Hi all - Just upgraded from a P3S to a P4P v2. Love the new bird - camera is amazing! Issue I’ve run into is space for vids & pictures. Use to use a dedicated iPad which worked well w the P3S, but the file sizes on the P4P are killing me! Question — Which cloud storage service are folks recommending? And, maybe more importantly, what technique are you using to most efficiently download from the P4P to your storage site? Thanks in advance for the advice!
Advice on Photo storage and Download
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Perhaps we’re behind the times, but we don’t use cloud storage for video footage from our drone. Instead we use tried and tested hardware.
After each session, we download all data to two different portable 1TB portable hard drives - a Seagate and a Toshiba - via a laptop, taking the 64GB micro SD card out of the drone. The best footage is also downloaded to the laptop’s own memory storage.
We decided on this method because of the high degree of reliability of the Seagate and Toshiba portable hard drives. There is at least one “better” method, but it has poor reliability. “What can go wrong will go wrong” so sensible precaution is the way forward if you value your footage.
We also have a 12TB storage device at home for long-term backup of all data.
It’s not that we don’t use cloud storage for data, but just not for our drone footage.
And, yes, the P4P camera is really good for the price.
After each session, we download all data to two different portable 1TB portable hard drives - a Seagate and a Toshiba - via a laptop, taking the 64GB micro SD card out of the drone. The best footage is also downloaded to the laptop’s own memory storage.
We decided on this method because of the high degree of reliability of the Seagate and Toshiba portable hard drives. There is at least one “better” method, but it has poor reliability. “What can go wrong will go wrong” so sensible precaution is the way forward if you value your footage.
We also have a 12TB storage device at home for long-term backup of all data.
It’s not that we don’t use cloud storage for data, but just not for our drone footage.
And, yes, the P4P camera is really good for the price.
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I use a WD wifi hard drive in the field, I like it because you can plug the SD cards straight into it and it will automatically copy your video/images directly. You can connect to it with your phone, tablet or laptop and verify the files transferred correctly. If I have something I’m really concerned about I will transfer it to iCloud (if internet access is available) just in case something goes pear shaped. When I return home I transfer the files to my RAID server. I prefer 16 or 32 gig SD cards, they are big enough for a full flight of video and I never have more than one flight before I transfer off the cards. My pre flight includes a format before launch. I have been caught with a full card in flight and it’s frustrating to say the least.
I’m not sure if WithTheBirds is referring to the WD My Wireless - which was the “better” method for field use that we wanted to get but didn’t because of the dreadful reviews and poor reliability. In theory, this was the ideal solution for photographers and videographers on the move - and made by one of the leading companies. Only, in reality, they badly slipped up when making this product. Yes, some users will be lucky, but the bulk of disappointed customers can’t be wrong. Look at the Amazon reviews for a start. And, to stress again, I’m referring to the WD My Wireless product.
And apologies for being sloppy in my first post. Of course, I meant 64GB micro SD card (not 64MB) - which I’m about to correct/edit now.
And apologies for being sloppy in my first post. Of course, I meant 64GB micro SD card (not 64MB) - which I’m about to correct/edit now.
That the one.... Hasn't failed on me yet. Thanks for the heads up though- perhaps I should be considering something else.
WithTheBirds: We were surprised when myself and my outstanding logistics colleague started to go through the numerous reviews. WD are one of perhaps the top two companies in this area and they’d come up with the right idea of a product for field use. What went wrong?! It’s been a shambles, if not an outright disaster. I just hope they’ll correct the mess with a future product.
And, yes, if I was you I’d get a normal portable hard drive to go with it as the chance of the WD failing is unfortunately significant. It’s not much more of an investment if you value your footage. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB is cost effective and hardly takes any space - but it does need connecting to a device with its USB lead for data transfer.
And, yes, if I was you I’d get a normal portable hard drive to go with it as the chance of the WD failing is unfortunately significant. It’s not much more of an investment if you value your footage. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB is cost effective and hardly takes any space - but it does need connecting to a device with its USB lead for data transfer.
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if you get the opportunity I would be grateful if you might point out what the issue is- I have had no problems. I will be looking into it though.
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As a pro photographer I always used to backup to two hard drives, and also to DVD as well. I do not use cloud storage largely because of download and upload speeds here. However, I do make sure that one set of backups is kept ina different house away from mine. Belt and braces maybe, but it works and continues to work with my drone images. Nowadays I am much more critical about what I keep. That does help to keep storage problems under control.
As a long time digital photographer my storage needs have grown over the years. I shoot raw almost 100% of the time and rarely, if ever, delete images I have shot. Just yesterday I replaced one of my 1.5tb drives in my desktop with a 6tb WD 'Black'. That gives me a 1tb SSD, a 1.5tb WD and the 6tb WD. I also have a Synology NAS on my network that has ~15tb of hot swapable usable storage.
Periodically I use a VPN to my son's house to back up data on his NAS.
As file sizes grow on still and video files the storage requirements will grow with them. I live by the sayings you don't back up that data you don't mind recreating and backup copies not kept off premises aren't backed up.
Periodically I use a VPN to my son's house to back up data on his NAS.
As file sizes grow on still and video files the storage requirements will grow with them. I live by the sayings you don't back up that data you don't mind recreating and backup copies not kept off premises aren't backed up.
As a pro photographer and videographer I also do not consider cloud storage a viable solution. The sheer file sizes that I work with render any cloud storage unrealistic. A single 4K project can easily chew through 250GB of storage or more.
For photography and video I always bring a laptop on set and after "high value" flights where I believe the footage is commercially viable, I take the memory card out of the drone and start copying it to the laptop. While it is copying the drone is back in the air using a different memory chip. As soon as the chip is done copying in the laptop, File History in the laptop is used to immediately make a backup of the footage to an external 8TB hard drive. Also, the original memory chip is not used again on that shoot. So by the time I get back to the office I have 3 copies of the footage for the high value shots.
At the office the original memory chip is then copied to the editing workstation, which also immediately does a backup to a 40TB NAS. The 40TB NAS is synched via a dedicated business VPN connection to a second 40TB NAS in another state.Once the project is complete, the entire project is moved to the 40TB NAS, and a copy of the project is moved to a slower 200TB NAS.
While I am working on the project I typically have up to 6 copies of the footage, after the project is complete, for the first year I have somewhere between 2-4 copies of the footage. For long term storage (typically 3-5yrs) the copy count goes down to 2 copies. After 5yrs the footage copy count goes down to 1 copy.
I also maintain a library of footage that I can use for other projects. I keep 3 copies of library footage forever. By library footage I mean generic clips of mountains, people, waterfalls, etc. etc. that I can use in other video projects as needed. I do the same thing for photography which I can use in slideshows, to sell as stock photography etc.
For photography and video I always bring a laptop on set and after "high value" flights where I believe the footage is commercially viable, I take the memory card out of the drone and start copying it to the laptop. While it is copying the drone is back in the air using a different memory chip. As soon as the chip is done copying in the laptop, File History in the laptop is used to immediately make a backup of the footage to an external 8TB hard drive. Also, the original memory chip is not used again on that shoot. So by the time I get back to the office I have 3 copies of the footage for the high value shots.
At the office the original memory chip is then copied to the editing workstation, which also immediately does a backup to a 40TB NAS. The 40TB NAS is synched via a dedicated business VPN connection to a second 40TB NAS in another state.Once the project is complete, the entire project is moved to the 40TB NAS, and a copy of the project is moved to a slower 200TB NAS.
While I am working on the project I typically have up to 6 copies of the footage, after the project is complete, for the first year I have somewhere between 2-4 copies of the footage. For long term storage (typically 3-5yrs) the copy count goes down to 2 copies. After 5yrs the footage copy count goes down to 1 copy.
I also maintain a library of footage that I can use for other projects. I keep 3 copies of library footage forever. By library footage I mean generic clips of mountains, people, waterfalls, etc. etc. that I can use in other video projects as needed. I do the same thing for photography which I can use in slideshows, to sell as stock photography etc.
Look at the many reviews for it on Amazon.co.uk - you’ll be shocked. I’m pleased you’ve had no problems to date, but please be cautious as there’s sadly a major issue.
This won’t be a UK problem, so I’m guessing there’ll be a similar pattern of reviews in Australia and the US.
Great to see others being likewise cautious and making multiple backups.
We also store one set of data at a separate address. House fires happen and the smoke damage alone can be far worse than you might think.
We also store one set of data at a separate address. House fires happen and the smoke damage alone can be far worse than you might think.
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A lot of folk are discussing storage in the field (which I do as well with portable WD 4TB drives), but the OP is just talking about storage at home I think, so it's a much more basic question.
I don't consider Cloud storage to be more than backup, and I don't use it at all; but if I did use cloud storage, it would not be for main storage (at least, not with just a personal account, and this info may be very dated if you're reading it just a few years in the future).
It could be that you just finally crossed the threshold into more modern high storage needs and should consider upgrading your home storage scenario (plus backup plan). This may require finally updating your whole computer.
But even short of a complete home computer overhaul, the file sizes (both RAW files and video) shouldn't be that much of a burden with how inexpensive external USB hard drives are. Really, an 8TB USB3 drive is only $150 on sale, 4TB under $100.
I do still photo and video on drones as well as other DSLR photo/video-ography and my home storage for all of this is about 24TB; not counting backup, so double that in actuality (and more if you do triple redundancy which is actually where the cloud comes in useful if you have super valuable stuff to store).
I can't imagine how much it would cost to back up 24TB in "the cloud" (somebody else's hardrives on the net that are much slower than what you can do at home).
Chris
I don't consider Cloud storage to be more than backup, and I don't use it at all; but if I did use cloud storage, it would not be for main storage (at least, not with just a personal account, and this info may be very dated if you're reading it just a few years in the future).
It could be that you just finally crossed the threshold into more modern high storage needs and should consider upgrading your home storage scenario (plus backup plan). This may require finally updating your whole computer.
But even short of a complete home computer overhaul, the file sizes (both RAW files and video) shouldn't be that much of a burden with how inexpensive external USB hard drives are. Really, an 8TB USB3 drive is only $150 on sale, 4TB under $100.
I do still photo and video on drones as well as other DSLR photo/video-ography and my home storage for all of this is about 24TB; not counting backup, so double that in actuality (and more if you do triple redundancy which is actually where the cloud comes in useful if you have super valuable stuff to store).
I can't imagine how much it would cost to back up 24TB in "the cloud" (somebody else's hardrives on the net that are much slower than what you can do at home).
Chris
I always take out the SD-card and when back home empty the contents of the micro-SD card into a large harddrive - cronologically structured - on my workstation. I also have an extra SD-card with me when taking importent photos or videos. And I've learned from photograper Tony Northrup that it is practical to use an iPhone accessoir, a cable with a cardreader attached, preferably with a phone/iPad with a large internal memmory as an intermediate storage or even for fast uppload to social medias.
Agreed. I take the card out, copy to my computer's hard drive and an external drive. THen clear the card and put it immediately back into the 'copter. Reason for that is because, twice now, I've got to a place to fly, once even had the bird up in the air, only to find no card in the camera... it was still on my computer desk. Now, I replace it immediately AND have a spare in the case.
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I use a 3 TB Passport Portable Drive for all my video storage. The one critical thing for me is the speed must be high so I'm not waiting eons for downloads and uploads when I want to edit my video.
If you a careful about what speed drives to buy, then simply go to Amazon, or wherever you like and purchase one or two Passport drives.
There are other brands that are just as good or better, but speed is important.
Bud
If you a careful about what speed drives to buy, then simply go to Amazon, or wherever you like and purchase one or two Passport drives.
There are other brands that are just as good or better, but speed is important.
Bud
Been there, done that - very frustrating when you realize you left the card at home!
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