Backup recorders

[Ramsay]

Ever since the advent of Dat I have run a backup. Either Nagra or Dat. Only once was it needed. The Post audio company called me two months after production finished on a movie and asked me if I had any backups by any chance. They had actually lost the last ten days of the original Dats. I sent them the whole show which I had recorded on my backup HHB (for free) and it was a good feeling to be able to help. For them and for me it was a very weird experience but I guess these things can happen in any situation. Now that we are non-linear, I record the multitracks on Boom Recorder and back up at the same time on the 744 the mono mix and any splits I feel are very important. At the end of every show I keep a complete hard drive of the entire production (including the backup recordings) and don't erase anything until it has been released.

[Philip Perkins]

Hey all, greetings. In all of 2006 I only recorded to my deva 4 with no back up, in all conditions known to production sound mixers. The only problem I ever had was not hitting the big red record button a time or two. Wonderful machine IMHO. At the end of 06 I bought a SD744T as a back up in case of a melt down or whatever to my main recorder. I would fear returning to my old HHB's for all reasons. In the first 50 some shoot days of 2007, I've been recording to my Deva 4 and 744 recorders at the same time. I've been doing this to learn and feel comfortable with the 744T and not for back up per se. I like the 744 and it makes a fine recording. I can't hear a difference when I play back files from both units in my home studio. I should say that the recorders always had my Cooper in front of them. Regardless, I must say that I enjoy a certain fail/safe comfort feeling by hitting two buttons on both sides of a recording. Much harder to screw up. I have been thinking of leaving it this way if for no other reason than I'll never wear this sucker out before we move on down the road. My biggest complaint of the 744 is entering metadata or navigating the menu. It's not hard, but it's not fast either.  In the commercial world I live in, slating, and metadata change at warp speed and often. After a year and whatever of using the Deva I would find it very hard to downsize to the 744 as my main unit and do the job the same as I do now, but as a back up, or bag or special unit I like it a lot. I did a job last month where we had a film and HD cam on the same scene and I needed them both. Good tools and a good team = good sound most of the time. Peace n Love.

CrewC

I certainly agree about the SD 7xx data entry/menu thing on a commercial where you are doing millions of short takes and the numbers are changing all the time--often a few takes after the recording, WHILE you are recording something else.  In this situations just falling back on a continuously ascending series of file #s with a correlation to the scene/take on an easily correctable paper report (a la Jeff W) seems like the way to go, rather than have a bunch of files with the wrong names.  I know I can correct them later (on the onboard media) but they are already burned incorrectly named on the DVDRAM--and that's what I want to deliver (not another disk burned @ wrap.)

Philip Perkins

[Ramsay]

Just a quick note. The files I record as backup on the 744 are not corrected for scene# and take unless I have had to run and gun with just the 744. In which case I import the files and rename them before burning a dailies DVD. It is too much trouble to do the scene and take on the 744 when it is so easy in a computer based recorder. In a perfect world Post would like backup recordings to have the same metadata as the material you send in on your dailies recordings. But again, backups are rarely needed and as long as the TC and date match, it's still going to save the day. Master mixes and splits are naturally backed up as soon as your daily DVD is burned.