Managing Projects and Media > Archiving >
Estimating Archive Size

You can display an estimate of the media space needed to archive selected material. The size estimation display for archiving or restoring procedures shows the file size in bytes, megabytes, gigabytes, or terabytes, depending on the file size. The space required is displayed in units appropriate for the archiving device. For example, when archiving to a VTR, the archive size is estimated both in VTR time (hh:mm:ss:ff) and in the most appropriate file measurement units (megabytes, gigabytes, or terabytes). When archiving to file or a tape device, file size in VTR time is not displayed. The size estimate takes header information into account.

The space required to archive material varies by archiving device. The following factors also influence the amount of space required for an archive:

- Storing clip history with the archived clip increases the amount of required space.
- Including audio and metadata with your archive increases the amount of required space.
- Selecting Compact archives reduces the amount of required space compared to Normal archives.

There are two types of size estimation, differing in the level of detail. When you wish to get a rough estimate of the size of your material and space required for its archiving, you can perform the following procedure.

To estimate archive size:

1. From the Archive Device box, select the appropriate device.
2. From the Device Name box, select a VTR device.
3. From the clip library, select one clip or multiple clips.
4. Click Size Estimate.

   The estimated size value appears in the Size Estimate field next to the button.

   NoteThe VTR tape size estimate includes a reservation of one minute for both the header data and slates, and an additional 5400 frames (three NTSC minutes) are reserved for the header data and slates, for a total of at least five additional minutes.

Once you open an archive or create a new one, you can use another archive size estimation method, which provides a variety of controls to perform a more accurate file size estimation procedure.

To estimate archive size from the Desktop:

1. Open an existing archive or create an archive.

   The Archive menu appears.

2. Select Dual View or Clip Library to view the clip library.

   (a) Library View Mode button(b) Clip Library/Archive toggle button

3. In the clip library, select a clip or multiple clips (Ctrl+click). New controls appear in the Archive menu.

   (a) Size Estimate button(b) Clip Element box

4. From the Clip Element box, select the required option.

   Select: | To estimate the size of:
   --- | ---
   All | Metadata, audio, and video
   Metadata | Metadata only (including history and settings)
   Audio | Audio only
   Video | Video only

5. From the Entry Type box, select the entries that you want to archive.

   Select: | To archive:
   --- | ---
   Project + Shared | Project Desktop, setup directory, clip libraries, shared clip libraries, and metadata
   Project | Project Desktop, setup directory, clip libraries, and metadata
   Project Libraries + Shared | Current project clip libraries and imported (shared) clip libraries
   Project Libraries | Current project clip libraries
   Selection | Selected entries

6. Click Size Estimate.

   The resulting value appears in the Size Estimate field. If there is not enough space in your archive to save the selected entries, a message appears notifying you that you need multiple tapes.