BACK IT UP! Bob Strahle, Operations Manager QPTV’s Production Unit Some time ago, one of our computers’ “scsi” drive arrays crashed, causing a total loss of data on that volume.  This is, of course, very unfortunate, and causes a tremendous amount of frustration for individuals who may have invested long hours in editing a project. In 2007 we have become quite familiar with computers that can do amazing things, not only very quickly, but also accurately. Computers have become such an integral part of our lives that we sometimes think that they are infallible. Actually, for the most part, they are! It’s just that one time that something goes wrong that can cause a calamity. Really, what this means is, yes computers are a great technology, but no matter how sophisticated, how expensive, how vast the amount of storage they may have – how truly awesome they are, they can and do crash. Sometimes things can be corrected. Software can be recovered, or hardware can be replaced Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. When a drive fails, physically, usually everything is lost. There is no way to predict when something like this will happen. We realize how frustrating all this can be. For some of you who may presently have works in progress, it can even be a bit scary. That’s why we would like to make the following suggestion:PLEASE, BACK UP YOUR WORK!! There are a few ways you can do this:

1. At the end of each edit session, you can print the project to videotape. This will allow you to have a copy of your program on digital tape, which can then be up-loaded, if necessary, in its present state of completion. You can then continue to work on your project – great!
2. You can back-up the project files, only. Project files, alone, are typically small without the video portion, i.e., without the .avi files: Create a CD containing the project files, only. You would then need to up-load the original footage with a similar “start” point. Also, the “new” files will work better if they have the same name as the original ones. The project will recognize and then re-associate these as the originals.

The only drawback? It’s going to take some time. But maybe you can think of it this way: A half hour or a whole hour of time at the end of an edit session - or the time it may take to start from scratch.We hope that you will follow our suggestions. It is important to us at QPTV that your experience, here is productive and successful. We know what it takes to create a television program. We want to help you.