9 camcorder feeds simultaneously over 4 days

[mhstein]

I am in a position where I have to record 1080p video from 9 camcorders for 12 hours a day over the course of 4 days. Ideally, the system would be set up in the morning and turned off at night, but left running throughout the entire day. Does anyone know if it's possible to hook an external hard drive directly to a camcorder? Any make or model is helpful, as I haven't yet purchased the equipment. Would I be better off recording these cameras to a computer? If so, how many computers would be required?

Any and all information is helpful. I have not provided details to equipment because all of the equipment will be purchased pending the solution. Exchanging CF cards or dumping video throughout the day is not a viable option at this time.

Thanks!

[Khaver]

There are camcorders that use internal hard drives to record to. Get 9 of these and spend the night transfering the video to external hard drives attached to a laptop. A laptop with eSATA or USB 3.0 with matching portable hard drives would be best.

[edDV]

What are the camcorders? What format? Are you attempting to record off Firewire or HDMI or analog component?

Focus Firestore makes special hard drives for HDV and DVCProHD cams.
http://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/video_production.asp

For HDMI
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hyperdeckshuttle/
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/hyperdeckstudio/
http://www.sounddevices.com/products/pix.htm
http://nofilmschool.com/2011/02/atomos-ninja/
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/735435-REG/AJA_KI_PRO_MINI_R0_Ki_Pro_Mini_Compact.html
http://www.aja.com/products/kipro/ki-pro-mini/ki-pro-mini-description.php

You should look into renting these if for just one event.

[mhstein]

The camcorders and format have not been purchased yet. I'm buying the equipment specifically for this project after figuring out how to do it. I will definitely look into the links you've provided there, so thank you for those. I haven't checked the links yet, but I was under the impression there were no camcorders with hard drives big enough to support 12 hours of continuous HD footage. Am I mistaken?

Renting is not much of a concern right now. I would rather purchase whatever is needed.

Thank you for the help and direction.

[edDV]

Most of the recorders above use solid state drives to record uncompressed video off the HDMI ports. Uncompressed file sizes will be huge (~425 GB per hour for 1080 60i) so figure 5TB per camera for 12 hours. Double that for 1080 60p.

The only 1080i format that streams compressed is HDV (MPeg2 1440x1080 60i @ 25 Mb/s over Firewire). 25 Mb/s is ~ 13GB/hr or 156 GB for 12 hours.
http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/camcorders/consumer_camcorders/vixia_hv40

Other compressed solutions would be in the security cam class.

Another option is HDMI to h.264 hardware encoding.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/744366-REG/Teradek_CUBE_220_Cube_220_1_Channel_HDMI.html
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/h264prorecorder/

[Khaver]

I haven't checked the links yet, but I was under the impression there were no camcorders with hard drives big enough to support 12 hours of continuous HD footage. Am I mistaken?

You are mistaken. You can get camcorders with up to 220GB hard drives which will get you way over 12 hours of 1080p AVCHD video. You'll need AC power though. Batteries won't last for 12 hours.

Look at the Sony HDR models.

[edDV]

Here's one from Sony. 13hr at 28Mb/s top quality mode.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&stor...specifications

[mhstein]

I will have power from the wall for all 9 cameras, so I think if one of the Sony HDR models you speak of can give me over 12 hours at 1080p, that is the route I will go. Thank you very much.

[mhstein]

Does anyone have experience with this camera? http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HDC-HS900K-220GB-Compatible-Camcorder/dp/B004I43MK4

It seems nine of these would do what I need quite nicely, but I want to check first.

[edDV]

Does anyone have experience with this camera? http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HDC-HS900K-220GB-Compatible-Camcorder/dp/B004I43MK4

It seems nine of these would do what I need quite nicely, but I want to check first.

It is fairly new. Not many serious reviews.

My main concern is which editor will handle the 1080 60p files. 60p is outside the AVCHD spec.

Also, dumping that much data each night and backing up is non-trivial. It must be done over USB.