XL H1 w/ Firestore FS-4 HD End User Issues at DVinfo.net

Mark Job · January 12th, 2008, 05:00 PM

Hi friends. I just purchased a Firestore FS 4 HD 40 Gig DTE this week for use with my brand new H1 and I have a few difficulties which I'm hoping can be resolved with either a setting or a firmware upgrade. I get excellent quality results as far as MPEG 2 TS (M2T) audio and video quality is concerned. I can't tell any difference between the FS 4 HD files and what the H1 is putting onto tape.

However, I have noticed a strange latency and a very noticeable jump between the end of one 9 minute file and the beginning of the next. Several frames are lost between one file and the next. If I'm doing a serious sit down interview or a music concert, then this issue becomes unworkable for my assignment. I am using Firestore firmware version 1.1.0.04092006 according to the FS 4 HD's screen. Is there a firmware upgrade which resolves this issue ?

Also, I use my XL H1 with Avid Xpress Pro ver. 5.5.7 and there is no way to have any Direct To Edit functionality with the FS 4 HD device. In other words, I cannot just pluggin my DTE device and instantly drag my files onto my Avid editing timeline. Avid uses bins to hold clips from which they can be dragged to the preview window or directly to the timeline, and dragging clips from the firestore device to an Avid bin results in a lengthy import (read copying)proceedure which takes anywhere from a few seconds to an hour depending on the amount of clips you have to deal with.

I'm hoping someone on this forum has some good news for me about the frame drop issue from file to file. I'm wanting to believe in my recent purchase.

John Richard · January 13th, 2008, 10:45 AM

You don't see any difference in quality between the tape data and the FS-4 data because this data is exactly the same format - HDV spec.

As for the quirks of the Firestore; suggest you check out the dedicated Firestore disc recorder forum here.

Some report success while others report problems. We have an FS-4 and haven't touched it for almost a year - just too many wierd issues to mess with it.

If you were expecting a better quality than what was recorded to tape, you misunderstood.

There are a couple of digital recorder solutions coming down the pike such as the XDR Convergent-Design Flash Recorder that will allow a cam with HD-SDI output to bump up in the quality recorded above HDV. (HDV is very nice though generally.)

Mark Job · January 13th, 2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Richard

If you were expecting a better quality than what was recorded to tape, you misunderstood. There are a couple of digital recorder solutions coming down the pike such as the XDR Convergent-Design Flash Recorder that will allow a cam with HD-SDI output to bump up in the quality recorded above HDV. (HDV is very nice though generally.)

.............No I didn't expect (better) quality than what's on tape. This wasn't why I posted at all. I posted because of what I consider is a rather serious malfunction (Lost frames and audio in going from one 9 minute segment to the next) and I was hoping someone else who uses the Firestore Fs 4 (HD) might know if there was something like a firmware upgrade which may remedy this problem....After the weekend I will call Firestore directly and investigate deeper. Since I am a new user to this product, I never assume the product is at fault. Perhaps I have entered an erroneous setting into the box ? Yes, I already heard about the upcoming Flash XDR product and I am very excited to see what it can do :-) I can hardly wait !

Mark Job · January 13th, 2008, 11:50 PM

Hi shooters: Well, now I've got a problem with playback in the camera and I don't know if it's my settings in the Firestore, or the Firestore itself, and hopefully, it's not my camera ! When I playback the FS 4 HD through my camera, then I get a perfect picture in the viewfinder, but a rainbow colored oscillating distortion on my TV set (??) Again, is it a setting in the FS 4 HD, a malfunction of the FS 4 HD, or a setting in my XL H1 ? I have a hard time believing it's my H1. I'm starting to become quite concerned about it actually. Will I be able to use this for production ???

January 12th, 2008, 05:00 PM	#1
Mark Job Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Posts: 1,138	XL H1 w/ Firestore FS-4 HD End User Issues Hi friends. I just purchased a Firestore FS 4 HD 40 Gig DTE this week for use with my brand new H1 and I have a few difficulties which I'm hoping can be resolved with either a setting or a firmware upgrade. I get excellent quality results as far as MPEG 2 TS (M2T) audio and video quality is concerned. I can't tell any difference between the FS 4 HD files and what the H1 is putting onto tape. However, I have noticed a strange latency and a very noticeable jump between the end of one 9 minute file and the beginning of the next. Several frames are lost between one file and the next. If I'm doing a serious sit down interview or a music concert, then this issue becomes unworkable for my assignment. I am using Firestore firmware version 1.1.0.04092006 according to the FS 4 HD's screen. Is there a firmware upgrade which resolves this issue ? Also, I use my XL H1 with Avid Xpress Pro ver. 5.5.7 and there is no way to have any Direct To Edit functionality with the FS 4 HD device. In other words, I cannot just pluggin my DTE device and instantly drag my files onto my Avid editing timeline. Avid uses bins to hold clips from which they can be dragged to the preview window or directly to the timeline, and dragging clips from the firestore device to an Avid bin results in a lengthy import (read copying)proceedure which takes anywhere from a few seconds to an hour depending on the amount of clips you have to deal with. I'm hoping someone on this forum has some good news for me about the frame drop issue from file to file. I'm wanting to believe in my recent purchase.

January 13th, 2008, 11:50 PM	#4
Mark Job Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Posts: 1,138	Third Malfunction Identified :-( Hi shooters: Well, now I've got a problem with playback in the camera and I don't know if it's my settings in the Firestore, or the Firestore itself, and hopefully, it's not my camera ! When I playback the FS 4 HD through my camera, then I get a perfect picture in the viewfinder, but a rainbow colored oscillating distortion on my TV set (??) Again, is it a setting in the FS 4 HD, a malfunction of the FS 4 HD, or a setting in my XL H1 ? I have a hard time believing it's my H1. I'm starting to become quite concerned about it actually. Will I be able to use this for production ???

January 13th, 2008, 10:45 AM	#2
John Richard Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Incline Village, Nevada Posts: 604	You don't see any difference in quality between the tape data and the FS-4 data because this data is exactly the same format - HDV spec. As for the quirks of the Firestore; suggest you check out the dedicated Firestore disc recorder forum here. Some report success while others report problems. We have an FS-4 and haven't touched it for almost a year - just too many wierd issues to mess with it. If you were expecting a better quality than what was recorded to tape, you misunderstood. There are a couple of digital recorder solutions coming down the pike such as the XDR Convergent-Design Flash Recorder that will allow a cam with HD-SDI output to bump up in the quality recorded above HDV. (HDV is very nice though generally.)