Lacie Rugged HD for on set back up

[Shaun Au]

I just bought two Lacie Rugged 320GB 7200RPM triple interface external HDs for backing up on the set. I use Mac FCP suite to work with my red footage. Now when I hook this HD with my Mac Pro, the software ask me to format the drive for either Mac only or two partitions.

Now the question is which way should I format my backup drives. Any NTFS/FAT32 issues here? If I have Mac format it as Mac only, would it be a FAT32 drive which only limits the max file size to 4GB? If I want to format it as a NTFS, should I do the formatting on a PC? If I do that, will Mac be able to read and write to this NTFS disk?

Thanks.

Shaun

[Tai Wah Lim]

I just bought two Lacie Rugged 320GB 7200RPM triple interface external HDs for backing up on the set. I use Mac FCP suite to work with my red footage. Now when I hook this HD with my Mac Pro, the software ask me to format the drive for either Mac only or two partitions.

Now the question is which way should I format my backup drives. Any NTFS/FAT32 issues here? If I have Mac format it as Mac only, would it be a FAT32 drive which only limits the max file size to 4GB? If I want to format it as a NTFS, should I do the formatting on a PC? If I do that, will Mac be able to read and write to this NTFS disk?

Thanks.

Shaun

Shuan, hope all is well with you. If you are using the backup for both Mac and PC, format FAT32 in Mac. Otherwise, buy a third party utility like MACDRIVE loaded in Mac to read PC files. Lim

[Shaun Au]

Tai Wah,

How're things going with you?

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't think I need to back up for PC because I'm mainly using Mac. But I probably need to share this drive with other PC users(post production people). The file size restriction with FAT32 can be an issue when I have an R3D file is over 4GB?

If I format the drive in NTFS on a PC, can I still read and write to it on a Mac?

Thanks.

Shaun

Shuan, hope all is well with you. If you are using the backup for both Mac and PC, format FAT32 in Mac. Otherwise, buy a third party utility like MACDRIVE loaded in Mac to read PC files. Lim

[Brent J. Craig]

Yes, FAT32 is the most universal, and no need to worry about the file size limit, because the Red splits files before they get too big.

Remember that 'rugged' when referring to hard drives is a relative term. Lacie ruggeds have a standard laptop harddrive inside, they just support it with bits of squishy rubber inside and have that rubber casing outside. You will still crash the heads and lose your footage if they take a spill or get the right kind of bump while spinning.

If you have access to a PC, Swissknife is a great free way to format large FAT32 drives.

[Tai Wah Lim]

Tai Wah,

How're things going with you?

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't think I need to back up for PC because I'm mainly using Mac. But I probably need to share this drive with other PC users(post production people). The file size restriction with FAT32 can be an issue when I have an R3D file is over 4GB?

If I format the drive in NTFS on a PC, can I still read and write to it on a Mac?

Thanks.

Shaun

Shaun, .R3D is using FAT32 by breaking the long clip into multiple 2GB files. So no issue there.

Unfortunately, Mac does not read NTFS.

Lim