Should $100,000 or more become available, we might build a post-production lab (containing at least 5 networked workstations and a networked projector) and two private editing rooms (each with a networked workstation, 42" HD monitor and stereo speakers with audio mixing). Provided that space for such a lab and editing suites can be found, actually building and outfitting such rooms (with all workstations linked to a server) is a relatively expensive proposition. An alternative would be to outfit an existing computer lab with editing software (such as LoiLo Super MARS HD editing software for the PC). The goal should be to provide students with a facility that could be used by up to 40 film students in a semester. Such a facility should also be designed to be used by additional students for training in gaming and other digital media skills.
If significant funding becomes available, one option for the post production facilities (that would encourage students to shoot on HD and use school facilities rather than their own computers for editing), would be to install a server that would store data and allow all the workstations to share terabytes of data simultaneously over a high-speed fibre channel network. The installation of such a dedicated high-speed network is essential for multiple users editing HD images. But we must stress, this functionality is not required for most current undergraduate students working on their own films (especially if their films are not shot on HD). As HD editing becomes more prevalent, there will be demands for more computing power and data storage. A server on a dedicated high-speed network is one solution for HD editing by numerous students. Such a system will also have the added benefit of centralizing and simplifying the teaching and supervision of student work.
Apple's Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system that provides concurrent data access over high-speed fibre channel to multiple systems on the network. If we install a server and a fibre channel network, student work could be stored and accessed on a central RAID device (RAID refers to computer data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple hard disk drives) so that each workstation would use this centralized data. Instructors could also use the centralized system to evaluate student work.
In the event the school elects to build such a dedicated network for film editing, we recommend installing a Mac Server and Mac Client workstations. The latest Mac OS X Server software ships in September and should cost approximately $500.
For film editing classes, the University would (at a minimum) need to purchase editing software. At present the cheapest version of such software is LoiLo software for the PC discussed in another post on this blog. Alternatively, most professionals and film schools use Apple's Final Cut Pro software (a version of Final Cut Server costs $2,000 alternatively a multiple license educational version of the software is also available for non-networked workstations). Note, Final Cut Pro in it's current version requires a Macintosh computer.
Here is a link to an overview of the type of computer system that would support a networked digital media lab running Apple's Final Cut Pro software and capable of editing HD films - total cost of equipment approximately $40,000 - 75,000.
The following is a checklist for items that would be required to build such a system:
Software for Xsan clustered SAN file system: Allow $2,000 for two redundant servers Xsan 2 requires that Mac OS X version 10.5 or Mac OS X Server version 10.5 software be installed and will support qualified Fibre Channel switches from vendors such as Brocade, QLogic and Cisco, and RAID storage hardware including Xserve RAID and Promise VTrak E-Class RAID subsystems.
RAID Data Storage: Allow $8,000 - 15,000 depending on capacity
Server Hardware (2 are required for redundancy, each will require a 4GB fibre channel card): Allow $7,200
Fibre Channel Switches: Allow $5,000 - 6,000
7 Computers with 24" Screens - These can be Mac Pros or iMacs: Allow $15,000 - 45,000, depending on computers selected and how they are configured. Note, to get the benefit of 4GB stream of data for HD editing, each client must be a Mac Pro with fibre channel card (at $600 each) and purchase of Xsan software (at $1,000 per each Mac Pro) is required.
