Understand how much media data storage space you’ll need for each project by examining a Hollywood example and calculating your own needs.
THE VIDEO CREATORS DILEMMA
As video creators, you likely have a variety of content priorities for each project you undertake: resolution quality for your target viewing channel or device, multiple camera angles, special effects, graphics, b-roll footage and so on. All of these content elements come together to help you tell a richer story. But utilizing such elements (for example, additional footage or higher frame rates) also increases your data storage needs. When creating videos on a regular basis, it’s very helpful to know how much media data storage space you’ll need for each project (4k content storage can be particularly capacity-intensive), so you can deploy your media data storage solutions more efficiently.
A LOOK AT HOLLYWOOD MEDIA DATA TRENDS
- 49.8 gigabytes per second of footage across all 30 cameras
- 2.9TB for one minute of film across 30 cameras
- 358TB for two hours of film across 30 cameras (1/3 of a petabyte)
- 30 cameras X 5K resolution X 2 (for stereo images to make 3D) X 48 frames per second (each frame being filled with 5K pixels and color information).
- 1 Frame at 5K resolution @ 5,120 pixels X 2,700 pixels = 13,824,000 pixels or 13.8 million bits of data (does not include color information or 3D)
- 3D doubles the data so 27,648,000 pixels
- 48 frames per second (considered High frame rate) is 1,327,104,000 pixels or 1.3 billion bits of data for 1 second of the film
- 10 bits for color information (we’ll be conservative here) @ 13,271,040,000 pixels or 13.3 billion bits of data for 1 second of film
- Black and white offers a single bit for color info
- 10 bits provides colors
- Luminescence is another set of bits.
- 30 cameras @ 398,131,200,000 pixels or 398 billion bits of data for 1 second of the film
It’s estimated that the 2009 film Avatar was the first to generate a petabyte of information. And the trend is only growing.
CALCULATING YOUR MEDIA STORAGE NEEDS
So what does this all mean for your organization’s video production projects? Use one of the many video data footage calculators available on the Web and see for yourself what your storage needs might be based on your particular video resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, and audio channel options. Here’s a few examples:
Now more than ever, you have cost-effective tools at your disposal to create a unique masterpiece. You may not need to create ultra high definition 4k content for your project, but there are still great benefits to building your media data storage strategy as you plan upcoming projects. Such a strategy is key to enabling you to collaborate on video edits across the office (or even across the globe), efficiently manage all your video assets, quickly pull archived footage into a new project, preserve your footage for years to come, edit multiple video formats…and complete your project more quickly!
MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT SOLUTIONS
Nexsan has storage solutions for every Media and Entertainment need. Learn how you can solve your UHD video challenges like larger file sizes with simple, non-proprietary solutions that expand your media storage as your needs grow!
Solution Details
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