Firestore FS-C various topics

[Kalulu Ngilo]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah Rickert

So are these IDE drives? I have a .8 mA 7200 RPM 200gb drive, but it's a SATA drive.

Thanks!

JR

negative on SATA drives! the drive i just took out is about 0.6A. Yours is faster RPM, uses .8A, it will deplete the battery quicker. a second battery backup might be an option. You can also look into ide(ata-6) to sata adapters online.

[G. Lee Gordon]

I'm excited about the upgrade and have my eyes on an fs-4. I need to know, can the fs-4 record in quicktime?

[Charles Dodd]

What is the advantage of recording in Quicktime rather than
M2t? When capturing video to FCE from the FSC I am only
able to capture in realtime. I thought one of the advantages
for having Firestore was to be able to drag files from the
FSC into Final Cut. Maybe the reason I can't drag from the
FSC is because I am using a Mac Pro. Thanks

Charles Dodd

[G. Lee Gordon]

Charles, as I stated I don't yet have it so I'm writing in theory. But, through research on this forum I believe that working in FCP there are additional steps to take working with M2t files. I also believe that the process to convert M2t files is so cumbersome that it's not worth it. With quicktime files you are immediately ready to edit via FCP.

[Charles Dodd]

My experience is that m2t and quicktime clips dragged from
FSC to Mac Pro desktop will not open from the desktop. The
only way, as stated earlier, to get clips from the FSC is to
capture to FCE, which is realtime. The m2t clips will open fine
in Streamclip, but the .mov clips will not open in either Quick-
time player or Streamclip. With my limited knowledge this is
the only way I have found to get the clips from the FSC. Hope
someone can help with this. Thanks.

Charles Dodd

[Julian Frost]

I just bought an FS-C and was pretty happy with it, until I found what seems to be a pretty big flaw in the system.

I'm using the FS-C with the Canon XH-A1, and when I shoot tapeless 30F and record it onto the FS-C, it'll not save the last 2 seconds of footage onto the hard drive.

For example, if I record myself counting down in one second intervals from five to zero, and turn off the camera when saying zero, the FS-C will record only "Five, four, three, two".

I haven't experimented to find out if this occurs only in 30F mode, as I usually only use 30F, but it occurs when Retro Cache is on and all other recording modes.

Can any other Canon XH-A1 and FS-C users replicate this problem?

Focus Enhancements technical support told me "That's just how it works for now with Canon cameras," and then added, "This sounds like the the same stream interrupt over 1394 that is on all HDV cameras (except the GY-HD series where you can set Back Space to 1394) when REC is triggered on the camera. This is something on the camera, we cannot do anything about this."

Nowhere in the manual, or online, does Focus Enhancements say the FS-C has this problem and to be sure of capturing ALL of your footage, you have to keep recording for at least 2 seconds longer than you planned. I know people will say, just keep the camera rolling, and that's what I do... but if I capture something good, even by accident, in the last 2 seconds of a shot, the FS-C won't save it!

[Julian Frost]

I wanted to update my post above.

While it is true that the FS-C does not capture the last 2 seconds of footage shot with the Canon XH-A1, it may well not be the FS-C's fault. As a friend pointed out to me, and FS-C's technical support hinted, it's quite possible that the camera requires a substantial amount of time to process the HD video stream and send it out via FireWire. When the Rec button is pressed on the A1, the camera could be stopping the video stream to the FS-C *before* it has processed the remaining (2) seconds of video. The FS-C, having received the Stop command from the camera, would stop recording before the final seconds of footage come down the FireWire cable.

If this is the case, it's a flaw with the camera, not the FS-C. Either way, it means when using an tapeless recording device, you should always plan on leaving the camera running several seconds longer than you thought... probably somewhere along the lines of 4-5 seconds longer, just to be safe.

[Rob Kraneveldt]

Just upgraded my FS-4HD....I put in a Seagate 100GB. It only draws 0.48 Amps. Everything seems okay. I did a battery life test with the original battery (but with the new hard drive). It recorded for 1hr 45 min...and then started warning me about low battery. I let it go a further 3min...and then I powered it off. The only thing is I never did this same test with the original hard drive so I can't state a battery life increase because the Seagate draws lesser amps.

[Ian Broadbent]

I just upgraded mine to 120Gb Western Digital, 610 mins on the gauge. The swap was easy to do, but a strange thing has happened, the unit will power down but then powers back up all on its own if power is available, either battery or DC power. If I remove DC and battery then put the battery back in its OK till I turn it on.

I wonder if I did something wrong somewhere.

When I did my swap I took the disk cradle out to make it less awkward getting the disk out of the cradle. Hmmm....

Ian

[Ian Broadbent]

Doh what an idiot I am, I havent used the drive in a couple of months, derr, you turn it off by holding the STOP button not the power ON button .... User error lol

All is well Happy bunny!!!

[G. Lee Gordon]

Hey FS-4 users. If I get the latest update, can I transfer .mov files 720/24 & 1080/60?

[Greg Schlueter]

Greetings-
I'm looking into the DTE/FS-4 solution corresponding to this thread. I'm a bit gun-shy because of reports of lack of reliability. I get need to back up to tape. But don't want to drop $$ if it's not going to consistently give me what I need (time is money... so is expectation/planning in workflow considerations). Thus some questions,

1) FS-4HD vs. FS-4Pro HD - is major difference that with PRO you can capture in QT-HDV? (http://www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=3) I have V1U's and edit in CS3 - so perhaps not so concerned about that?

2) Am I reading this correclty-- that FS-4HD (under $700) ... with the Futjitsu drive ($70) is a RELIABLE SOLUTION vs. FS-4PRO HD 100GB ($1650-at B&H)

3) Is there a "simple", step-by-step set-up anyone can share...

4) Some have recommended key is FIREWIRE cable-- any suggestions of BEST place to obtain highly reliable cables?

THANKS!

[Steven Houser]

can the FS-4 HD Record Quicktime HD?

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I just bought the FS-4 HD today and it wont record on my HD100 it is NTSC USA checked on the box and Im using NTSC cam It acts like it starts to record then it stops, also I would like to kill the conversion time to none ,so if I can somehow record in QuicktimeHD/HDQT that would be perfetct...

Anyone get the firmware update with QTHD installed>??

[Ron Stoecklein]

Is there a way to playback clips on the
FS-C through Canon's XL H1 direct to monitor?

Thanks Ron

[Tony Warren]

I was wondering the same thing, i am able to see my clips in my viewfinder, does anyone no if you can view the clips on a monitor as well?