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The Codecs

*If you want me to test a codec, just drop me an email, If i can get enough 10bit codec's together I'll start testing with those. One River Media's Codec site is a little old now but very valuable too!.

Project backup - The what if real world numbers that mean something to you

What if you're not talking about a 38 second clip, what if you are talking about an entire project with say a dedicated system for compression and backup. Lets say you have 100000' of footage, which is something like 1.7 million frames I think - So lets round to 2 000 000 frames of raw footage (23 hours of footage, or 15:1 ratio for a 90 minute feature), and lets say its similar to what I was working with, 2256x1504 - so a bit over 2k

* assuming 150MB/s write speed, for all other test's HDD is not the bottleneck

Assuming you have an LTO3 tape system, best case cost savings on tape is 1330 dollars, if you want two copies you saved 2660 dollars in media, you just ran a computer for 23 days which electricity wish (@ 8cents/kwh) is $13.24 plus a system to do the backup, lets say 2 grand for a system with internal storage good enough for the archiving. You have to leave your footage on the network for a long time.

What if: 1080p 24fps, computer twice as fast

If we are still 8bit (which we definitely are not, not for either scenario) that gives us a speed up of 1.6363:1, with a computer 2 times as fast as my athlon xp 2500+ were up to 3.276:1 times speed wise. Lets see what happens

Uncompressed is easily an option still if you have an LTO3 drive, if you don't, some compression might be an option

PNG - could use it, but don't bother, better stuff out their

JPEG2000 - This may be an option because it may lend itself to being very easily editable, but better ratio's out their and slow to compress

Bitjazz Sheervideo - Fast encode, editable, and a good ratio - a definet possibility

FFV1 (Variable length coding) - you could, but if your going to encode this then you can encode FFV1 (AC) which is better compression and faster encoding

I think the golden number is a week to backup - It can be automated and you never have to look at it, so long as it can see your footage over something like a gigabit network.

Update

All these tests were done on the same Athlon XP 2500+, its an older system but I have to keep the tests on the same system

Input file was 902 frames, at 24fps, 2256x1504 RGB 8bit. It was constructed from stills from a Nikon D50 and since each frame does not have any real area that is static it should provide a very difficult test for any of these codecs.

MSU v0.6.0 is the first to break the 4:1 barrier - At a cost, almost 3 hours of compression for a 38 seconds clip

MSU's max compression sat for 15 hours was 9 hours away so I quit when it looked like size was going to be identical.

Which to archive with?

Simply put, based on the handful of tests I've performed, for 4:4:4 its a toss-up depending on your situation. Keep in mind for a quality codec, with all the options, $150 is practically nothing when your talking a big project. Its a good investment to get Sheervideo.

That aside if you have a dedicated system that can perform the compression and backup and run continuously and you want max compression JPEG2000 set to 100% is good - assuming the project isn't more than 8bit, if it is you have a problem.

For all the options Sheervideo seems a good choice if you don't have a system to continuously churn out the files. I would like to see a slightly higher ratio, though its very good.

If you have a system that could be dedicated to backup, and its an 8 bit project, and its 5+ times more powerful than an Atlhon xp2500+, then MSU will give you the most space savings