FTPing footage?

[2000lux]

Has anyone FTP'd raw footage to a client?

Generally I just Fed Ex raw footage to out of town clients, but the one I'm shooting for tomorrow insists on FTP'ing it to their studio in London. What is the best way to do this?

I'll be shooting on my C300. As I understand it, one can send clips, but its harder to send folders. So, instead of sending the "CONTENTS" folder with the raw footage, I plan to convert it to either ProRez, or Avid, or whatever format is appropriate for whatever system they're editing with. However, they haven't told me which system they're using, and the producer doesn't seem to care. Will one format be smaller than another?

I'll probably have to sign up for We Tranfer to send it. If the clip is over 20 GB, I guess I'll have to chop it into chunks and send those.

I know upload speeds are much slower than download speeds for home cable internet service. Is there anything I can do to speed it up?

Is there a better way to go about this????

 

[cameragod]

I FTP a lot. Find a new disaster every time
If you are sending raw footage then FileZilla is a good way to go as it will do folders. I have, with really big shoots, sent the clients proxies FTP so they could get editing and then couriered the hard drive.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/

 

[Necktie Boy]

I have been using HighTail for sending single files. As you say with other, no folder sending and file limit if not paying for the service. The service is pretty good and fast, but I haven't sent monster files. I know someone that send files daily with no problems.

If the client is requiring you to FTP the files, they should have something in place already. At my other job, I had hard drive space and password to have other access my site. This company should have the same thing since it sounds that is have they receive their files.

There really isn't any better way than shipping. You find a place that has very high speed Internet uploads. Maybe FEDEX? Without a dedicated line, it will take you awhile to FTP those files.

Won't you have to send the raw footage to them any way? I guess they don't want to pay for shipping?

 

[Run&Gun]

I don't FTP on a regular basis, and in-fact, it's probably been a year or two since I've had to, but I've had a few instances where I honestly could have had the drive couriered( definitely SOS) or maybe FedEx First/Priority(whatever their 8:30am service is) faster than the upload took.

Who else remembers couriers meeting you to pick-up tapes to get them on the next flight so they could have them at the network ASAP?

 

[Focused]

Being your client is in London you have an extra hurdle to cross. Especially with using a courier. Overnight International is not cheap either.

A friend had to FTP to Russia and the upload took all night--then he discovered he lost the connection around 3 AM - the transfer was cut short and the files never made it. Had to send the drive the next day.

Up speeds are horribly slow compared to download. Your provider may be different but going up takes forever and PRORES files will be extra big.

I recommend shipping the drive or getting a Sat Truck to send the footage. You could possibly use Dropbox to send individual clips as proxy to start the edit process while the drive is in transit. Just make sure the client pays for all of it. This is their problem. You can solve it but they will have to pay for it.

 

[Robin]

also avoid like the plague .. but had to do it recently as they needed it before fedex would make it internationally.. but it was a very small amount of footage.. I kept it below the 20GB we transfer .. I was shooting XDCAM 422 HD on a F5.. a good trick I was told about..on a mac anyway.. compress the card folder,then the Zip file is a file not a folder.. easy no need to transcode.. we transfer at least you are only up loading .. they are doing the down loading.. avoid direct FTP .. then you are the mercy of their crap down load speeds..

 

[svp]

I do a lot of FTP'ing. I use FileZilla. More and more clients seem to have FTP servers set up at their offices or studios. As long as I have a fast connection with consistent 3Mbs or higher upload speed, its actually pretty convenient.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

We FTP a lot, but not raw footage. We prefer to ship it on a hard drive if it's a large amount of footage. But yes, Filezilla is great. And I don't know about high speeds in your area, but at my house I have 75 down and 10 up with Comcast. 10 up is pretty good for sending large files. Not the best, but better than DSL.