Rather more on documentation, work practices and storage, I suggest Filemaker Pro, which will store all your individual video files within a container field - or references to a video file on another drive. Its size is nominally limited to 8TB but really only limited to disk size.

Each file can have a number of fields to describe, say, the effects you have applied to it. A quick time file can be played from the database by clicking; other filetypes must be set to open with default applications.

A Filemaker database of this kind is quickly set up. But most importantly, it's completely customisable - unlike turnkey solutions which might come with an editing suite.

Watch an interesting historical overview of FMP in moviemaking given by Academy award-winning Walter Murch at http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/quicktime/customer_murch_interview_high.mov

A more detailed demonstration of Murch's own database is at http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/quicktime/customer_murch_demo.mov

@CurtisMack Hi! I also develop systems in Filemaker - and I agree with your pragmatic approach. As always, the system should save time, error, omissions and clutter - so as to bring the user to a more comfortable and creative relationship with the job. As you will have noticed, the very people whose workflow is so disorganised that they fail to function to their potential are also often those who fear a system would take away their spontaneity.

My background is in enterprise IT support, not delivering content to broadcast clients (at least not since the quad days), but my strong feeling is that tape is a dead end. One read error and things go bad quickly. To store video on DLT, you will need a tape library that holds several DLT drives on a fiber network, and expensive proprietary backup software. You're looking at $20K or more. I have managed several ugly incidents caused by storage array or tape library failure - this is a place no individual practitioner or small shop should go. For client delivery, some form of SSD seems ideal, since it is relatively inexpensive, and its inherent degradation over time would not matter, and it eliminates the expense of high bandwidth. The only sound method for archiving digital material is to imitate DNA - turn it over as the media decay. If we start processing RAW video, that means a storage array for post, and smaller arrays for archiving, which must be redone every few years as the media degrade. That's why I mentioned film. If you plan to make features, black and white separation negatives would be the ideal archival choice if cost were not an issue. Under ideal conditions, properly processed black and white will last for centuries. For those of us in the real world, backing up to inexpensive disk drives and moving the data to new disks as the old ones fail is a more realizable choice, but it does require paying attention.

@CurtisMack Thanks for the info on DLT. I get a lot of sales guys calling, saying that's the only true archival method. I know the high-end post facilities use DLT as it works in their price-range and it gives them added security. But at my level, seems like it's not a necessity.

@5thwall I can't believe the options and prices you get in L.A. In northern CA (specifically SAC) you can easily get 25Mbps fiber for some $62/month and 50Mbps for a few dollars more. Speed are exactly the same for up/down. Any other provider is just miles behind.

Too bad the company only serves the Sac area and Kansas City

I live in eastern Canada, around here we can get 30mbps down and up for 70$ a month. 70 down, 30 up for 100$. 170 down / 30 up for like 200$.

No monthly bandwidth limits here either.

In keeping with the title of this thread "How do you deliver content?" it's becoming extremely relevant to ask what format as well.

For example, some Blu-Ray and DVD players will play your 60p wedding video, others won't. Someone said this week,"Don't go buying shares on a DVD rental business." Then, 24P is strangely a safe investment, because there'll always be some sort of way to play all the existing films.

TV stations still have spec sheets determining what formats and media they'll accept for broadcast, so no problems there.

But weddings? Short films? Right now is a hard time to try to future-proof our content. Whatever we think in quality/ease of delivery terms, the market will decide. Sadly, Joe Public will probably go for the fastest, cheapest download (if that's the way we're headed).

@Grunf What format are you sending your video data in? [ Edit: besides Mp4 as final product] I'm not talking about archiving myself, but what clients will be able to view for a reasonable time into the future. Has anyone ever asked for a 60p wedding video?

I deliver content as well as exchange it w/ colorists and editors using the time tested formula: Fedex + Harddrive. Primary exchange formats for me are RED RAW and Cineform Film Scan1. Nice thing is that the colorist can usually just email the metadata back.

I believe the future is with broadband as so far as delivering content. And it will be rather via cloud-based storage.

In the US, the fastest "pipe" depends on where you are (and where your customers live), so it could be Fios, U-verse, docsys cable or wireless 3G/4G. The US is not an easy scenario for deployment because we are a geographically diverse nation with great distances. Having originally launched broadband in Korea, Japan and elsewhere, I say that if you live in metropolis, it is a lot easier.

Unfortunately, pricing of very high speed broadband in the US is among the world's highest. I used to laugh, that given the prices I am selling at (sometimes, just a bit more than 1 trip to a McDo meal), my customers are always looking for a 6-month positive business case for their broadband services.

It is my view that 3G/4G and U-verse or Fios are reliable services. They mostly share the same backbone network.

@5thwall The good news is that speeds have improved rapidly. The datarates I get on good days now are literally about 1,000x times faster than when I started high school (remember searching for an ISP with "56kbps" support in one of the two incompatible formats?)

Like you said, only a matter of time before the drive "feels" local. Of course in the meantime, for smaller files we can use things like DropBox to eliminate "the upload step" as things automatically start to upload once they are saved. Still too expensive to use it for all the files (at least for many of us at this point) but it is a good step in the right direction.

Sorry if that is less than succinct - I am a little tired from carting 60 lbs. of camera gear up and down Griffith Park to shoot the "super moon" tonight. But I got some great shots to share. :)