in the spirit of my latest backup/archive upgrade (nothing like 16TB in a box!) + numerous questions, here’s a quick + easy run down of the structure of saving your ass in the current digital age. this can be scaled to any size but the main functions remain the same. this plan is in part due to a creative tech firm in seattle that’s no longer around but developed the separation of work.

live work is listed below but is basically anything you access for work now – applications, paperwork, images (via lightroom). archive is a complete copy of assets (image + video).
in reality your onsite live work + archive could all be on one server or drive. i’ve been with g-tech for 3 or 4 years + am happy. likewise i work with retrospect for everything back based on experience + too many recommendations to count. the interface is decidedly not user friendly but once you get their geek speak down it’s relatively trouble free. i would venture to say this is the weakest link in the chain. but as long as you manually audit your backups occasionally you should be solid.

the part of this that’s all too often left out that needs to be part of the equation is a bootable backup for your desktop/s machine/s. think about running super duper on your main machine nightly or thereabouts for a bootable copy. i always order an extra internal drive the same as the main + simply copy main to that. when your main goes down you can actually still boot your computer + run it without missing a beat off the super duper copy. i’ve done it + it’s awesome having lost only a day or very little + still having access to email, all your preferences, etc. without a bootable copy you may have saved the programs but have to re-add all your actions, presets, prefs, etc.

this must be done systematically + methodically. the largest most frequent errors are human. offsite means just that.

a couple of points while looking at this:

livework A + B are rotated weekly, not simply copied. of course you can do this more or less depending on your schedule + how far out you want to be before you possibly lose something!

ideally archive is a raid unit.

archive “as necessary” = immediately after you save new work get it offsite as well.

dose of motion tech for monday. word just in from our man ross in CO on his new FCP blog, called youdownwithfcp. he’s the man with his fingers on the keys 24/7 so it’s tech heavy + uber insightful for anyone up to speed.

more basic yet, only four steps to digging into FCP from larry jordan.

Nicholas Jacobs writes:

My 10 year old ACTRA actress daughter (acting since she was 5) wants to produce films. She’s very creative and a good actor and very good with voice work.

It was suggested that she write a short story and use stuffed animals as characters, film it herself, do the voice work and then work with Dad on an iMac to produce a film. We have not bought the iMac yet, and will probably start with iMovie, but may move to Final Cut Express if we need to.

Can we do this with Final Cut Express (not the pro version).

I want to get her started, hopefully with our Canon (as there are just too many options on HD right now) camera and hopefully iMovie and grow from there.

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Larry replies: Thanks for writing – and my best wishes for Elizabeth’s success. At ten-years-old, even a highly motivated kid may not be ready to make a dedicated career commitment. So, as the father of a daughter myself, here’s my take:

1. The hardest part of producing a movie is PLANNING! Thinking thru clearly what your story is, how you want to shoot it, and how you want it to look. Draw sketches of key scenes. This does not require any software – pencil, paper, and brainpower is all that’s necessary. This process is frustrating, difficult, time-consuming, and absolutely necessary. Oh, and it is also great fun.

2. The second hardest part of producing a movie is getting it shot. Making it look right. Telling your story the way you want. This, too, does not require any software; just a camera.

3. If you survive step 1 and step 2, the editing is the least of your worries. I would opt for cheap and easy – iMovie is fine. So is Sony Vegas on the PC. Don’t get hung up on tools at this point. You are deciding if you like the process.

4. If you can plan a movie, shoot a movie, and edit a movie that others want to watch — and you want to do it all AGAIN — that is the point to invest in the tools to become successful.

For now, it is enough to try.

more inspiration on mediastorm if you’re just into the viewing experience.

+ a surprising spot of goods in this month’s digitaljournalist issue including tools such as zacuto’s z- finder + the zoom H4 that i’m down with.

very hard to put it bluntly.

what do ya mean? didn’t you just show up there with your camera + shoot a bit?

not on your life – but glad it came across as that calm + natural.

looking around through the glimmer + shine existing everywhere today + it’s easy to find great work. it’s also easy to assume that this work happens on it’s own or really doesn’t have much of a backstory. but like a good film, without backstory you get a spineless mess that usually collapses on itself.

if you don’t believe me take a look at recent contest winners + start your reverse engineering. in a time crunched, cgi soaked industry it’s relatively easy to assume, “ahh, i have a 5DII with hd i can pop that sucker up on my tripod anywhere + put a fancy pants little ditty together.” and nothing could be further from the truth.

my current estimate in regards to motion work is that it takes quad as long as still image work. of course we’re not limited to pictures (motion or still) with this theme. office time, production work, personal projects, life’s little gifts – everything is evolving + to capitalize on it all takes a unique blend.

here are a few things i’ve found lately that currently or shortly will be enlisted in the effort.

hitchcock – luv keeping ideas moving forward. i firmly believe that if you’re not doing something everyday toward your goals then they’re not happening

evernote’s latest upgrade – great cross everything platform for organizing the myriad vitals

google wave – i was just invited to beta test this potential game changing tool. especially interested in it as project development tool

tilt + shift – purely for the visual fun