High Definition for the Road

Thanks to formats like DVCPro HD and HDV, High Definition can now be edited pretty much anywhere on just about any computer. Yeah, this is cool and you can really make your friends jealous just cutting away with your super slick laptop. But you know what's really slick? Editing Uncompressed High Definition anywhere. How about an Uncompressed editing workstation in a 25'' square box? No way? Way! Read on to find out about Wally's Traveling Box of Mystery and Intrigue...

Walter Biscardi Biscardi Creative Media, Buford, Georgia USA © 2005, CreativeCow.net and Biscardi Creative Media. All rights reserved.

Why Wally, why? It all started during a discussion with a D.P. about how nice it would be to be able to capture footage from a Varicam via the HD-SDI output whenever shooting green screen material. For those who don’t know, the Varicam records in the compressed DVCPro HD codec, but the HD-SDI feed out of the camera is pristine, uncompressed 720p footage. So by recording direct from the camera and bypassing tape, you don’t get any compression, thus a perfectly clean key. Yes, you could rent a D5 deck to do the same, but have you seen the rental prices on those lately? Well to test the theory I packed up my Medea Fibrechannel Array into its box and the G5 into its box and the Kona 2 Kbox into its box and the monitor into its box and then some cables into a bag and the computer accessories into another bag and….. well you get the picture. It was a lot of boxes and “stuff” which barely fit into the back of my vehicle. So I pondered a bit…… And then I thought a while…….. and then I watched my Bruce Springsteen concert DVD and it hit me. “I need a Road Case!” You know, those big black road cases you see at every concert. Pop one open and presto, a 200 channel mixer appears ready to rock in a matter of minutes. What if I could do the same for high definition editing? Just pop open a case at any location and I’m editing in 10 minutes or less.

Click on the graphic below to view larger image Wally’s Traveling Box of Mystery and Intrigue…..

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Odyssey Road Case with full Uncompressed Hi-Def Editing System during modifications / testing.

Two weeks later I had modified the box into the perfect field editing workstation. It was all set up in the office, I took pictures of it and was ready to roll. So I called my wife down and said “Honey, help me put this into the truck, would ya?” Piece of cake, right? I mean, just roll it to the back of the truck and then flip it on its back and push. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It would be very inappropriate for me to divulge the words that came out of my mouth as we attempted to do this very simple task. See flipping over an EMPTY case was easy, but now add a heavy computer and very very heavy hard-drives along with shelves, a battery backup and more….. well let’s just say it was a very painful and ugly experience. The Odyssey case is currently occupying it’s own space in my garage. If anyone would like to purchase it, let me know. It was only used once…. really!

But I digress.

Kona 2 K-box (foreground) and Medea FCR2X FibreChannel Array mounted in the rear of the RRM8U. The Sony MFM-HT75W sits on the shelf at the top of the photo.

This worked out beautifully and gave me plenty of room in front of the drives to set the monitor shelf.

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G5 Dual 2.0 prepped and ready for cosmetic surgery.

The instructions from Marathon are quite good and I love their tongue-in-cheek suggestion for the “ultimate” tool to remove the handles, a chainsaw. They do request a video from the person who attempts this, but as this was going to be a working computer, I decided to stick with a standard hacksaw. I considered a powered jig-saw but I was afraid that vibration from the tool could damage some internal parts. Obviously, you need to cover all the vents and have a vacuum with one of those crevice attachments handy.

As I made the first pull with the hacksaw I have to admit, my first thought was “What the heck am I doing! This is a very expensive computer and I’m cutting it with a hacksaw!” It was pretty scary at that point. But then I remembered a particular crash during a long render that caused me to work late into the night. The second cut felt a bit better. Then I remembered more crashes over the past four years with various PowerMacs and suddenly it became fun to cut away at the machine.

The key to doing this step well is to really take your time in both the prep and the cutting. About every 10 cuts I used the vacuum to clean up the shavings. Approx. 1 hour after I started prepping the machine, I had a handle free G5 ready for horizontal installation.

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Look ma, no handles!



The Final Touches.

Now like I mentioned earlier, the Marathon rack mount unit was too deep for this particular installation, but I found that the G5 fit snugly inside the case and really could not move in any direction once it was sitting in there. But obviously you don’t want a computer sitting right on the floor of a case because it could get rattled pretty good when rolling the case on location. So I went down to my local hardware store and picked up four large round doorstops. They’re about 2” across with a large heavy duty rubber ring that perfectly hold up the G5 in the case and provide shock absorption. They also raised the G5 to the perfect height to allow the DVD drive to open cleanly.

There’s another huge advantage to the G5 simply resting in the case rather than being actually rack mounted. Remember the whole weight thing from my first case? Well, the G5 and the Medea FCR2X in the box together still require that two people be present to lift the case. But if I find myself alone, I simply slide the G5 out of the case, lift the case into the truck, then slide the G5 back into the case. Then I reverse the process on location if need be. So I can truly move this system to a location by myself.

All cables, the keyboard & mouse, and even raw tape stock fit neatly into the rolling base for ease of transport. Since the Sony accepts RCA inputs and the Kona 2 has standard BNC connections, I ordered a set of cables with BNC on one end and RCA on the other end. This way I never have to worry about having adapters on location, it’s all built into the cables. The K-Box does have RCA audio outputs so those connect direct to the monitor. Going with Fibrechannel means that I have two very thin cables to connect between the G5 and the FCR2X which is a lot nicer than dealing with thick SCSI cables. A second shelf wing out front holds the keyboard and mouse.

All in all, it’s about 10 minutes from the time I get the cases into position until the system is fired up and ready to edit.


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Finished system ready for editing.

The Road Ready RR6WD rolling base offers a nice hidden storage compartment.	No editing system is complete without the Creative Cow mouspad!