reliable web ftp suggestions

Chris Burke · August 9, 2011

I have finished a video project and the client is in the Phillipeans. I sent them a hard drive and now on their end, the drive won't mount or any such thing. So, I am going to send them a smaller version and am having some bad luck with Sendspace. I have sent files before via sendspace and no problems, other times the video and sound go out of sync. The file is just under 100megs. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a reliable web based or otherwise ftp service that is free? We are over budget and need to deliver the finished product asap. Thanks in advance.

Adrian Sierkowski · August 9, 2011

Couldn't you put it up on VImeo or something like that and password protect it, and allow them to download the soruce from there?

Or you can throw it up on a website behind a password protected wall; which I what I'll sometimes do for clients off of adriansierkowski.com

Alessandro Machi · August 9, 2011

You need to know if the problem relates to the size of the project. If you can't send a much smaller version of your project, then you probably have huge issues to deal with.

Two ideas. Send your project in much smaller chunks. First, do a super small send, say 1% of the total project.

If you can send a much smaller size file, then you can begin to experiment with just how large of a file you can send before you have problems.

Another trouble shooting aspect to consider is the use of newer software programs with more established ones. Existing editing software may not be future compatible with something that just came out recently.

The perpetual need for software designers to improve the true resolution and compatibility capabilities of their software programs before it is discovered that the first couple versions of their softwareware were substandard, sadly makes the non-linear world go round and round.

If you are able to parse up your project into much smaller chunks, maybe you can notate if certain small chunks did not have some type of software plug in whereas another portion of your project did. Eventually you may be able to isolate what it is that is causing the hang-up.

I always tell people, don't ever wait until your project is finished before doing the type of "sends" that will be required once the project is done.

Chris Burke · August 9, 2011

Originally I was going to send them the master file in ProRes HQ (1920x1080) and let them do the web encoding. But now in light of the drives being wiped, which Fedex said shouldn't have happened, I am going to encode it. the master file was clocking in at 536 gigs, but now it's going to be just under 100megs. I guess I will do the Vimeo thing, I have had good luck with them. I was just asking to see if there was a more reliable way of sending something higher resolution. I thought about parsing it up, but it may be more problematic for the client on there end. Thanks for the advice.

Adrian Sierkowski · August 9, 2011

@ 536gb there really isn't much you can do with it. Even if you were to put it up on a server, whcih'd take forever, it'd take equally as long to download it. 2x SSDs might've been an option as well; the file split in 2; though costly.

Stuart Page · August 9, 2011

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a reliable web based or otherwise ftp service that is free?

I have found https://www.wetransfer.com/ to be very reliable. Up to 2GB per transfer, unlimited quantities per month.

Chris Burke · August 10, 2011

I have found https://www.wetransfer.com/ to be very reliable. Up to 2GB per transfer, unlimited quantities per month.

thanks, I will check them out. The 536gig file was the full res master which I attempted to deliver via hard drive, but it got wiped or corrupted in transit. thanks again