Is there any chance that a firmware upgrade will be available for the FS-4 or FS-4 Pro enabling it to write .rtv files? This is the native format for Newtek's Video Toaster.

I am a relative newcomer to all this and I understand (wrongly?) that, using a MiniDV camcorder such as the Canon XL2, if you record to tape the data is compressed using the DV codec. Whereas if you stream the data via firewire into a computer, this bypasses the DV compressing and the footage arrives in the computer in raw, uncompressed, pristine quality.

Now, I am about to buy a Newtek VT3 system. The FS-4 would be extremely useful to me ONLY IF it bypassed DV compression and stored video data uncompressed. However, it would be EXTREMELY useful to me if it could write to Newtek's native rtv format, since I record even more footage onto the FS-4 and not lose any picture quality than I would if I were to record uncompressed and then convert on the computer later on.

I realise the Video Toaster is a bit of a niche product, but nonetheless are Focus Enhancement likely to release a software upgrade allowing the FS-4 to write rtv files?

Hi Seymour,

I am not totally familiar with the Video Toaster, but I have done some demos with the application and was able to use the AVI Type 2 DTE Technology file format and it worked fine. I cannot remember which version of Toaster it was though. If the .rtv file format is based on DV25, then we can probably support it. I'll look into the format.

As for the video quality, FireStore only records DV25...the same quality that is recorded to tape on DV camcorders. Camcorders such as the XL2 only output digitally via FireWire with this standard. Most NLE's edit in this standard as well. If you locate a camcorder with an SDI output, this is uncompressed video, but I don't think any portable disk recorders exist that will record this.

FireStore is immune to tape dropouts though...the camcorder always outputs DV25 over the FireWire port and this is cleanly recorded to disk with DTE Technology. Tape drop-outs occur due to imperfections in the tape. FireStore obviously does not have this problem and the 10 second shock cache ensures every frame is safely recorded.

Hope this helps,

Matt McEwen

Perhaps I was getting confused re. the firewire outputting uncompressed video on the fly. I think what I've read is that live outputting of the video through the analogue cables bypasses DV compression.

All the same, it would certainly be a massive help to me and my company (and many other companies) if the FS-4 and its successors could encode directly to the rtv codec.

Hi Seymour,

I will look into the format and let you know.

Matt

Thanks very much. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Seymour,

How certain are you that outputting through the analogue cables would bypass the DV compression? I'm just curious because if this is true (wouldn't an analogue transfer compromise this quality though?) it wouldn't be *too* hard to design a system to take this signal and record it to a portable array of disks....

Aaron,

Hi. I'm not certain about it at all. I read it somewhere recently, and was pretty sure it was on the Newtek forum. However I've just spent an hour scouring that forum and googling the key terms, but I can't find the specific article concerned.

However I have found these:

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=7316

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:U0zl4LzKUFwJ:library.cortland.edu/multimedia/vidcreate.html+bypass+mini+dv+compression+tape+analog&hl=en

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:qJs8fZjqhd0J:www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/FS_Applications.pdf+bypass+minidv+dv+compression+tape+analog+quality&hl=en

http://www.well.com/user/richardl/Features.html