Video files not uploading

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bluedisk

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#196725 10-Jun-2016 16:02

We are using a Vodafone VDSL unlimited plan with average upload speeds of 5 Mbps and download speeds around 25 Mbps. I am on the fastest service available in my area (Eastbourne, Wellington)

Sometimes I am asked by clients around the world to upload high def footage that I have shot that day so they can start editing asap. Often I will shoot 32-64 GB a day. Its not ususally feasible for me to upload from my home/office as its quicker to send the footage on USB Flash drive by Fedex or DHL even to Europe or the US.

This week I was asked if I could upload around 11 GB of footage in a hurry and thought I would give it a shot using Dropbox. The first time I tried it took 7 hours, but when i looked in the "Contents" folder there were all the "wrapper" files except for the actual MXF video files. The video was simply not uploaded. So I tried this again, and exactly the same thing happened the next day.

Can anyone explain why this may have happened? It clearly doesn't work for me, so I was wondering if there is a better way for me as a freelance cameraman to upload lots of footage quickly? If only there was a portal for casual users that I could tap into on an infrequent basis, I'm sure there would be a few freelancers around who would use this.

I have approached Citylink and other providers in the past but their fees were way too high for a casual user like myself.

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#1569492 10-Jun-2016 16:02

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

you have reset your modem and router
your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing - you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap
your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing
you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

Your ISP and plan
Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)
Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)
Your general location (or street)
If you are rural or urban
If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin
If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service
If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

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wellygary

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#1569521 10-Jun-2016 16:16

what happens with smaller files

RunningMan

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#1569537 10-Jun-2016 16:22

Two issues

1) Can Dropbox cope with the file sizes you are using - I don't know if they have a limit, or perhaps a time limit to upload?

2) Can you improve your upload speed. Doesn't look like UFB is available in your area. What are your VDSL line stats? Do you have a master filter?

Know anyone nearby with unlimited fibre?

EDIT:Did make bad spulling and gramma

richms

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#1569541 10-Jun-2016 16:26

IME dropbox is a very very slow way to get large files (or even medium sized ones) to other people as it has to fully go to their cloud servers, they have to stuff around for a while doing something and then it will slowly start to transfer to the recipient. There are claims of direct transfer but that has never happened for me.

Person I know who does similar things exports some proxy files and sends those straight away, and then uses FTP to send the full sized ones once the guys have started editing with the proxys if they are happy. Shame there isnt some way that the editor can pull only the parts of the files that are actually used over to the editing guys before they export but I guess that is a feature that might come with 4k making such absurdly large stuff.

Richard rich.ms

mxpress

376 posts

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#1569544 10-Jun-2016 16:27

bluedisk:

We are using a Vodafone VDSL unlimited plan with average upload speeds of 5 Mbps and download speeds around 25 Mbps. I am on the fastest service available in my area (Eastbourne, Wellington)

Sometimes I am asked by clients around the world to upload high def footage that I have shot that day so they can start editing asap. Often I will shoot 32-64 GB a day. Its not ususally feasible for me to upload from my home/office as its quicker to send the footage on USB Flash drive by Fedex or DHL even to Europe or the US.

This week I was asked if I could upload around 11 GB of footage in a hurry and thought I would give it a shot using Dropbox. The first time I tried it took 7 hours, but when i looked in the "Contents" folder there were all the "wrapper" files except for the actual MXF video files. The video was simply not uploaded. So I tried this again, and exactly the same thing happened the next day.

Can anyone explain why this may have happened? It clearly doesn't work for me, so I was wondering if there is a better way for me as a freelance cameraman to upload lots of footage quickly? If only there was a portal for casual users that I could tap into on an infrequent basis, I'm sure there would be a few freelancers around who would use this.

I have approached Citylink and other providers in the past but their fees were way too high for a casual user like myself.

Unless you are subscribing to Dropbox, you won't be able to upload a file that size as your storage space will not be that much. It is cheap to subscribe

mxpress

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek
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#1569546 10-Jun-2016 16:28

wellygary:

what happens with smaller files

no problems with smaller edited files usually less then 1GB

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

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timmmay

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#1569548 10-Jun-2016 16:29

Try a file upload/download service that supports resuming uploads and downloads. Even FTP supports that. I thought Dropbox supported pause/resume with their rich client, but I've never tried with huge files.

Your best bet might be to find an internet cafe nearby that will do it for you, or even one anywhere in the country and use overnight courier. Still faster than shipping to Europe.

bluedisk

226 posts

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+1 received by user: 39

#1569549 10-Jun-2016 16:30

mxpress:

Unless you are subscribing to Dropbox, you won't be able to upload a file that size as your storage space will not be that much. It is cheap to subscribe

I am subscribed, as is my client (I was uploading to her Dropbox)

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

bluedisk

226 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 39

#1569550 10-Jun-2016 16:31

richms:

IME dropbox is a very very slow way to get large files (or even medium sized ones) to other people as it has to fully go to their cloud servers, they have to stuff around for a while doing something and then it will slowly start to transfer to the recipient. There are claims of direct transfer but that has never happened for me.

Person I know who does similar things exports some proxy files and sends those straight away, and then uses FTP to send the full sized ones once the guys have started editing with the proxys if they are happy. Shame there isnt some way that the editor can pull only the parts of the files that are actually used over to the editing guys before they export but I guess that is a feature that might come with 4k making such absurdly large stuff.

My client is a small independent producer in London with no FTP unfortunately.

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all...

wellygary

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#1569551 10-Jun-2016 16:32

bluedisk:

wellygary:

what happens with smaller files

no problems with smaller edited files usually less then 1GB

Sounds like D/Box is playing silly buggers with the files,

have you tried Google Drive or another cloud service?

timmmay

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#1569567 10-Jun-2016 16:46

Upload to Amazon S3 with CloudBerry, which has chunked upload (aka resume) function. Download will be pretty fast for them too. Alternately S3 browser or some other product. Some may upload in parallel which would make better use of your bandwidth. Getting an AWS account is easy, using S3 is easy enough.

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djtOtago

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#1569576 10-Jun-2016 16:56

timmmay:

Upload to Amazon S3 with CloudBerry, which has chunked upload (aka resume) function. Download will be pretty fast for them too. Alternately S3 browser or some other product. Some may upload in parallel which would make better use of your bandwidth. Getting an AWS account is easy, using S3 is easy enough.

+1 this.

Once uploaded you can send them a link to download the file, and add a time limit on how long the url is valid for.

mxpress

376 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 17

#1569577 10-Jun-2016 16:57

bluedisk:

mxpress:

Unless you are subscribing to Dropbox, you won't be able to upload a file that size as your storage space will not be that much. It is cheap to subscribe

I am subscribed, as is my client (I was uploading to her Dropbox)

Hmmm, well in that case, strange things are afoot. Have you tried contacting Dropbox and explaining the issue?

mxpress

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#1569580 10-Jun-2016 17:04

timmmay

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#1569602 10-Jun-2016 17:14

I also use BitTorrent Sync, which is great for point to point or group exchanges. Both computers have to be on though.

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