As I predicted to some of my friends:

http://www.bella-usa.com/Catapult.htm

it looks to me like you don't need an ipod, just a 2.5" drive in a usb case?

the downside to that device, and it's a big one for some of us, is that you apparently can't trigger recording via the rec button on your camcorder.

The site does mention bits about that, but it's too vague to know whether that is true or not...it wouldn't be that difficult for it to work with the camera's rec button though as the cam connects via Firewire to it.

Where does it say you can't hit record on the camera?

In fact... off the website


"Pre & Post Record
Pre-record and Post-record settings are two of the most exciting features of Catapult. With the Pre-record setting, users can set Catapult to begin recording for a preset amount of time prior to actually hitting the “record” button on the camera. This is feature is great for use with live action, such as sporting events allowing you to capture that winning point every time."

edwin, what you quoted is simply starting the recording deck manually, ahead of time, not starting and stopping recording with the rec button on the camcorder itself.

the existance of a firewire connection does not automatically guarantee any kind of deck control for the connected devices.

the fact that it is not mentioned on the website indicates that it's not an option, which is unfortunate.

isn't this the pertinent part:

"the “record” button on the camera"?

Once again... no point at all in using a $400 ipod to do this. The device is NOT made to be a HDD, period endstop! The failure rate of ipods as HDDs is much higher than just normal HDDs. They are great media players, not video capture devices. I guess people are intrigued by the novelty but there is no interface...meaning, even if it WAS a robust HDD, you have to reformat your ipod with every use... Even forgetting that... you can get an external 2.5" 100GB HDD for ~ $150 less than half the price of a 60gb iPod...



ash =o)

I agree Ash, but I already own an iPod ;)

I personally think this item will be really popular if it works, I for one will order one the second it comes out as long as its not strictly m2t for HDV.

isn't this the pertinent part:
"the “record” button on the camera"?

yes, that's the point that i'm trying to make :-)

i guess that it probably won't sink in until after people have to reach up and grope around for the record button on the deck itself... maybe then they will understand why the location of the rec button on the camera is so important.

and without visual confirmation in the camera viewfinder, how will you know that you are actually recording?

ymmv, of course, depending on whether or not you are doing long-form work or not... it would be a disaster for the multiple short clips that i shoot.

Dan,

with all due respect. I don't understand you at all....


According to my reading comprehension the part of the website i quoted stated that you can set a time... say 30 seconds... where the device is constantly recording the input from the firewire from your camera ...


Now when you hit the record button ON YOUR CAMERA it will write to a file from the 30 second buffer from the device to the external hardrive you hook up from the usb2 port.

How does this suck?

thanks edwin, now i see what you guys are saying... it does say that the rec button on the camcorder starts the actual recording, my bad... which makes sense, because now that i really look at it, there doesn't appear to be a rec button on the unit itself?

after getting burned with the citidisk, i'm just very skeptical that all hdd recorders will work as advertised... because they don't :-)

at any rate, you now know what to look for, lol:
1) recording control by the rec button on the camcorder
2) visual feedback in the camera viewfinder that the deck is actually recording, if possible

sorry for the confusion.

One of the weak links of the FireStore is the tenuous FireWire cable connectors, which can easily lose the cable out of either the camcorder or FS-4. The Bella unit doubles the number of failure points with both the FireWire cable between camcorder and Catapult, and the USB cable between Catapult and external drive.

While it looks like the USB cable can be much shorter, two more connections still means an increased chance of missing the shot when you're running around and you catch a cable on something.

I'm curious what codec it will use to store the file or what format. It doesn't have any information on this.

- Jesse

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=40232

David,

I must be missing something. I don't see a connection between the two links and how the codecs in one relate to the product in the other. I didn't see the Bella product (Catapult) mentioned in the second link you gave. What am I missing?

Thanks,

- Jesse

BTW, they should sell a million of these when released. I have several small (40-60GB) USB drives. I didn't think that USB supported data transfer rates that were high enough for DV.

Page 1 reviews the Citidisk, Page 2 reviews the FireStore FS-4 and Page 3 talks about (but does not review) the Catapult. Are you able to see page 3?

Thanks David,

The end of the article was so busy, I didn't notice the links to the other pages.

- Jesse

If this thing is what it promises to be - it is going to be a good alternative to what is on the market now. But I'll believe it first when it starts shipping.

I'm wondering if Focus Enhancements responds to this. Will they lower the price? Move some pro features over to the standard unit (like time lapse and adjustable buffer)? Fix some glaring deficiencies?

Forum problems, duplicate post deleted.

I am looking forward to use the Catapult with a 80GB 7200 RPM 2.5
Hitachi HD in an external Case:

Catapult:$300

Hitachi HD:$135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822146047


External Enclosure:$33
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146604

TOTAL COST:$468+Any form of 5V battery system....

Not bad.....if it works...

Cesar.

How about someone just write an app for http://ipodlinux.org/Main_Page to run on the iPod and the iPod alone, no extra anything?

That would be cool!

Once again, the Ipod is not meant to be a constant spinning HDD. It is meant as an ACCESS drive. It is not cooled properly, etc. to run as a capture device. This is nothing more than a novelty.


ash =o)