Portable hard disk drive?

[Sam Houchins II]

http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/firestore.htm

This is the one that seems to float my boat. There are some review links at this site as well.
If you tape while you download to HDD, you can save the tapes as archive, and edit from HD, still saving head wear and tear. Even if you archive once more the finished product onto DV, you're still saving 1/3 life (not having to xfer the first time). If customer is getting VHS and DVD though, I wonder if a DVD archived copy of final product would be sufficient, for future copies if required. Now your saving 2/3 of youtr head life. If you're really bold, skip the tape altogether. The question still remains for me though, can the vx2000 "record" - output to firewire HD - without a tape running.
Another fellow I've spoken to thought that saving an hour tape and an hour download time was not justification for $1000 gadget, though. Not a bad point for the budget's sake. But then, how many tapes in a year?

[Robert Mann Z.]

we looked tha that model it is way to big, plus you need a hard drive...hmmm CitiDisk DV would be great if it had used the msdv codec

[Chris Hurd]

The new FireStore FS-3 is much smaller, can mount directly to a camcorder for full portability, and includes a removeable internal hard drive. Expect a full review on DV Info Net soon.

[Robert Mann Z.]

Chris,

I saw the Fs3, but its is a bit bigger then citi's unit, however it is not out yet. Although it has been a while since they announced have they shipped them yet, if so whats the price?

[Jesper Hallen]

I have tested to put movieclips on an external hard drive, and when I import them to Premiere the external disc doesn't seems to handle that appr. Maybe the external disc is to slow for moviefiles?

[Sam Houchins II]

Do you know the speed of the drive you tried? A 7200 RPM, 2MB cache firewire and/or USB2 drive is commonly available now. I wonder if those specs would be sufficient.

[Virginia Benedict]

If I understand the Hard Drive market correctly the initial investment is about a $1K output. This includes one 60 or 80 gig drive.

The drives are standard notebook drives and can be bought, again, if I am not mistaken for about $75 to 90 bucks per drive and perhaps negotiated if one buys bulk.

I am very tempted to buy one.... Of course the only company I have spoken to and briefly saw product from was Firestore.

I need to do more research...

It is definitely the way to go.

[Garret Ambrosio]

To bypass compression issues, simply burn the file and using DVD with Nero or you favorite DVD writing device. Do not make them into DVD Video, but DVD-/+RW as data. Capture at 4GB at a time and burn them to DVD as data files. This may lead to quite a bit of DVD's though.

[Frank Ladner]

I don't see this one working on event videography, but if you're doing a short film and have time to set up, why not use a laptop and capture the footage straight to the hard drive?

Lugging a laptop around with all the other equipment may be somewhat of a pain, but you'd have the ability to bypass recording to tape.

I have done this before in Adobe Premiere on my desktop. (I don't have a laptop.)

Hrm...What is the maximum length a firewire cable can be? I have seen 15 foot cables for sale.

What do you guys think?


,Frank

[Glenn Chan]

You can get firewire repeaters to extend the length. Expensive though.

[Darrell Sullivan]

Is the user able to switch the drives in these portable drives? (Talking about the CitiDisk DV)

I was considering getting a mini-itx motherboard with firewire on it as well as a 10amp hour 12 volt battery, a 120gb notebook drive, and a small composite video monitor and buildin a PC about the size and look of an old Star Trek tricorder to use as a portable capture device, but it sound like this is a solution where someone has already done all of the work. But I would want to be able to trade out drives without having to purchase the controller mechanism for each and every drive.

[Robert Mann Z.]

if you find the answer let us know

[Dick Steele]

Check out the Laird.

http://www.lairdtelemedia.com/products/ultraseries.html#CAPDIV

[Virginia Benedict]

Darrell,

-- "Is the user able to switch the drives in these portable drives? (Talking about the CitiDisk DV)"--

As I stated in my previous message, I have only spoken to "Firestore" who assured me that one can exchange drives using the default drive "cassette" which comes with the device.

My only suggestion to them was that they needed to make this process more obviously seamless.

Yes! One can change drives during a production session. Much like one can change a tape.

The drives can be catalogued as original footage and archived.

It is not inexpensive but a highly cost efficient way to go. Considering that tapes fade over time and can easily be damaged.

[Don Berube]

<<<-- Originally posted by Frank Ladner : Lugging a laptop around with all the other equipment may be somewhat of a pain, but you'd have the ability to bypass recording to tape.

Why would you want to bypass recording to tape? Tape is cheap. In the here and now, you'll still want to record to tape at the same time when using any of these hard disk recorders, as the tape is now your master backup archive. Always have a backup! Not having a backup is simply not using good judgement, especially when you are charging for your services and you need to get it right the first time. And, if you are not currently archiving all of the footage you shoot, you should be! Again, tape is cheap and it is still the best way to archive all of that wonderful footage you are creating with your camera. Having an archive of your footage is not only a security blanket should you ever run into problems with your captures (or lose them due to a hard drive failure), it also allows you to *re-purpose* your footage down the road. It always helps to look at things from a business perspective, having the ability to re-purpose your footage is key. This is just one of the ways that the FireStore FS-3 ultimately pays for itself.

At least for now we have a tool that allows us to make a significant reduction in our post-production workflow by eliminating that tedious and often time-consuming task of log and capture from your post-production workflow. With the FS-3, we can capture in the field, easily connect the FS-3 hard drive pod to any computer with IEEE1394 FireWire and start editing. These days, there is no sense in attaching anything to your camera unless it gives you a significant advantage. In my opinion, the FireStore FS-3 does just that.

Sure, there may be some low-end devices that carry a lower price tag, but we all should know by now that in this industry 'cheap' does not necessarily mean 'best' at all... The low-end units simply do not utilize Focus Enhancement's patented 'DTE Technology'. If you still have to transcode your DV capture files so that they are compatible with your own brand of NLE, then what is the point??? If you come from a professional ENG or EFP background, you'll understand that Focus Enhancement's DTE Technology is still the only technology that allows you to capture in your own NLE's native file format. Formats include OMF for Avid/ Avid Express DV, QuickTime for Apple Final Cut Pro, Canopus AVI, Matrox AVI and more. In fact, the FS-3 allows you to transcode to OMF in REAL TIME, that's a big plus... AVID cutters will certainly love this feature.

Yes, it would be nice to have the hard drive capture technology in the camera - and we all long for that. But in the here and now, it's all about the *interface*... Whether you are using the FS-1, FS-2 or FS-3, it's easy to see that the FireStore interface makes the most sense and is the most robust and easiest to use.

I did some testing of the FS-3 a few weeks ago in Boston and also last week at the Woods Hole Film Festival in Cape Cod. Perhaps the following .pdf will help to explain where these devices are headed. http://noisybrain.com/SDTV/DTE/WHFF_FS-3_XL1S.pdf This ad ran in all of the program guides for the Woods Hole Film Festival 2003.

Hope that this info helps everyone,

- don