 36GB as Raid 0 for OS/System Drive (old),
Western Digital 160GB drive for general data storage/scratch drive (old)
New 2x400GB WD Harddrives setup as Raid 0 to capture video???????

For the Operating System, I plan to setup the Raptors in Raid 0 then partition them into separate drives to create a dual boot config with vista 64 and windows XP 32bit. XP is there really just for video editing due to all the driver issues with Vista 64bit OS.

What I'm worried about is some recommendations I've come across for 4 HDDs setup as Raid 0 to capture HDV files. I was only planning on getting two nice drives like the WD 400GB HDD setup as Raid 0. What solutions to capture HD footage have some of you found that works? Do you think the above hardware can get me by with two HDD in Raid 0 or is even that necessary for HD capture?

Thanks in advance,

Mark W · #2 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 09:53 AM

You DO NOT need raid 0 to capture hdv. Any old crappy drive will do, honest. DV SD actually captures at a higher bit rate than hdv 24mbit/s v 20mbit/s.

Also dont forget raid 0 is less safe than one drive, lose one drivein a raid 0 array and you have lost the lot.

My advice is to use raid 1 on the 2 400 gig drives for peace of mind and you still get a performance increase.

Mark W · #3 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 09:54 AM

Also 8 gig ram is overkill but cool if money is not an issue.

panzer948 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the info guys. This link is where I got some info on using a Raid 0 with 4 drives. Maybe I got confused by his post (see last post on this thread): Videoguys Forums :: View topic - Drive question again

In any event, that is good to hear that my proposed setup will work. Oh, I am adding 8GB of ram now just to future proof this thing for the next 3 years. It will only be about $130 to go from 4 to 8.

Thanks again,

panzer948 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-05-2007, 10:50 PM

I have another question related to Raid. I understand for very large files (Video streaming etc.) a larger stripesize is better. For mainstream usage (office, gaming etc.) a stripe and clustersize in the 8-32 kB range is a common choice, of course the optimum stripe and clustersize combination also depends on the RAID controller and drives. Since this forum is related to video editing, what stripe and cluster size have you guys setup?