New product announcement from Focus Enhancements...

FOCUS Enhancements Announces the Affordable FireStore FS-4, Direct To Edit Technology for Hand - Held Camcorders

Portable FS-4 digital disk recorder model joins industry leading FireStore family

CAMPBELL, CA, – August 10, 2004 – FOCUS Enhancements Inc. (NASDAQ SC: FCSE), a worldwide leader in video production and conversion technology, today announced the latest addition to the FireStore family of Direct To Edit™ (DTE) Technology digital video disk recorders, FireStore FS-4. FS-4 is the first DTE product designed to bring tapeless technology to hand-held DV camcorders from JVC, Panasonic, Canon, Sony and others.

Designed to mount directly to hand-held camcorders, be worn on a belt or used in other situations where portability is a requirement, the FS-4 is ideal for wedding and event production, field production, independent film, corporate, education and many other uses. Powered by a removable battery system, the small and lightweight FS-4 interfaces with camcorders via a single FireWire (IEEE-1394, iLink) cable. DTE Technology allows hand-held camcorder owners to record clips in native NLE file formats so editing can begin immediately after shooting is finished. This eliminates the need to first capture then convert files prior to editing.

“Our industry leading FireStore DTE disk recorders have brought the benefits of tapeless acquisition and production to full size camcorders, desktops and studios all over the world,” said Matt McEwen, product manager for FOCUS Enhancements. “Now we are expanding our customer base by offering DTE Technology to hand-held camcorder owners at an affordable price.”

Two models of FireStore FS-4 will be available: FS-4 and FS-4 Pro. Both models will feature a 40GB (Three hour) internal disk drive, a 6-pin FireWire connector for interface with camcorders, a 6-pin FireWire connector for interfacing with a computer for editing or file transfer, a backlit status LCD display and a comprehensive set of control buttons including a navigation pad. Both models will also feature support for DTE Technology file formats including RawDV, AVI Type 1, AVI Type 2, Matrox AVI, Canopus AVI and QuickTime including 24p. FS-4 Pro adds support for the Avid OMF and Pinnacle AVI file formats, retro record modes so you will never miss a shot, user definable time lapse, loop playback, scene marking and multiple file folder capabilities. The FS-4 PRO also is available with an 80GB (Six hour) internal drive.

Where to Buy
FireStore FS-4 is expected to be available in December 2004 through the worldwide FOCUS Enhancements dealer and distributor network for a US MSRP of $799. FireStore FS-4 Pro 40GB and 80GB are also expected to be available in December 2004 for a US MSRP of $1,195 and $1,695 respectively. For more information on FOCUS Enhancements and its products, please visit www.focusinfo.com.

About FOCUS Enhancements, Inc.
FOCUS Enhancements, Inc. (NASDAQ SC: FCSE) is a leading designer of world-class solutions in advanced, proprietary video technology. Headquartered in Campbell, CA, FOCUS Enhancements designs, develops, and markets video solutions in two distinct markets: advanced proprietary video conversion integrated circuits (ICs) and affordable, high quality, digital-video conversion and video production equipment. Semiconductor IC products include designs for PCs, game cards, internet, set-top boxes, Internet appliances, and interactive TV applications, and they are sold directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). FOCUS Enhancements’ complete line of video presentation and video production devices are sold globally through resellers and distributors to the broadcast, education, cable, business, industrial, presentation, Internet, gaming, home video production and home theater markets. More information on FOCUS Enhancements may be obtained from the company's SEC filings, or by visiting the FOCUS Enhancements home page at http://www.FOCUSinfo.com.


Safe Harbor Statement
Statements about future results and other expectations constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment. The Company cautions that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. A number of factors in addition to those discussed herein could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Demand for FOCUS Enhancements’ products, which impacts revenue and the gross margin percentage, is affected by business and economic conditions and changes in customer order patterns. Any projections are inherently subject to significant economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of FOCUS Enhancements. Important assumptions and other important factors, including risk factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and other filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

More info and pics at:
www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/fs-4.html

Outstanding. This looks great! Thanks Matt,

Congratulations to Matt McEwen and his team at FOCUS Enhancements for once again setting the Gold Standard for portable Direct To Disk recording with DTE technology.

It's a thrill to know that FOCUS Enhancements actually listens to their customers and to all of the input provided by those looking for the best DTE solution with the best value. Focus Enhancements clearly understands that the user interface is most important. The FireStore interface is easy to read and the menus are easy to navigate. The ability to create multiple keeper clip folders makes organizing clips a breeze. The FireStore interface is simply the best.

Matt, I think Senator Fowler would be most impressed!
http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/fs3video.html

Thanks FOCUS Enhancements!

- don

Matt,

Please see my post "recording digi video from analog source"

You may be able to shed some light on an area I am new to regarding your product.

Thanks,

Tim Delarm

In the specs it is stated that PAL "is model dependant". Does that mean that you can not order a unit from B&H and expect it to be switchable to PAL? Meaning that you have to dig a more expensive model up in Europe - if you can find a reseller.

Hi Jos,

There will be separate PAL and NTSC models of FS-4.

Matt

Why?

Deepest apologies, if I have ovelooked something, but I can not see any technical reasons for having two models. You get a DV-stream with TC and audio from the camera and you store this on the harddrive. Here it does not matter if it is NTSC, 4:2:1, nondrop TC or not. It is a bitstream
When the NLE reads the file it has to be told, what to ekspect, so it can interpret the file correctly.

In my mind it must be better to have as few product models as possible, so I am a little puzzled

Kind 01001010's

Hi Jos,

As with all Focus products, a PAL model of FS-4 will be available at B&H as a special order version. However, any warranty or support for the product is through the United States.

You are correct in that FS-4 is a bitsream recorder and technically they are very similar, but there is more to a product than technical similarities. The DV-PAL model and DV-NTSC models are different in that they have different pack out accessories (power supplies, manuals etc.), different warranty plans (all European models are serviced in Focus' European office) and different support plans (we have distributors in most European countries who provide support for the product).

Our distributor for FireStore in Denmark is Dansk AV Teknik. They have had a lot of experience with FireStore selling FS-1 and FS-3 models. Their web address is... http://www.dansk-av-teknik.dk/

Hope that helps,
Matt McEwen

Hi Matt,

I am very happy to hear about this newest development from Focus Enhancements.

It makes me feel like all the troubles I have been having with trying to get a Quickstream or Citidisk that works, to have been for some cosmic good reason. Luckely I haven't waisted my money on one of these two products yet (although I have come very close).

Can you give me a recomendaion on where I can Pre-order, or order an European FS4 here in Germany?

By the way, are you (personally) going to be in Amsterdamm for the IBC?

Thanks for the good news.

DK

Hi Daniel,

I will be at IBC for the duration of the show and we will be showing a prototype of FS-4. Please come past our booth as it would be great to meet you in person. I can give you some purchase/pre-order options when we meet.

It would be great to meet any other dvinfo.net members if they are going to be at IBC. Focus will be in Hall 9, Stand 130 (near the Sony booth).

Best regards,

Matt McEwen

Matt

I am still somewhat puzzled. I checked B&H, and discovered, as you mentioned two versions of your products, with a price difference of around 100 USD.

As far as I can read your replay the NTSC and PAL products are the same product in a technical sense. As the warranty and service terms must be the same on both products, as they are sold in the US, and all servie is carried out here. Then why is there a pricedifference of 100 $??

I know for a fact that the price of a international powersupply is arround 50 cents mere expensive than a 110 V one. And international warrenties are quite common, ant not very difficult to make. And if you are doing centralized repairs in Europe, then the only thing the resellers has to do is the idiot test (obvious things like mistreament etc etc) plop the unit in a UPS bag and await its return.

You have to do the electrical certifications for equipment to be sold in Europe, but that has only to be done onces.
Apple has managed to do all this, and their prices are more or les equal between the US and Europe. And everybody is happy.

Kind regards

Hi Jos,

The price difference at B&H is based on PAL FireStore's being a special order product. We do not sell that many PAL products in the US, but they are available if it is required (for independent film etc.).

The channel strategy for selling non-native video standards is complicated, and I don't fully understand how resellers control grey goods from being purchased in the US and imported into countries that often have completely different MSRP's (even when you take currency exchange ratios into account).

I appreciate your questions, but I don't wish to turn this thread into a defense of our sales strategy. I answered your original question on why there are two models from a market perspective-- we want to be in a position to control regional features (hardware or software) and to deploy these easily. Without the model differentiation, it is easy to ship out a product with the wrong power cord or supply for instance. This is somewhat out of my area.

Hope this makes sense,

Matt McEwen

Do you have a reseller in the UK.

I've just recieved at Taiwanese LCD monitor, that has worldwide warranty, UK-EU-US powerplugs and a list of worldwide resellers in the box. It is the same product thats is shipped worldwide. So I was just sort of puzzeled, why you could not do the same?
I am sort of being curious why we PAL-people always have to pay more, since the PAL-world is more or less equal in size to the NTSC-world.
But I'll leave it here, and if we ever meet in a bar, I'll drill you some more.

Kindest

Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)-
Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks.

-Brett Erskine

HI Phil,

As an answer to you question on a UK supplier. Holdan Limited www.holdan.co.uk is the UK and ROI master distributor. We have just recently taken over the distributor of Focus Product range. I must say that after receiving the first delivery of FireStore our Technical Director is all into Focus, we can't keep him in the office, constantly popping up to the Lake District "shooting" birds on FS-3.

For The FS-4 and FS-4pro. We haven't started the marketing yet, as we were waiting for the European Price structure to come into place. However, I believe that we will have a firm price within end of business 24 Sep.

It’s my honest believe that we live in an open world driven by the internet, why our prices in UK MUST reflect the rest of the world (read US).

I’m planning to run a aggregative pre-order and intro offer, and right now I'm desperate to find some POWER users that can provide our Technical department with "real life" input.

If this have your interest please feel free to contact me directly.

Looking forward to be able to provide PAL and UK input in this great forum.

Cheers,

Allan

Hi Jos,

I like to follow up on Matt answer on a Focus Distributor in Denmark. Been a native Dane, but now living in UK, I know Dansk AV very well. Torkild the Managing Director of Dansk AV is one of the “old” boys on the Danish AV scene, meaning that he is a honest and some one that you can trust. I can highly recommend calling Torkild direct and have a chat.

Cheers,

Allan

<<<-- Originally posted by Brett Erskine : Matt McEwen (or anyone else that can answer my questions)-
Is the FS-4 able to handle higher bit rate streams like ones from DVCPro cameras? Also what is the maximum bit rate the FS-4 can consistantly handle without any problems recording? Can the stream be a none standard format (other than .DV, .MOV, .AVI) and still record it? Thanks.

-Brett Erskine -->>>

Hi Brett,

The short answer is "No, not yet". Currently, the FireStore family of products is designed for 25 megabit DV.

Perhaps Matt will have the time in the near future to elaborate on this.

Best regards,

- don

Nice to meet other danes in cyberspace - DV quadrant.

I'll check with them. From the little I have dealt with them they go in to the + category, unlike some om the older robbers in the AV-business in this country.

Måtte alle dine øl være kolde

sorry to come back again on this Pal model question.
A web site has taken pre-order for the FS4 long ago and i jump into. I made several call to make sure they understand the system is "model dependant" and they should expect to order a specific model for me.
If by any chance it disturbs them so much (mainly due to the difference of price) that they could finally reject my order or send me a US model, getting an US model is still technically ok to workwith my PAL camera ?
Frankly i do not care for marketing or warranty strategy, and i can probably find an universal power adapter easily, so if getting a PAL model just mean to wait longer and to pay more, I still stick to buy the US model.

Dear Giroud,

If you have ordered a model from the US, you will need to make sure it is PAL. It will also ship with a 110V power supply and any warranty must be done in the US.

The NTSC model is not switchable to PAL.

Hope that helps,
Matt McEwen

The whole PAL versus NTSC price difference is a RIP, pure and simple.
While the Americans are able to control market forces, we will continue to be dumped on, and dumped on we are !

- The difference between NTSC & PAl technically is ZIP !
- The same can be said for 220v versus 110v adaptors (God forbid they use a 110-220v unit).
- Worldwide warranty plans are commonplace nowadays.

As an individual, it's impossible to fight against it, but in time, as the East opens up more and more, Europe will get it's own direct line into manufacturers and the US will lose the Europeans for ever. YAHOO !!!

I imagine a bow wave of incredulous retorts to this, but only from the US guys I'm sure.

"Double tap" removed...

Hi Marcus,

I don't think you should get too upset yet. The FS4 hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Judging from the fact that no one is writing about having used one. And this discussion seems to have started based on the price list from B+H Photo. Maybe the "PAL" version will cost the same as the "NTSC" version, and they will both be available at the same time. Maybe the cost difference between the models is a B+H thing (I have no idea). I just think you are being a bit accusation-al, a bit too soon. Maybe you are right ... maybe the marketing department of Focus, and other US based manufactures enjoy punishing video makers in Europe for no good reason. But I kind of doubt it.

Matt, I think it would be a good idea to let us know when we can expect to have a FS4, with lots of cool functions to complain about. Otherwise we are apt to start discuss the problems we think there are with the FS4 in its absence.

Are we talking about months, days or hours before the market release?

And what's a "double tap"? And why did you remove it?

Fair play Daniel, let's wait. You never know, this could be the first item to be similarly priced on both sides of the pond.....it might happen... :-)

Double tap. Well, I clicked the 'submit reply' button when I had written that post, but nowt happened, despite me waiting long enough to be able to nip off and make a coffee. When I came back I clicked again and low and behold, a double post (double tap). Typical !

LOL

Marcus

Hi all,

We expect FS-4 to be available in December '04.

Matt

Hello Matt, What happened to support for HDV?

Hi Ted,

At NAB '04 we did announce our intention to support the HDV standard and we have joined the HDV forum. This is still in development and I am not quite sure as yet how and when HDV support will appear in the FireStore product line. I will definitely notify this list when we have news.

Hope that helps.
Matt McEwen

I think just like many of the others on this thread have pointed out what is the difference between the PAL and NTSC models? I'm sure if I shot some clips with a PAL camera the hard drive would for NTSC would record it. I am a Yank Videographer working in Asia and I use both formats frequently why not make one unit compatable for both? I'll probably buy the US unit ( cheaper ) and buy third party adaptors to power it. Like many others in Europe tired of getting ripped just because we use PAL which is a superior format anyhow.

Matt (or someone), can you confirm that the FS-4 will ship before the end of December? I've got a big project scheduled for early January and have the go-ahead to order a DTD drive, but I can't order the FS-4 unless I know it will be in my hands before Christmas. Thanks!

Another question on the PAL setup.

If I buy an NTSC US model FS-4 for a Canon XL2 NTSC camera will it be compatible for my Canon XL1 PAL?

Thanks.

Will the FS-4 support HDV? I don't see it listed on the specs, so I'm assuming it won't, but FocusInfo did say back in April that they intended to develop HDV products, so I'm hoping that maybe the as-yet-unreleased FS-4 will support it?

I saw that the FS-4 is formated in FAT32. Given the FAT32's file size limit of 4gb, how does the the FS-4 overcome this? I might have a gig this spring that requires me to shoot a 2 hour event nonstop. Would this be possible using the FS-4?

The Firestore breaks up continuous video streams into 2GB segments. The typically splice together seamlessly.

Groovy, thanks!


<<<-- Originally posted by Vic Owen : The Firestore breaks up continuous video streams into 2GB segments. The typically splice together seamlessly. -->>>

There is some difference between the PAL and NTSC unit, or they would be interchangeable. I would guess that there are most likely some differences in the software, not the hardware.

I have a guess you might consider: If one version of software was used it would mean that the code would have to be more complex, more costly to maintain, and the hardware would be more expensive. If there are two versions of the software, then the cost for development and maintaining them can be combined and everyone pays more, or each kept separate and you pay based on sales volume and market for the version you use.

Along with issue in distribution, marketing, order fulfillment, and production. I wonder if my guess has anything to do with the price difference.

Either way, I have four on order.

Hi Matt,

A quick question regarding user defined time lapse.
The spec sheet says that the FS-4 does not offer this, but the FS-4 Pro does.

Can you give more information on time lapse and those specific differences between the FS-4 & FS-4 Pro.

Thanks!

Hi Brad,

You are correct, the basic FS-4 does not support timelapse. FS-4Pro does however.

The basic differences between FS-4 and FS-4Pro can be found on the back page of the spec sheet at:
http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/FS4features.htm

Hope that helps,
Matt McEwen

thanks for the info, but what about a date for the release of the device. December was announced and it hardly looks like this will be impossible. new deadline ?
It is not just to kick you about a touchy question, it is because i got project waiting for this.

Hi Giroud,

The first beta units are now with customers. Depending on how the beta test phase continues to pan out, I would expect volume shipments for FS-4 some time in January.

So, please be prepared to roll tape for at least a little while longer.

I will post to this board when I have a better idea. Thanks for your patience.

Matt McEwen

HEY MATT
LET ME SEE IF I UNDERSTAND THIS - [NEW TO VIDEO] WITH THE FS-4 THERE IS NO NEED FOR A TAPE TO BE INSERTED INTO THE CAM ALL FEED IS GOIN TO THE FS-4?

OR

CAN A TAPE BE STILL USED I GUESS AS A BACK-UP

Ronnie

It seems that your Caps Lock key is stuck -- please turn it off!

Whether or not you need a DV cassette in the camera just depends on which camera in particular that you're talking about. Some do. Others don't. At any rate, you can always have a DV tape inserted and recording for backup (which is called "confidence recording" in this business).

oh ok -- thanks chris
and sorry bout the caps [my bad]
i am shooting with a canon xl2

With an XL2, you don't need a tape inserted in order for the FS-4 to work. It'll record just fine without a DV tape. Hope this helps,

Hi Ronnie,

As Chris has pointed out, FS-4 does have a mode called Tapeless Trigger which allows you to control it from the camcorder without a tape. The camcorder's we have tested include the Canon XL2 and XL1s, Panasonic DVX100/-100A and the Sony DSR-390. I expect more camcorders to be qualified down the track.

Hope that helps,

Matt

First I'd like to say hello to everyone. "Long time listener, first time caller!" I've been reading the DVI forums for over four years, since I got my XL1, and there is just a wealth of information here.

Matt,
Question: Any update on the FS-4 release date? I pre-ordered mine a week ago and am very anxious to get my hands on it.

Also, I'm curious as to the format recording options. I'm sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but I haven't seen it so I'll ask it here, but is the 24P AVI Type 2 and Quicktime 24P true 24P or are they 3:2 or 2:3:3:2 pulldown conversions?

Thanks for the info guys!!

John S. Warrick

I found this link today:- http://www.smarter.com/product.php?prodid=2393903&source=inktomi_2393903
Bearing in my mind that Holdan do not have the so-called PAL version in stock yet, it is very tempting to just buy from smarter.com, and if they ship it by DHL or Fedex there is a good chance of not paying customs on it!
There is no excuse for charging over £100 more for the PAL version.

<<<-- Originally posted by Vic Owen : The Firestore breaks up continuous video streams into 2GB segments. The typically splice together seamlessly. -->>>
I am considering this drive, but had some questions:
1. When you hook up the Firestore to OSX Macs, do you see is a bunch of 2 gig files even if it is one capture, as with iMovie?

2. Is there an easy way to create one file, from the segments, when you copy them to the computer?

3. Can you reformat the Firestore to the OSX file system, so you don't have to break up the files?

4. Can you "play" the video in real time in Firestore, to its firewire output so you could, say, record it to a set-top DVD-R video recorder's firewire input, or send it to other video equipment that works with firewire video?

Thanking anyone for any answers.