Running Over the Features of the REV PRO
Even though I’m sporting a 1.5 terabyte RAID in my Guy Graphics workstation, I still find ways to quickly run short on space. Whether it’s my own HDV editing projects, the myriads of stock footage I have, or the multi-layered songs I keep writing, I’m always interested in new ways to maximize my storage.
Enter the REV PRO, stage left.
Right out of the box, the REV PRO is smaller and sturdier than I expected. The disks don’t feel like they’ll crumble or crack like a floppy, DVD, or Zip disk nor do they feel like they’ll fail over time by just sitting on a shelf the way a hard drive would. I’ve had such bad experiences with removable hard drives that I was really hoping to find a good valuable replacement for my storage needs.
The installation for the REV PRO was relatively simple. While it’s always best to follow their included directions of inserting the included software disk first and then plugging in the REV PRO after prompted, the makers of REV PRO knew that there would be people like me who love plugging things in before reading the directions. Therefore, the free REV PRO 35GB disk that is included with the REV PRO drive comes preloaded with the software you need to install the REV PRO on either a windows platform PC or a Mac.
After the REV PRO has been configured and you reboot your workstation, you’re free to play. As an external storage option, the REV PRO seemed to be a very logical option. The 35GB size is perfect for being able to store separate projects on separate disks without feeling like you’re wasting empty disk space. The price of each disk is only slightly more than it’s hard drive counterpart, but the REV PRO is far more durable than any hard drive I’ve used. This is why I can see it completely replacing all removable media for me. Although it’s not as fast in performance as a hard drive, it’s far more reliable and sturdy. And the storage size of a REV PRO far exceeds that of any other removable media. Although I have no way of testing it, the REV PRO disks are said to have a storage life of more than 30 years. With all the intelligent design that went into things like vacuum sealing the enclosure to combat dust and other culprits that could damage the disk, I believe it.
We, at Guy Graphics, were instantly sold on its durability. One can tell before it’s even plugged in that it will be stable. It’s not heavy at all like a hard drive, so carrying multiple disks around would not be a burden. But it’s not exposed like CD’s or DVD’s so you don’t have to worry about blemishing the data by breathing on it wrong. Besides, with all the amazing marketing stunts Grass Valley has done to prove the REV PRO can withstand a beating and still work beautifully (Things like running it over with a car, or bouncing it back and forth across a table) we were sure it would be around for years.
But, like any gear-head, we wanted to see just how fast the REV PRO could run. Sure, we knew it was great for data storage and transfer, but was it fast enough to edit and capture video like a hard drive? We were told that it has a maximum data transfer rate of 204 megabits per second and a minimum of 110 megabits per second (27.5-13.75 MB/s), but what does that transfer to in the real world?
The first thing we tried is to capture HDV in the Edius Pro 4.1 program using the HQ codec. We hooked up our Sony HDV camera into a firewire port and left the REV PRO drive in its USB 2.0 port. Now, HDV with the HQ codec needs an average rate of 120-160 mbps. Since the REV PRO has a low end sustain of 110 mbps we really didn’t expect it to work, but figured we’d try it anyway. If Grass Valley got to test its durability by running it over with a car, this was the least we could do.
At first it couldn’t handle the HDV capture. But, after we had started to fill up the drive a bit later with other files, it began capturing HDV just fine. This was most likely due to the fact that the REV PRO disks, like other disks, will have a faster data transfer rate depending on what part of the disk you’re writing to. This was exciting for us because it meant that the specifications given on the REV PRO data transfer rate seemed to be very accurate, which means the REV PRO is FAST.
After testing the extreme limits of the REV PRO, we then figured we should try a more practical test. We know that there are cameras that use the REV PRO disk as the capturing media, so it made sense that we should be able to capture DV directly to the REV PRO. And, of course, it worked beautifully. It was able to playback the DV just fine. It couldn’t handle playing more than 2 lines of DV playing back directly from the drive using a picture in picture effect. But since transferring files from a REV PRO disk to your computer is far quicker than capturing from tape, we could still see the extreme benefits in switching to REV PRO. According to the RevPro site, it’s 8 times faster than tape capture, which is amazing. And since it can provide a simple 2-stream DV edit and playback, that is obviously more than a DV tape can handle.
PROS
• It’s more durable than any other removable media out there, including standard hard drives.
• It’s a great replacement for any removable media storage.
• It’s lightweight and small, making easy to transport and store.
• At 35GB, it will handle large projects, yet not be so large to force you to store multiple projects on one disk, allowing better organization.
• The data is secure. With the possibility of multiple passwords and superior data shredding capabilities, there’s no reason for anyone to fear for security breaching.
• Faster than tape capture, transferring video between the REV PRO and your workstation is far faster then tape, saving you and your team valuable work time.
• Works on Mac and PC, and is available in USB 2.0, Firewire, or SATA internal format.
CONS
• Can’t currently capture to Adobe Premiere Pro or Avid Xpress Pro. Updated drivers are currently being created to solve this.
• Data Transfer isn’t as fast as a Hard Drive, but still faster than most removable media.
For more technical information about the REV PRO, visit the Grass Valley website.
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