Best archival / mastering method for HDV projects??
 

After your done editing a project originating in HDV - what is the best way to store the file for purpose of recording it to future mediums?
I have been creating an uncompressed master but these files are taking up a lot of hard drive space. What shoudl I be doing? Cineform? What about Motion_JPEG? H.265 codec? I would assume going back to HDV would be destructive? Right?

Write an HDV master to DV tape. Good measure for backup and if all else fails.

Long term:

Create a trimmed project to reduce folder size, and burn that project folder (minus clips, unless it's a really short project) to DVD. Do not rename the clips, do not trim the clips. If you've used timecode correctly, and you need to reopen the project later, then recapture the clips from the original tapes and relink. If you use a template or the same folder structure, all the better.

I can only think of one time that I needed to recapture a project in this manner. But that's what timecode is for.

Short term:
Hard drives last only a few years, and tape will last a decade or more (I've had hard drives die on the shelf already. Things freeze up or corrode). For me, most of my projects only last about two years, and wind up as complete reshoots, etc. I mark the date on the Hard drive, once the date approaches two years, I load up the drive and spin it for a bit to keep everything working (you have bearings on the spidles that will go bad if left to sit too long).

Hard drives that get constant use are automatically replaced after three years with new ones. It cost about $2500 and two-weeks to perform a data recovery from a failed drive (crack open the drive and read directly off the metal disks).

If I were doing this as freelance or outside clients, I'd charge the cost of the hard drive as expense.

agree, just make sure backup expenses are included in the budget

Archiving from MiniDV back to MiniDV...
 

First I wrote about this title here but then decided to put it in a new thread, here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=642768

...it's about an idea of archiving re-encoded (!) material back to tapes....

Whatchathink?