My big gallery show file corrupted an hour before the opening

I was at the downtown art space, setting up my digital projection piece for a group show. The main 4K video file, which I'd worked on for three months, just showed a black screen with an error code. I had a backup on a portable drive, but it was an older version missing the final color grade. I ended up running the older file, and the washed-out colors really bugged me all night. Has anyone else had a last-minute file disaster, and what's your backup plan now?

3 comments

3 Comments

thea_chen2d ago

Read an article on a photography forum once where someone made the same mistake you did with the final grade missing on their backup. They had the original file on their desktop, the older version on a drive, and nothing else. @veramartin is spot on about having the current copy in three places. I do a quick backup after every major edit now, not just when the project feels done. Its saved me twice with Premiere crashing on export day. The 3-2-1 method is annoying to set up but way less stress than the alternative.

veramartin1mo ago

My friend had her whole photography portfolio drive fail right before a client meeting. She had cloud backups but the download took forever on the venue's bad wifi. Now she swears by having a current copy on her laptop, a portable drive, and the cloud, all at once.

allen.amy1mo ago

That backup rule of three @veramartin mentioned is solid. I read a tech article calling it the 3-2-1 method, and it just makes sense for avoiding total panic. Your friend's story is exactly why people push for it.