Are we still burning DVD's? UStream anyone?

[skydiveoc 0]

At .20 a dvd and 2 gb thumbs at $3, it seems we're still going the route of giving the student removable media, dvd more than thumbs. Seems so old school now.

Has anyone made use of UStream or its competitors as a media delivery source instead of DVD's?

[C7JM 0]

I don't jump there very often anymore but the DZ I started jumping at a few years ago hasn't used DVD's in at least 3 years, maybe more. Tandem students include their e-mail in the waivers and then within 24-36 horus (I think) they get sent online links to where the content is hosted and can be downlaoded.

[OzzieDave 1]

Worked at the above mentioned DZ in Canada. All hosted online and post fact purchase of other media (i.e. just bought video and now want the stills as well) which was great for me pay cheque (sometimes people can't afford it all on the day or sometimes they see how cool the other product is and want it as well). The customer is sent an email with a login and they can down load it anytime they want.

2 dzs I have worked for in the last few years used DVDs (Australia) and the DZ I currently work for (UK) uses a USB thumb drive integrated into a branded business card size piece of plastic which is pretty cool.

I feel the online hosting is by far the best way of content delivery for most countries but for some countries, like Australia, it isn't yet viable as a large part of the country still doesn't have cheap/high speed internet.

My 0.02c

[kawisixer01 0]

I'm curious about process time. Using Final cut or Vegas, which method is the fastest to process on a busy day? My DZ is still burning disc, but we were just talking yesterday about making the switch, wholesale, to USB drives. Does this cut the process time? I think it should, but our editing bay thinks USB thumbs would take them longer.

[DSE 3]

No application can beat Vegas at this task.
Vegas is the only application that can render multiple videos at once, and only app that can render while editing while ingesting.

Depending on the system, my "show off" stage presentation of Vegas at tradeshows, is to have 14 instances running at once, all in varying degrees of resolution, frame rates, source media format etc.

It is ugly, but the only automatable system out there. Years ago, I invented "Broadcast Assistant" for ABC Nightline television show, and not long after that became Production Assistant. With some deep input from Chris Warnock/Parachutist here on DZ.com, it became Production Assistant 2.0, the standard for automating ingest, auto-edit, and template-based production for skydiving videos. It's now been copied by a coupla companies, but...the format, system is indisputably the best.

I no longer have any interest/partnership in the Production Assistant plugin tool for Vegas, so happy to answer questions without having a vested value in it.

[kawisixer01 0]

So DSE is one format a faster workflow than the other? Disc versus USB?

[DSE 3]

kawisixer01

So DSE is one format a faster workflow than the other? Disc versus USB?

Disc is significantly slower, as it's a burn to media, this is usually as lengthy a wait as render. Thumbdrive is a file xfer, so there is only the render time.

Thumbdrives can be lightning fast, if you use USB2 ports and compatible thumbs. Uploads are significantly slower, unless you have an uncluttered web connection (I've yet to see a DZ that does, but I'm sure it's out there).

[Hellis 0]

kawisixer01

So DSE is one format a faster workflow than the other? Disc versus USB?

You could, with fast enough drives, render to the usb drive and you there is no additional wait time.
But then you have no copies on your computer

[DSE 3]

The 3-10 seconds you'd save by doing this is fraught with any number of potential problems.
-as you mention, no archive.
-USB is a shared resource, so corrupt files are entirely possible (and probable)
-Drives that are fast enough to render to are not readily available and not cost-effective. "Cheap" fits most DZ budgets.
-You couldn't effectively render to a number of USB drives at once.

It's a good paper plan for sure. Just not very practical.

This will change over time, of course. We're very near the end of physical media anyway, particularly as available speeds in remote areas become faster.

[Hellis 0]

DSE

The 3-10 seconds you'd save by doing this is fraught with any number of potential problems.
-as you mention, no archive.
-USB is a shared resource, so corrupt files are entirely possible (and probable)
-Drives that are fast enough to render to are not readily available and not cost-effective. "Cheap" fits most DZ budgets.
-You couldn't effectively render to a number of USB drives at once.

It's a good paper plan for sure. Just not very practical.

This will change over time, of course. We're very near the end of physical media anyway, particularly as available speeds in remote areas become faster.

3-10 seconds sounds low.
Even with 10 MB/s writespeed that is only 100 MB file.
It's possible but it's not HD and/or a short video.

However you could create a "backup" that auto copy the new file created in vegas directory to the usb media, that will make the process automatic for the editor so that he/she does not have to make that extra step in the process

[DSE 3]

Just did a file Xfer of 600Mb over USB 2, it took 13 seconds, so perceived time vs reality, you're correct. :)

There is an auto copy command for production assistant that we took out, simply because the USB port assignments change frequently in some hardware systems.

[Hellis 0]

Was that on a memory that cost $2-3?
What I mean is that usually cheap memories are slower, so comparing times with a $100 memory isn't valid.

[DSE 3]

This is on the 2$ Elsinore stick, running from my MacBook Pro running Windows 7 over Bootcamp.

[Hellis 0]

Ok!