Knowing how to protect your video media is essential for every video editor. Hard drive failure can happen at any time, and losing camera files or edit assets mid-project is a serious risk. This article covers the practical steps I take to keep every editing project safe from start to finish.
Protecting your video media from the start
When a client books me as a freelance video editor, I often arrive at their site to find a single hard drive containing all the camera media files. Occasionally there is a second copy on a separate drive. To properly protect your video media, you need camera files copied onto at least two separate drives from the outset. It is also essential for a smooth post-production workflow to keep all folder structures exactly as the camera cards created them. Any changes to that structure can cause problems down the line.
Many smaller companies and creative agencies have no established process for managing and protecting the assets they generate during post-production and video editing. When that is the case, I believe it falls to the video editor to manage all project assets and media from the start to the end of the edit. Doing this properly ensures the final deliverables reach the client securely.
Once editing starts
As soon as editing begins, new transcodes, media imports, and renders start to accumulate. The original camera files may well have a backup, but these newly created assets often exist on one drive only. A single hard drive offers no protection against drive failure or directory corruption.
Working in Avid Media Composer, I often need to transcode or consolidate AMA-linked camera files before I can begin editing. At that point, only one copy of that media exists. Given the constant time pressures of freelance video editing, finding time to back up all new assets before the edit moves forward is rarely realistic.
Take your own mirrored hard drive
One solution I recommend is to bring your own large external hard drive to every client edit. With a spare drive available, you can run software such as Carbon Clone to duplicate the main media drive continuously as the edit progresses. This ensures at least one additional copy of every new media asset exists throughout the project.
Backing up the media assets alone is not enough. The actual project files need a separate copy too. When I work on my MacPro at a client site, I copy the Avid project onto the media drive and the backup drive, so a problem with my computer does not put the project at risk.
Keeping copies of all media and project assets gives a freelance video editor the best chance of delivering every project securely and on time.
Helping your client protect their video media
Many clients simply do not know how vulnerable their assets are. Explaining the importance of a basic backup workflow can make a real difference. A Promise Pegasus RAID 5 drive paired with a separate clone drive offers an affordable and reliable solution for smaller companies producing their own video content. A RAID 5 drive on its own is not sufficient to protect your video media. You also need a clone of that RAID 5 to guard against total drive failure.
For a thorough overview of different RAID levels and how they compare, the Wikipedia article on standard RAID levels is well worth reading.
I hope this article on how to protect your video media has been helpful. If you have any questions or need advice on your own setup, please get in touch.
There is a comprehensive article of the pros and cons of different RAID levels on Wikipedia.
I hope you have found this article about how to protect your video media helpful. If I can help with any questions or advice that you may have please get in touch via my website contact form.
You might enjoy reading some of my other related blog articles:
