looking for tips on distributing source from 4 cam shoot for edit in Premiere Pro 1.5 across drives

(I searched the FAQ before posting this)

I am going to do a 4 camera edit soon and I was wondering about how to
distribute, if at all, the source files (DV captured via firewire) on my
setup
for the most efficiency.

First let me say that I never have any technical problems with my setup,
(Dell 2.4Ghz P4, 1 gig RAM, 3 internal IDE drives, 7200rpm 120's)..
and I usually have 4 streams at once coming from just one drive (not the
system drive) and there is rarely a stutter.. of course I never have a
client in the room, until this time..I also have firewire and USB 2 drives
galore and sometimes captiure to, and read from them as well, still never a
problem. This is why I have no way of judging which is the best way.....

This is why I draw upon of the pool of expertise for advice on what's the
best way to service this project because the client will be there at all
times and I'd like it to go as smoothly as possible........

Would it be better for me to split them across drives, or just allocate the
previews elsewhere, and keep the source from 1 drive?

Thanks for any and all help.,
Dave Kowalski

 

It looks like you should be fine. Drives of that size and speed typically
have throughput much higher than 4 a/v streams (I'd have to know which
drives they were specifically to check).

That's IF you are staying in the computer. Neither firewire nor USB 2.0 is
fast enough to handle much more than 1 (maybe two) a/v streams at a time.

Having said that I have worked with enough customers to have learned this
"Have a reason ready now because something will break". I've been
programming computers for over 14 years and I have yet to get through a
customer demo without something going awry. So just plan on it and be ready
for it.

Tom P.