Various Firestore questions

Greg Corke · March 6th, 2006, 01:06 PM

Hi Guys,

Well I sent my firestore back to ZHoldan the Uk reps for Focus. They said the unit worked fine with the Ap1 they tested it with. Trouble is this is 1080i. As I said to thne technician it seems diffcult to rule out a problem with the unit unless you test with the same format as you have a problem with in this case 720p 24fps. Now it may be the case that there is a problem with my camera and Holdan are sending me a completely new unit to rule out the Firestore. My main question though is this, has anyone actually tried a firestore with the HD100 and had any success. I know the kind of process power needed for progressive is a fair bit more than interlaced and I'm wondering if theses units can actually handle it? Love to hear some feedback guys.

Regards Greg C

Tim Selander · March 7th, 2006, 09:42 AM

Hi! I just sent the following to Focus' support email, but it occured to me that other FS-3 users may have already had this problem and be willing to help me trouble shoot. I did search past posts without avail... Thanks!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hi,

I have an FS-3, using it with a Panasonic AG-DVC200 full size DV camera, using the Anton Bauer mount.

While recording, (synch mode, if that matters), every so often the unit suddenly loses the normal LCD display that shows the time code, etc., and shows the "No Disk Detected" screen. (Can't remember the exact words, but it's the same message you get if you power up the unit without the hard disk in it.)

Needless to say, the shot being recorded is ruined. Also requires powering off the unit to get it to recognize the drive again. Once, while rolling, I heard a clunk from the drive and looked down just in time to see the LCD roll over to the no disk message.

At times, I haven't noticed that it has lost track of the drive for several takes. This is the biggest problem, as I can't be sure how many takes I've missed.

I am guessing that the hard drive is failing, or perhaps the firewire connecting in the drive and/or disk slot of the main unit. I have reformatted the drive, and tried different FW cables between camera and FS-3, but I still have the problem. Happens four or five times in a day's shooting, and not being able to trust the unit is taking away 90% of it's value for our workflow.

Is this a problem you've run across with other users, and how would you recommend I trouble shoot the unit to try to figure out what's going wrong?

Many thanks for your help.

Tim Selander

Matthew Fink · March 14th, 2006, 05:38 PM

Hey everyone,

I just got my FS-4 (non pro) and captured 1 hour of continuous video. When brought into premiere pro I notice that it does not line up perfectly between 9 minute clips. I lose maybe a frame inbetween - you can see the jump. Someone else was having this problem also - anyone else have it or know of a solution? So far I had no problems with the fan noise and all the clips look ok and sound ok, they just dont flow perfectly.

As far as an idea for a quick fix for the extended battery with the on camera mount...I used a flash bracket (or something similar) and all I did was turn the drive around in the holster (I have it standing up vertical) and twisted it around with the manfrotto head, and used a velcro strap to hold it into place just in case...works fine! Just a quick fix...

-Matt

Chris C. Corfield · March 29th, 2006, 08:57 PM

Just got back from a hike where my firestore took a fall. Have been using it for the past six or so hikes to film to on the belt clip. Today while walking the unit fell off and onto the ground. Luckily it was loose stone and not asphalt. But the culprit was the screw that holds the round button that slides into the belt clip. The screw undid itself enough to let the unit fall. This is just to let others know to keep it in mind and LockTite that screw in place.

Chris

Joe Matyas · April 19th, 2006, 02:10 PM

As an avid FS-4 user, I have developed a portable battery pack for use with the FS-4/100. I have over 685 hours of field testing in its development. Check it out at:

http://www.powerbagjunior.com

Thanks,

joe

Don Boosinger · May 6th, 2006, 07:38 PM

I am thinking of purchasing the remote control for the FS-4. I have not been able to find any information about this product can anyone tell me the functions provided by this unit?

Gary Fisher Dawson · September 19th, 2006, 06:24 PM

Can anyone address a problem I am having with my FS-4 regarding a delay in the audio signal? I posted the following yesterday.

I am shooting our pilot for an Internet sitcom using an XL2 and the Firestore FS-4(Pro)HD as our primary storage device, and we are having trouble that we can't figure out. The audio and visual are out of sinc. This occurs both while shooting and editing. Though we are using FCP-HD, we are shooting in SD at 24P. From all we can determine, the camera presets for a cine look at 24P are correct, including the settings for the F4, as well as the settings in FCP for 24P. The F4 is a wonderful product and we wish were not having this problem at this critical time. Fortunately, as you know, the F4 requires a back-up DV tape for function, so we have all our material saved. However, the DTE makes it so much faster and easier to capture on timeline. Can any of you assist?

Gary Fisher Dawson

Steve Nunez · October 16th, 2006, 10:01 PM

Anyone using the Quickstream DV device- how's it working?

I'm torn between the FS-4 and Quickstream DV with a DVX100B....any comments?

Rich Raney · October 27th, 2006, 07:37 AM

To see a First Draft commercial - click here: http://www.ceroproductions.com/video/Elkins.mov

International producers On Digital (New Zealand) & Colorado Video Production (DP Rich Raney) shoot and produce a national ad campaign for the international company, James Hardie Siding, in DVCPRO 50 on the Panasonic HVX200 P2 camera.

Denver, CO (PRWEB via PRWeb) September 12, 2006 -- Production Team: Producer, Nick Tapper, Director, Clinton Phillips, and Colorado Video Production DP, Rich Raney, produce a U.S. national ad campaign for the international company, James Hardie Siding.

James Hardie, Regional Marketing Specialist Marc Setty was onboard for the three state 7-day production schedule. "It was an aggressive but rewarding shoot," said DP Rich Raney, "For the first leg we shot in three separate states in three days." Raney went on to say. "We had 9 crew members on the Denver leg of the shoot, including two jib arms, a 5ton grip truck (LSD-Tom Cheatham, Denver), makeup and two DP's."

Raney and AC Chris de la Garza shot 12 hours of footage on two of the new Panasonic HVX200 P2 cameras in the DVCPRO 50 format. "We captured the footage on the Focus Firestore FS-100 portable Hard Drives -- what an amazing camera, beautiful color saturation and flawless performance from both units!" said DP Raney, "We shot in a dusty factory, multiple homes in close quarters and suspended from 25' jib arms without a single problem!" Raney went on to say that the client opted to shoot in DVCRO 50, SD 480X60i to make the post production import of the native MXF files easier with their Avid Xpress system. "Regardless of the frame rate you choose the DVCPRO 50 format offers broadcast 4:2:2 color space with added chroma resolution," Raney said. AC Chris de la Garza added, "We are totally sold on the P2 format, our Company will shoot tapeless where ever and when ever possible!" He went on to describe the P2 workflow: "We would mount the cameras for a shot in matching Time Code, capture the video/audio on the Firestore hard drives, dismount the drives and connect them to a Sony Vaio laptop via firewire then dump the footage onto a separate 500gig external drive in separate folders for easy identification."

New Zealand Producer Nick Tapper offered this comment about the shoot: "The entire production was a complete success, the Colorado Production team was Efficient, Professional and on Budget."

James Hardie, Vice President of International Business, Jamie Chilcoff had this to say, "We are excited and extremely pleased with the results!"

To see a First Draft commercial - click here: http://www.ceroproductions.com/video/Elkins.mov

Geoff Murillo · October 29th, 2006, 10:11 PM

Hi Matt,

I own a JVC GY-HD100U and a Firestore DR-HD100 recorder. I have a project that I shot and started editing on a PC, but need to finish on a MAC in Final Cut Studio. I understand that I cannot import the raw M2T files into Final Cut Pro, but I would like to edit in native HDV within Final Cut Pro.

I try to setup my DR-HD100 as an av/c device to capture the 24p files within Final Cut, but I haven't had any luck (my MAC will not recognize it as an audio video device). I have no problems with this workflow if it will work for me, but it doesn't. What do I need to do to get my MAC to recognize my DR-HD100?

I have the most recent updates to OS X, Final Cut Studio and QT to support 24p Final Cut capture.

Your firmware for the drive (I understand it currently supports 30p only, but you are planning on 24p support) does this upon recording (taking the m2t info and wrapping it into a QT HDV file). Have you thought about a stand-alone MAC application to transcode any original M2T files into QT wrapped files?

This would fill a major gap for every Final Cut Editor using your product, as well as anyone who has had to capture their clips on a PC and import them into a MAC. I've done some tests with Lumiere, HDVxDV and MPEGStreamclip, and they are all great applications, but they have to recompress the M2T streams into 720 24p HDV to output the files. The quality is noticably lower than the source files.

If your drive can do this (changing the M2T files into QT HDV files, recording on the fly), can you PLEASE create an application to transcode existing M2T files, without recompressing them, as your drive does?

Sincerely,

Geoff Murillo

Steve Nunez · October 31st, 2006, 04:21 PM

Since I can't get the HV10 to work tapless- can I assume it's a consumer level camcorder and this is why it wont work.....will the XH-A1 work totally tapeless, with "Rec" triggering from the "rec" button on the camera itself?

Alexandre Lucena · November 23rd, 2006, 12:07 PM

Has anyone had a NO DiSK DETECTED MESSAGE? My firestore
unit does not access clips anymore and my e mail has not been
answered by Firestore support person. I have important data, and
I urge to get it working.

Any help is appreciated.

Alexandre Lucena

Jay Rodriguez · December 16th, 2006, 07:59 AM

I now have the FS-4Pro HD in 60GB size which was purchased last week and the camera that I use is the Canon A1.

I figued out how to record to the FS as m2t files but can't get the QT mode to work at all. The screen just flashes purple and blue and never actually syncs with the camera.

Anyone know why this may be happening?

At this point I'm desperate. I called Focus and left the tech dept a message but didn't get a call back. :(

Thanks,
Jay

Dave Beaty · January 5th, 2007, 12:49 PM

Any news on making the DR HD100 compatible with the HD250 camera?

I have two of these firestores I can't use until I can get them to work with this camera. I purchased them assuming they would be the same as the HD100 when in 720p30 mode.

Thanks

Dave Beaty

Kit Hannah · January 27th, 2007, 04:01 AM

I have a question for all of the Vegas /FS-4HD /JVC HD110 users out there.

I was reading a few posts that mentioned the problem with audio / video drops (a couple of frames) between segments. Many suggested that this is not a problem with the JVC HD-110's because of the back space setting, but I have the 110's with the FS-4 HD and Vegas 7, and it has gaps. It basically jumps between clips when recording .m2t files. I've done everything everyone has suggested in other posts. Still has gaps.

So, my question is, has anybody found the work around for this problem, or have newer versions of Vegas taken care of things? The cameras are a week old and the firestore drives came in yesterday morning (3 of them drop shipped from Focus Enhancements). They all have the latest firmware.

I'm somewhat disappointed at this point. If we can't output to HD on the Firestore's (we're not going to capture 40 + hours of tape for each of our projects), what was the point in spending all this damn money to "upgrade" from our DV5000's? To me, it seems like we've almost downgraded now because we have 1/3" SD chips instead of 1/2 ".

Ideas anyone?

March 6th, 2006, 01:06 PM	#31
Greg Corke Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 245	anyone used this with hd100? Hi Guys, Well I sent my firestore back to ZHoldan the Uk reps for Focus. They said the unit worked fine with the Ap1 they tested it with. Trouble is this is 1080i. As I said to thne technician it seems diffcult to rule out a problem with the unit unless you test with the same format as you have a problem with in this case 720p 24fps. Now it may be the case that there is a problem with my camera and Holdan are sending me a completely new unit to rule out the Firestore. My main question though is this, has anyone actually tried a firestore with the HD100 and had any success. I know the kind of process power needed for progressive is a fair bit more than interlaced and I'm wondering if theses units can actually handle it? Love to hear some feedback guys. Regards Greg C

March 7th, 2006, 09:42 AM	#32
Tim Selander New Boot Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 13	Trouble with my FS-3; "looses" disk Hi! I just sent the following to Focus' support email, but it occured to me that other FS-3 users may have already had this problem and be willing to help me trouble shoot. I did search past posts without avail... Thanks! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Hi, I have an FS-3, using it with a Panasonic AG-DVC200 full size DV camera, using the Anton Bauer mount. While recording, (synch mode, if that matters), every so often the unit suddenly loses the normal LCD display that shows the time code, etc., and shows the "No Disk Detected" screen. (Can't remember the exact words, but it's the same message you get if you power up the unit without the hard disk in it.) Needless to say, the shot being recorded is ruined. Also requires powering off the unit to get it to recognize the drive again. Once, while rolling, I heard a clunk from the drive and looked down just in time to see the LCD roll over to the no disk message. At times, I haven't noticed that it has lost track of the drive for several takes. This is the biggest problem, as I can't be sure how many takes I've missed. I am guessing that the hard drive is failing, or perhaps the firewire connecting in the drive and/or disk slot of the main unit. I have reformatted the drive, and tried different FW cables between camera and FS-3, but I still have the problem. Happens four or five times in a day's shooting, and not being able to trust the unit is taking away 90% of it's value for our workflow. Is this a problem you've run across with other users, and how would you recommend I trouble shoot the unit to try to figure out what's going wrong? Many thanks for your help. Tim Selander

March 14th, 2006, 05:38 PM	#33
Matthew Fink Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: CT Posts: 40	FS-4 long battery mount idea and a problem... Hey everyone, I just got my FS-4 (non pro) and captured 1 hour of continuous video. When brought into premiere pro I notice that it does not line up perfectly between 9 minute clips. I lose maybe a frame inbetween - you can see the jump. Someone else was having this problem also - anyone else have it or know of a solution? So far I had no problems with the fan noise and all the clips look ok and sound ok, they just dont flow perfectly. As far as an idea for a quick fix for the extended battery with the on camera mount...I used a flash bracket (or something similar) and all I did was turn the drive around in the holster (I have it standing up vertical) and twisted it around with the manfrotto head, and used a velcro strap to hold it into place just in case...works fine! Just a quick fix... -Matt

March 29th, 2006, 08:57 PM	#34
Chris C. Corfield Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 44	Firestore FYI belt clip Just got back from a hike where my firestore took a fall. Have been using it for the past six or so hikes to film to on the belt clip. Today while walking the unit fell off and onto the ground. Luckily it was loose stone and not asphalt. But the culprit was the screw that holds the round button that slides into the belt clip. The screw undid itself enough to let the unit fall. This is just to let others know to keep it in mind and LockTite that screw in place. Chris

April 19th, 2006, 02:10 PM	#35
Joe Matyas New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 22	Portable Battery Pack for FS-4 As an avid FS-4 user, I have developed a portable battery pack for use with the FS-4/100. I have over 685 hours of field testing in its development. Check it out at: http://www.powerbagjunior.com Thanks, joe

May 6th, 2006, 07:38 PM	#36
Don Boosinger Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Rohnert Park, Ca. Posts: 99	FS-4 Remote Control I am thinking of purchasing the remote control for the FS-4. I have not been able to find any information about this product can anyone tell me the functions provided by this unit?

September 19th, 2006, 06:24 PM	#37
Gary Fisher Dawson Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1	FS-4(Pro)HD out of sinc . . . Can anyone address a problem I am having with my FS-4 regarding a delay in the audio signal? I posted the following yesterday. I am shooting our pilot for an Internet sitcom using an XL2 and the Firestore FS-4(Pro)HD as our primary storage device, and we are having trouble that we can't figure out. The audio and visual are out of sinc. This occurs both while shooting and editing. Though we are using FCP-HD, we are shooting in SD at 24P. From all we can determine, the camera presets for a cine look at 24P are correct, including the settings for the F4, as well as the settings in FCP for 24P. The F4 is a wonderful product and we wish were not having this problem at this critical time. Fortunately, as you know, the F4 requires a back-up DV tape for function, so we have all our material saved. However, the DTE makes it so much faster and easier to capture on timeline. Can any of you assist? Gary Fisher Dawson Last edited by Gary Fisher Dawson; September 20th, 2006 at 06:24 PM.

October 16th, 2006, 10:01 PM	#38
Steve Nunez Trustee Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida Posts: 1,418	Quickstream DV Anyone using the Quickstream DV device- how's it working? I'm torn between the FS-4 and Quickstream DV with a DVX100B....any comments? __________________ Steve Nunez-New York City www.stevenunez.com

October 27th, 2006, 07:37 AM	#39
Rich Raney Tourist Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 3	Two FS-100 - HVX200 rigs in action To see a First Draft commercial - click here: http://www.ceroproductions.com/video/Elkins.mov International producers On Digital (New Zealand) & Colorado Video Production (DP Rich Raney) shoot and produce a national ad campaign for the international company, James Hardie Siding, in DVCPRO 50 on the Panasonic HVX200 P2 camera. Denver, CO (PRWEB via PRWeb) September 12, 2006 -- Production Team: Producer, Nick Tapper, Director, Clinton Phillips, and Colorado Video Production DP, Rich Raney, produce a U.S. national ad campaign for the international company, James Hardie Siding. James Hardie, Regional Marketing Specialist Marc Setty was onboard for the three state 7-day production schedule. "It was an aggressive but rewarding shoot," said DP Rich Raney, "For the first leg we shot in three separate states in three days." Raney went on to say. "We had 9 crew members on the Denver leg of the shoot, including two jib arms, a 5ton grip truck (LSD-Tom Cheatham, Denver), makeup and two DP's." Raney and AC Chris de la Garza shot 12 hours of footage on two of the new Panasonic HVX200 P2 cameras in the DVCPRO 50 format. "We captured the footage on the Focus Firestore FS-100 portable Hard Drives -- what an amazing camera, beautiful color saturation and flawless performance from both units!" said DP Raney, "We shot in a dusty factory, multiple homes in close quarters and suspended from 25' jib arms without a single problem!" Raney went on to say that the client opted to shoot in DVCRO 50, SD 480X60i to make the post production import of the native MXF files easier with their Avid Xpress system. "Regardless of the frame rate you choose the DVCPRO 50 format offers broadcast 4:2:2 color space with added chroma resolution," Raney said. AC Chris de la Garza added, "We are totally sold on the P2 format, our Company will shoot tapeless where ever and when ever possible!" He went on to describe the P2 workflow: "We would mount the cameras for a shot in matching Time Code, capture the video/audio on the Firestore hard drives, dismount the drives and connect them to a Sony Vaio laptop via firewire then dump the footage onto a separate 500gig external drive in separate folders for easy identification." New Zealand Producer Nick Tapper offered this comment about the shoot: "The entire production was a complete success, the Colorado Production team was Efficient, Professional and on Budget." James Hardie, Vice President of International Business, Jamie Chilcoff had this to say, "We are excited and extremely pleased with the results!" To see a First Draft commercial - click here: http://www.ceroproductions.com/video/Elkins.mov __________________ Theater is life - Film is art - Television is furniture…

October 29th, 2006, 10:11 PM	#40
Geoff Murillo Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Glendale, CA Posts: 92	Focus Firestore Encoder Application? Hi Matt, I own a JVC GY-HD100U and a Firestore DR-HD100 recorder. I have a project that I shot and started editing on a PC, but need to finish on a MAC in Final Cut Studio. I understand that I cannot import the raw M2T files into Final Cut Pro, but I would like to edit in native HDV within Final Cut Pro. I try to setup my DR-HD100 as an av/c device to capture the 24p files within Final Cut, but I haven't had any luck (my MAC will not recognize it as an audio video device). I have no problems with this workflow if it will work for me, but it doesn't. What do I need to do to get my MAC to recognize my DR-HD100? I have the most recent updates to OS X, Final Cut Studio and QT to support 24p Final Cut capture. Your firmware for the drive (I understand it currently supports 30p only, but you are planning on 24p support) does this upon recording (taking the m2t info and wrapping it into a QT HDV file). Have you thought about a stand-alone MAC application to transcode any original M2T files into QT wrapped files? This would fill a major gap for every Final Cut Editor using your product, as well as anyone who has had to capture their clips on a PC and import them into a MAC. I've done some tests with Lumiere, HDVxDV and MPEGStreamclip, and they are all great applications, but they have to recompress the M2T streams into 720 24p HDV to output the files. The quality is noticably lower than the source files. If your drive can do this (changing the M2T files into QT HDV files, recording on the fly), can you PLEASE create an application to transcode existing M2T files, without recompressing them, as your drive does? Sincerely, Geoff Murillo

October 31st, 2006, 04:21 PM	#41
Steve Nunez Trustee Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida Posts: 1,418	Will XH-A1 work tapeless w/FS-4HD ? Since I can't get the HV10 to work tapless- can I assume it's a consumer level camcorder and this is why it wont work.....will the XH-A1 work totally tapeless, with "Rec" triggering from the "rec" button on the camera itself? __________________ Steve Nunez-New York City www.stevenunez.com

November 23rd, 2006, 12:07 PM	#42
Alexandre Lucena Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 56	Jammed FS 100 Has anyone had a NO DiSK DETECTED MESSAGE? My firestore unit does not access clips anymore and my e mail has not been answered by Firestore support person. I have important data, and I urge to get it working. Any help is appreciated. Alexandre Lucena

December 16th, 2006, 07:59 AM	#43
Jay Rodriguez Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 80	A how to question here, I seriously need help I now have the FS-4Pro HD in 60GB size which was purchased last week and the camera that I use is the Canon A1. I figued out how to record to the FS as m2t files but can't get the QT mode to work at all. The screen just flashes purple and blue and never actually syncs with the camera. Anyone know why this may be happening? At this point I'm desperate. I called Focus and left the tech dept a message but didn't get a call back. :( Thanks, Jay __________________ . www.itchyhousefilms.com

January 5th, 2007, 12:49 PM	#44
Dave Beaty Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ft. Myers, FL Posts: 240	DR HD100 and the JVC HD250 Camera Any news on making the DR HD100 compatible with the HD250 camera? I have two of these firestores I can't use until I can get them to work with this camera. I purchased them assuming they would be the same as the HD100 when in 720p30 mode. Thanks Dave Beaty

January 27th, 2007, 04:01 AM	#45
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	Gaps between .m2t files I have a question for all of the Vegas /FS-4HD /JVC HD110 users out there. I was reading a few posts that mentioned the problem with audio / video drops (a couple of frames) between segments. Many suggested that this is not a problem with the JVC HD-110's because of the back space setting, but I have the 110's with the FS-4 HD and Vegas 7, and it has gaps. It basically jumps between clips when recording .m2t files. I've done everything everyone has suggested in other posts. Still has gaps. So, my question is, has anybody found the work around for this problem, or have newer versions of Vegas taken care of things? The cameras are a week old and the firestore drives came in yesterday morning (3 of them drop shipped from Focus Enhancements). They all have the latest firmware. I'm somewhat disappointed at this point. If we can't output to HD on the Firestore's (we're not going to capture 40 + hours of tape for each of our projects), what was the point in spending all this damn money to "upgrade" from our DV5000's? To me, it seems like we've almost downgraded now because we have 1/3" SD chips instead of 1/2 ". Ideas anyone?