Batch files for the FS-4 HD.


Here are two batch files for combining *.m2t files created by the FS-4 HD.


Batch file one will rename the files as well as combine them. It will not rename the folder that the files are in because rename does not work with wildcards while renaming folders. So it is almost totally automatic.


Batch file two will combine the files but not rename them. It is for those situations where there is more than one recording session.


Only files that are a part of the same video session should be combined. If you start recording at 7:00 pm and stop recording at 7:05 pm, that is session one with one file for session one. And then start again at 7:20 pm and stop at 7:25 pm, that is session two with one file for session two. You will have two separate video files from the two separate sessions that should not be combined.


If each session is longer than 9 minutes you will have multiple files for each session. Files that are a part of session one should only be combined with files from session one and files that are a part of session two should only be combined with files from session two. Files from session one should not be combined with files from session two.

The more recording sessions you have, the more complicated this whole thing gets and the less likely the batch files will work. However, and since I have the non-pro version of the FS-4 HD, it may be possible to have each session use a separate folder with the pro version. If that is the case, then it may be possible to simply rename one folder at a time and then use batch file number one to combine the files of each session.


When using batch file one, you will get the following error when it encounters files that you do not have. Do not be concerned about this as the batch file will continue and finish properly.
“The system cannot find the file specified”.


Both batch files assume that after you mount the FS-4 HD, it will be drive “f:”. If not then you will need to change the first line of the batch files to be what drive it actually is. So if the FS-4 HD is drive “E” then you need to change the first line to read “e:” without the quotes. The batch files also assume that you will rename the folder that the files are located in to “fs”. The batch files also assume you are copying and combining the files to drive “v:” and to a folder named “capture”. If this is not the case with your system then make the appropriate changes.



These batch files assume 9 minutes per *.m2t file and an FS-4 HD with a 40 gig hard drive. If you have an FS-4 HD with a larger drive and if you make a super long recording then you may want to increase the number of files that the batch file(s) work with.


Finally the batch files should be run from a drive that the video files are not on or will be copied to. I have them on my c: drive because the video files are never on it. The batch file(s) may not work otherwise.


It is best to copy and paste the batch files from this post to Notepad and then save them with the name you want plus the extension of “.bat”. To make the needed changes, simply right click on the file name and select “edit”. Make the needed changes and then save it.


Here is batch file one.

First line is “f:”.
Last line is “exit”.

-------------------------------

f:
cd fs
rename *01.m2t 001.m2t
rename *02.m2t 002.m2t
rename *03.m2t 003.m2t
rename *04.m2t 004.m2t
rename *05.m2t 005.m2t
rename *06.m2t 006.m2t
rename *07.m2t 007.m2t
rename *08.m2t 008.m2t
rename *09.m2t 009.m2t
rename *10.m2t 010.m2t
rename *11.m2t 011.m2t
rename *12.m2t 012.m2t
rename *13.m2t 013.m2t
rename *14.m2t 014.m2t
rename *15.m2t 015.m2t
rename *16.m2t 016.m2t
rename *17.m2t 017.m2t
rename *18.m2t 018.m2t
rename *19.m2t 019.m2t
rename *20.m2t 020.m2t
rename *21.m2t 021.m2t
rename *22.m2t 022.m2t
rename *23.m2t 023.m2t
rename *24.m2t 024.m2t
rename *25.m2t 025.m2t
copy /b 001.m2t+002.m2t+003.m2t+004.m2t+005.m2t+006.m2t+007.m2t+008.m2t+009.m2t+010.m2t+011.m2t+012.m2t+013. m2t+014.m2t+015.m2t+016.m2t+017.m2t+018.m2t+019.m2t+020.m2t+021.m2t+022.m2t+023.m2t+024.m2t+025.m2t v:\capture\cam-1.m2t
exit


--------------------------------

And here is batch file two.

--------------------------

f:
cd fs
copy /b 001.m2t+002.m2t+003.m2t+004.m2t+005.m2t+006.m2t+007.m2t+008.m2t+009.m2t+010.m2t+011.m2t+012.m2t+013. m2t+014.m2t+015.m2t+016.m2t+017.m2t+018.m2t+019.m2t+020.m2t+021.m2t+022.m2t+023.m2t+024.m2t+025.m2t v:\capture\cam-1.m2t
exit


----------------------------------

Disclaimer:


Be very careful making changes to these batch files. Do not delete any spaces in the batch files. Do not make any other changes that you are unsure of. Doing so can cause errors to occur that could result in loss of files and other problems. Test these batch files only with a test recording. Do not test with a recording for an important project that you want to keep.


I tried to make these instructions as complete and accurate as possible. I am not responsible for file loss or other problems you may have because of your inability to use these batch files properly or from errors in the above instructions.


I hope these batch files will prove to be helpful to you. Please reply and let me know what your results are. Also let me know what suggestions you may have to help improve these batch files to make them even more beneficial to all here.


Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

I have a Firestore FS-4ProHD running firmware version 2.0.0.04092006 and am feeding it a DV stream from a Miranda DVC-800. The Firestore works great as long as I have it in av/c mode and have it slaved to my F900 using external TC. When I try to use the Firestore as a stand-alone device (pressing record on the Firestore but tape isn't rolling in camera) and using internal TC I see TC running on the Firestore's screen but when I try and dump the material to a DSR-11 or import them into Avid there is no TC present.

I've looked for a "record tc / screw up tc" option but no luck. Has anyone else had this problem? Am I missing a step somewhere?

Thanks in advance,

I have a GL-2 and would like to move to a direct-to-disk solution, but I may be getting a newer HD camera soon and would like for the FS-4 to work with both cameras. Does anyone know if this is possible.

Thanks

Yep. As long as there is a IEEE (firewire) connection on the camera, you will be fine.

I have doing some tapeless captures, and need to reset the counter... How do I do that? It currently is set to TC REC RUN

Thanks!

Does anyone know if the HV20 outputs the signal that is necessary to trigger the FS4HD for tapeless recording w/o having to manually press the "rec" button on the FS4 itself?

There really isn't a very clear answer on this question that I can find... What is the difference between the FS-4 and the FS-4 HD? From what I can tell, the only difference is different firmware/software on the recorder, correct? It also looks like I can take a FS-4, buy the HD update software and flash the recorder to be a FS-4 HD, is that also correct?

Thanks,

Matthew

FS-4HD adds HDV Video recording in .m2t recording format. Yes, you're correct about being able to update it. The Pro version adds time lapse, retro record, and a few other options - the latest version also adds quicktime support. They are all the same units, but the firmware is different. Some of the older regular FS-4's were silver - they are all black now.

Here is a pretty good chart as to the features of each of the Focus Enhancements recorders:

http://www.focusinfo.com/dynassets/documents/products/FS_Features_7Nov06_US.pdf

I'm struggling with getting my new FS-4Pro HD to work in a tapeless fashion with my Z1U (and FX1). Focus Tech support sent me instructions to do this bu they tell me to

1) Power Camera ON.
2) Press your Menu button.
3) Look for the "IEEE".
4) Set it to " Off ".
5) EXIT the menu.
6) CONNECT the other end of the FIREWIRE to the CAMERA.
**Camera is now SET UP.
7) Press RECORD on your camera. The FireStore's timecode should be running.

Where the #^&#$ do I turn off IEEE? I've been through all the menu items and cannot find this. I know that Sony refers to this as iLink but I cannot find this either. I have a long shoot tomorrow and don't know if Focus will answer my question in time. BTW, I can get the camera and FS-4 to talk to each other as long as a tape is present in the transport.

Thanks.

Where the #^&#$ do I turn off IEEE? I've been through all the menu items and cannot find this. I know that Sony refers to this as iLink but I cannot find this either.

Strong words, like #^&#$, are not allowed in this forum, particurlarly when said loud!

Seriously now. Look in the "Camera" menu and find the violet/green "Component" arrows. The "iLink conv" is the IEEE item you are looking for. In my camera, "off" there is the default mode, so it's probably so in yours. That's why Z1 and Focus already talk to each other.

I have a long shoot tomorrow and don't know if Focus will answer my question in time. BTW, I can get the camera and FS-4 to talk to each other as long as a tape is present in the transport.

Let's hope now it works for your long shoot. I think the camera does have to have an unlocked tape in place for the Focus to work. Don't ask me why.

Carlos

Sorry for language! Glad my keyboard edited my original post!

I did see the iLink conversion in the camera menu and it is set to 'off'. I just thought I was missing something else. I can get the FS-4 to start recording when I hit the 'record' button on the camera but if there isn't a tape in there, the camera gets fussy and reminds me it wants a tape and it won't pass the signal on. I don't want a tape in there.

Maybe I have to double check my FS-4 settings....again.

Keep looking in your camera settings; the Z1U/FX1 WILL pass signal without a tape! Actually it's the other way around: if you put a tape in but you don't record to it, the camera will shut off after 5 minutes.

Ervin

Thanks for your notes.

I've got the signal passing through to the Camera and the FS-4 will record albeit manually. I'm trying to get it to respond to the camera rec/pause control without tape.

I did learn that expanded focus will not work with the FW cable plugged into the camera. I find this a bit odd...

I did learn that expanded focus will not work with the FW cable plugged into the camera. I find this a bit odd...
Aw, are you serious? I would've thought that'd be one major advantage to tapeless capture...oh well...

(first of all ... sorry that may thread is divided in two parts. When I wanted to upload it an error was shown:
The following errors occurred when this message was submitted:
The text that you have entered is too long (13253 characters). Please shorten it to 10000 characters long. )


Dear readers!

I would like to share my experience with my new FS-4 and I write it in this forum because I see that there is a faster feedback on posts that by contacting Focus support and specially because there is mr. Matt McEwen who seems to me is doing a great job and is really trying to help people resolving problems. I also hope that he will be kind enough to answer some of my questions.

I was very happy when I bought the FS-4 and hoped it will perform well. Have to say that when trying it for the first few times it worked well but soon with more and more tests I discovered things that scared me a little.

- I have to say that if I knew for this forum and believed to a fourth of what is written before buying Firestore FS-4 I would probably never bought the unit.

-I decided to buy focus firestore because there are just a few products out there so I forgot about CitiDisk because it has no LCD for feedback and Nnovia costed a little more and didn't have some functions. Just hoped that FS-4 will do for me.

-Recieved the unit more than two weeks ago and registered it the same day on focus web site....but...still no answer from them....

- The unit itself is lightweight but it is so badly made and engineered that it really doesen't look nearly worth 1000+ $. I have seen many small portable devices that are made much better than the FS-4 for less money. MP3 players like iPod, Creative Zen, notebooks etc.... The plastic feels really cheap. The buttons are not good and sometimes you have to press it twice to have a contact. The print on the buttons is off... The manual is badly written.... Don't even want to talk about the battery fitting, it is so tight that once fitted I just hardly removed the battery pack. The battery contacts are not well made.... believe me, I am an electronics&mechanics engineer so I know how things should be done.

- I have an canon XL1 camcorder and my firestore FS-4 has v. 1.0.1.04042605 firmware. I checked to see if there is a newer firmware. The www.focusinfo.com website is not a good help to me. It is confusing to find out the right firmware. Everyting is just messed up in the Software download section. All models are in the same "folder". There are no dates of when the files were released. I downloaded some files and you just get an fs4.zip file with fs4.bin and some txt in it. No dates...?? And the revision history is also scarry. It looks like some of the features that are supposed to be working from the start on are implemented in the last firmwares (like GPI control and others...) Anyway I managed to download and install 1.1.0.04092006 firmware. There is no user login on the site so it looks like you cannot check what's new for your equipment.

- The most annoying: I can't get any timecode into Vegas. Set DV format to AVI Type2, timecode to TC EXT i can see the timecode running corectly on FS-4 but there is no timecode in Vegas. ????? How? Contacted Focus support but didn't found a solution. It is strange because I went to a friend who owns Premiere
Pro and tried the FS-4 files on his computer. It seems that there is
no problem with timecode in Premiere. The code was correctly displayed
in Premiere.

- Also about timecode... When the clips were imported in Premiere I saw a strange thing about timecode. The code does not go exactly from the end of first clip to start of second clip. Let me explain. For example:

IN OUT
clip1 0:10:15:12 0:10:18:06
clip2 0:10:17:02 0:10:20:17
clip3 0:10:19:15 0:10:25:22

See? Between each end and start of clips the code moves 20-30 frames back....
Looks like it moves along with tape. When the tape retracts after each clip the code also goes back and it actually records that tape movement... Strange.
So how can you sync tape and FS-4 video on timeline?

- The status LEDs are color confusing. They are put very close to each other and they are not isolated from each other. It is hard to distinct colors between red, orange, yellow, green when one LED mixes the color with the other. Also the blue backlight color affects LED colors. They should be somehow enclosed in a plastic.

- Every time I go into the menu, when I return back the sync is resetted to LOCAL. So if I set the SYNCHRO SLAVE mode for my XL1 and I go in the menu it resets back to LOCAL. Why that? I have to remember and set the SYNCHRO SLAVE mode manually each time I quit the menus. This is even more strange because it does remember the SYNCHRO SLAVE if you turn the FS4 off and then on. So why not when going in the menu? I just want to set SYNCHRO SLAVE mode as default. Is it so hard?

- I red that for some people it is very important in which order you turn on the camera and the drive. It seems that it works fine in both cases for me. At least that. No matter which one I turn on first it syncs OK.

- I hoped that I can change the control mode from SYNCHRO SLAVE to LOCAL during recording with the #1 programmable button. But unfortunatelly it can't be done. If you do, the recording stops. Why I would like to do that? Very simple. To avoid the disc recording stopping during tape change for example. The problem is that if you do have SYNCHRO SLAVE mode and you are recording, there is no way to change the tape without stopping the FS-4. You have to pause the tape and then the FS-4 stops. If I could get into LOCAL mode during recording the FS-4 would not be triggered by the camera and it would hopefully continue to record. Wouldn't be great to keep recording to disc while changing the tape? Yes it would!
Am I asking too much? No, I don't think so!

- There is some free space on the main page ( 2 rows) It would be nice if there is a DV signal indicator. Like: NO DV SIGNAL!! (flashing) or DV SIGNAL OK! Now there is no indication if the FS-4 is synced and receives an DV stream unless you are recording and the timecode runs.

- Why do the cursor buttons (left, right) stop a recording if you press them? When you are in SYNCHRO SLAVE control and you record, the FS-4 transport buttons are not working but if you press the left or right cursor key the recording stops and goes in the menu.

- It happened that the backlight LEDs started to flash like they are losing connection and then died. The backlight just didn't work anymore. I made a system reset but nothing helped. Removed the battery pack for a few minutes and suddenly the light is back. Strange. Seems like a software problem... Update: it looks like a bad connection. It happens a lot of times that I loose backlight. Not a good thing in low light conditions. You see .... nothing....

- When I connect the FS-4 to computer via the DV I/O port (not COMPUTER port)
I cannot use (emulate) it like a normal DV deck. It reports a driver problem. Have seen that others are also having this problem. But if you connect it to a DV deck it works OK. You can use it on computer just as a firewire drive.??

-I miss an overall time/counter. I cannot compare the total length of the recording on tape with that on disc. There is no display/counter on FS-4 that shows the total length of recorded material.

- During video clip playback from FS-4 the back index key does not move you to the last clip if pressed several times. It seems that if you want to go to the last clip you must press the forward index key until you reach the last clip.

- Similarly the utility that shows you the correct filename (UTILITIES->FILENAME CLIP->) does not respond to the down cursor key. You cannot jump to the last clip by simply pressing the down cursor key. You have to press the up cursor key all the way up until you reach the last clip.

- Another thing is the ALARM.
From the FS-4 manual:

"ALARM (GROUP)
Selections consist of the following: ALARM ON (Default) and ALARM
OFF. Upon selection, the value is marked with a "- ". The alarm alerts
you for conditions such as low battery charge, low disk space, or over
heating of the FS-4, as well as the button feedback indicator."

As far as I understand that it says that ALARM OFF shuts off all the alarms. The problem is that even if you set the ALARM to OFF the battery warnings for example still remain and it is really annoying and unacceptable when you use FS-4 in a delicate audio environment that the alarm goes on...

- Strangely, the alarm does not turn on if a DV connection is lost during a recording. When you loose a connection due to a cable problem for example, the alarm does not alert you.

- What is the UTILITIES->DIAGNOSTIC? menu for? Nothing is mentioned in the manual....

- The 4 channel audio recording is very confusing or maybe not properly working. Still didn't figured out the correct workflow to use my XL1's 4 channel audio for later editing.

- FS-4 PRO has the option to custom set the retro cache time. In FS-4 the only option is 6sec. I wish I could set it to a smaller value. I find it to be too much for my work. I don't need more seconds. I need to lower them down.

- The hard drive is formatted in FAT32 so there is a 2GB clip length limit. Guess it is because of WIN/MAC compatibility. So if I use it only on PC why I cannot format it in NTFS so I don't have those limits?

- I transferred video clips from FS4 to my PC once and came across a bad clip. There was no audio and the counter showed that the clip is some 55 minutes long, but in reality the clip was not longer than a minute. I used the REPAIR CLIP utility on the FS4 (it renames the clip and puts it on the last place by the way...) and retransferred the clip to PC. The clip was really repaired and worked just fine.
But is it possible to repair such clips later on? If you transfer all material to PC and then you format the FS4 and you realize that there are faulty clips, can you then still repair it somehow??

- The most scary thing is that it happens that some clips are not recorded. They are recorded on tape but not on FS4. You can find some info in the FS4 log. It is written that a recording was started but on the end it says that the recording was stopped before any frames were recorded (or something like this). It is really scary. What happens? Maybe (just maybe) there is a cable connection problem. But I doubt it. The reality is that the Firewire connector was probably never meant to be used that way but it is strog enough to resist some force. I really don't care about all the features it has if it isn't reliable in the normal recording.

- Just a little about Focus support... I asked them if they can send me GPI documentation. Received this answer:

"FOCUS Enhancements do not support the GPI on the Firestore because it has not been tested by the Engineering department. Meaning there is not documentation for it."

Then I told them that I don't understand how there is no GPI documentation! And that I saw a forum where mr. Matt McEwen told others that GPI documentation is available by request. And how is GPI not supported if there is under the product
number ACSS-0019-01 FireStore FS-4 Wired Remote Control ????? which
operates by GPI...


Received the GPI documentation next day along with:

"Attached are the GPI Commands you requested. Please be advised that FOCUS is unable to provide Technical Support on this feature and you are using this at your own risk."

Must say that I believed there were more commands implemented in the GPI protocol.

- Just a few days ago I was filming some event when FS4 just stopped recording. The display seemed OK. The status LED was green. All seemed OK except that the clip number was showing 001 instead of the real clip number which should be around 070. The synchro record didn't function nor the manual REC button on the unit itself. I just couldn't get FS4 to record. I turned the unit several times on and off but nothing helped. When I had some time I quickly removed the FS4 battery and inserted it again. Then it worked OK. Thank god I had a tape in my camera. Just another reliability issue. I just lost confidence in firestore. Always have a tape in your camera!!!!!

- If EXT CTL is set to off and you send some impulse over GPI connector a lot of times FS4 just freezes. The display changes ande only 00 00 00 00 and 001 as clip number is shown on the display. You have to reset the unit. If EXT CTL is set to PAUSE for example it works just fine.


- I think that modifications I have written can be easily implemented into the software. Seems that the hardware is OK, so I see no problem.


- My conclusion is that FS-4 is expensive compared to portable mp3 players, notebooks, consumer DV camcorders .... For that price I can buy a laptop or a miniDV camera or an mp3 player with color LCD and video playback ....but it is targeted more to the professional market so that's why the price is "professional". But for that "professional" price I want a professional product. I don't care about all the bells and whistles and accessories it has, I just want a reliable unit. Not one with so much bugs. Don't care much about the hardware, but PLEASE at least make the software part worth 1000+$$

Thanks for reading throughout my findings. Please feel free to comment any of them!

So I got my FS-4 HD today. Of course, just like the rest of my gear I want to push it to the limits! Does anyone know if it supports shooting 60P in the SD/HDV mode? I am using the JVc 110u.

Thanks,

Matthew Rogers

It supports all forms of m2t files. The HD110 records 60P in a DV format that writes to m2t. Soooo, long story short...yes, if you record in HDV format.

It supports all forms of m2t files. The HD110 records 60P in a DV format that writes to m2t. Soooo, long story short...yes, if you record in HDV format.

Reading through the manual, that's what it looked like, but was just checking. So if I were to plug it into a 200 or 250, it would record the 60P also?

Matthew

I did a search on the site for a workflow instructions that I can follow. This is what I'm trying to do:

DVX100A - recording at 24PA to FS-4 (40GB) is there anything special I need to do? settings wise. As far as I know all i need to do is drop the video files into my timeline and I shud be set - or am I wrong? FS4 is basically an external drive right? Does the FS4 need a quicktime upgrade?

All your help is greatly appreaciated thanks
Kris

I've had the FS4 Pro Hd for a couple months now. It has the latest firmware. Every once in a while I get errors where the firestore display will stop during recording or when I stop the recording that says 'Please Wait...'. This message continually flashes and will not stop until I power the unit down. If I was recording while the 'Please Wait' starts flashing, then I lose the recording as well.

The battery life has never been low, so that can't be causing the error. I contacted focus support but they never called me back so I thought I would try here.

Anybody else have this problem? Any ideas of how to prevent this from happening before I start using this in the field?


Thanks

Patrick

One of my biggest complaints with the FS4 is the manner in which the unit powers up/down. Once powered up, if you inadvertently hit the "on" button, the system locks up, reboots with all the default menu settings. I can't tell you how many times I've hit the power on button when I meant to hit the power off button.

I got my FS-4 HD last week to go with my JVC 110U camera. However, I can't seem to understand how you select the frame rate in HDV mode on the FS-4... At first, I thought the device auto senses the frame rate coming through the firewire. However, while I was shooting 30P, the FS-4 was showing that it was recording 24P! This is very annoying because I want to shoot 30P, 24P, and 60P HDV SD. Is there something I am missing, or something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,

Matthew Rogers

Hi Bill,

My unit doesnt seem to have a problem when you hit the power button. I tried to make that give me an error but it seems to work as it should.

Anybody have any ideas about the errors I'm getting?

We have had nothing but trouble with Firestore ever since we purchased it;

Low quality construction

Poor battery life (90 minutes?!? more like 45 min on standby)

Can't turn off that d@mn3d alarm!!!! - Ruined several interviews

Long waits for responses from emails to customer support (our first few emails took almost a year to get a response)

Tempermental recording - records about 70% of what we had recorded on tape. On our last two projects, it failed to record the last 1/2 hour of what we shot. It's like it records when it feels like it.

Glitchy recordings- loses 2-3 seconds in glitches throughout the take.

Thank God we had tape in camera as backup. Do Not Depend on the Firestore as a tapeless solution!

Hey guys!

First, a little background info...

I just purchased the Firestore FS-4 from VideoGuys.com, to use with my Canon GL2.

I was up in the air with this, as it didn't seem to make sense to further invest in SD. Had thought of selling my GL2, along with Beachtek DXA-6, WA lens, some adapters, etc... and putting that money toward an HD camera. BUT it seemed I would have to have coughed up a lot more money in addition to that for a quality HD camera.

In the end, I figured I'd spend the $700 on the FS-4 and shoot with what I have. ...and it was good to know the FS-4 works with HD as well, so I could potentially have a tapeless solution should someone give me an HD camera. ;)

I've read a bit on the formats supported by the FS-4 so I wanted to ask for some clarification between the options. (What's the diff. between AVI Type 1 and AVI Type 2?) I'm particularly interested in maintaining the best DV quality possible (as lossless as I can go ...would that be the RawDV option?).

Any help on this, or any other pointers you guys can give, would be really appreciated!

Ok a stupid question...

I am seriously contemplating buying a FS-4 HD and have been shopping around. As I am in the UK, shipping and purchase is an issue with some companies putting many hurdles in the way, I have kind of settled on B&H as the price is right with import duty and VAT to consider, unless shipping is totally extortionate its cheaper than the UK alternatives....

BUT... (always a but) On the B&H web site the data states that the model they are selling "Focus Enhancements FS-4 HD 40GB Portable DTE Recorder - NTSC" The model is "ASYF115801LF"

Does this mean that it will not record PAL data? I shoot mainly HD at 720P/25 which appears to be supported, but occasionally want to use SD.

Cheers n beers

Ian

Shoot me for being dumb - I noticed the answer a page down - looks like its NTSC and wont do PAL - Bummer lol back to paying through the nose :(

Ian

Seems that 6-pin to 6-pin connections are more of a Mac thing, and PCs typically use 6-pin to 4-pin.

I hooked my firewire cable up to the FS-4, 6-pin into the unit, and 4-pin into the PC (my firewire card has 3 ports, one of which is 4-pin).

The computer recognized the device, but doesn't actually mount it as a drive.

Do I absolutely have to use a 6-pin to 6-pin? If so, I'll have to order one - there are none in the any local stores (Wal-Mart, Bestbuy, Office Depot, Circuit City, etc...)

I'm now familiar with the differences between the two types (6-pin carries DC current for device power/charging), and have also gotten feedback that 4pin/6pin should work, so I'll just have to try it again.

Did you put the FS-4 into what they call DD mode? I think you have to do this so it will be recognized as a (mounted) drive.

Thanks, Jim!

Yep, I did that as the manual shows but it still wouldn't work. However, I used a cable other than the one supplied with the FS-4 and that did the trick. When plugged in with the first cable, it is listed in Device Manager with an exclamation mark and error "Cannot start device". Swapped with second cable and the FS-4 shows up as a drive in My Computer.

My question now is whether or not it's best to use .DV or .AVI Type (1 or 2). When I say "better", I mean in terms of quality.

Thanks!

Frank:

Glad to see you got it working.

Randy

Hi Patric,
I've been having the very same Please Wait problems since the last udate.
I'd hoped the firestore was going to save me time, and when it performed as it should its been just what I wanted but thats becoming very infrequent. I'm now having problems getting the thing to sync at crucial times so I'm leaving the expensive little box off until focus come up with a fix. The only good thing about this is it will be one less battery to keep charged..

anybody using this setup


no time code showing up while recording


will be using FCP

It is my understanding that the FS4-ProHD will not record 24p frame rate QT files even with the latest updgrade.

Only the FS-C will record 24p QT files.

Me again...
The more I use it, the more problems I discover.... But now I am really angry!!
I guess I didn't made such long recordings before just short clips. I was filming a very long event in one "clip".
I opened the clips in Vegas and noticed that the event was divided in 9 minute clips by firestore.
All seemed OK....but... Remember the talk about "no dropped frames when the clips are splitted"?
Well...Frames are really not dropped but AUDIO IS!!! I just couldn't believe when I heard some strange clicks
where the clips are cut by firestore. It happens at every 9min12sec23frames. If I look closely at the cut
and I enlarge the audio waveform I can clearly see that there is some audio information missing where the cut is made.
Out of 10 cuts only one is perfect!! In all the others the audio is "interrupted". Just can't believe.
Hopefully I had my precious TAPE copy and I had to recapture the bad pieces ruined by firestore....
Because of firestore "problems" I always use a tape in my camera!!
Just really really dissapointed with it. How can I be confortable when passing to HDV for example and buying
one of the HDV units that are even more expensive??? Do they work with no problems? As far as I can read on these forums - NO!
Matt?

Hi there! I am sorry if my English is not correct as your, but I never studied it too much (only 3 yrs at school): the rest is self learned on the Web, so please forgive my mistakes (I hope you'll understand me by the same).
It's my 1st post: congratulations to all the friends in this Forum, I found many helps in these years from you. But now... I am not able to find a solution to my problem:

I have a JVC GY-HD111E (PAL) with "(A)" firmware, so the one recommended by Focus. I have also a Focus FS4 HD (firmware 1.1.0) and I am not able to capturing in "tapeless" mode.

It's all ok with the tape, but when I switch it in "tapeless" mode I can capture clips of 2-5 secs and when I stop the recording with REC button the FS4 doesn't stop (or better: it stops and restart recording a new clip=!

FS4 Configuration:
Record: Normal
Hdd Mode: DV Recorder (same problem in HD, but let's use DV mode); Use ext. FS4: no
DV Formats: AVI Type2
Setup: time and date identical to the Camcorder's ones
Functions: FA Tapeless, FB Disp, FC Lock
Utilities: nothing special, I've formatted the HDD several times and restored factory default settings
Play: Play Clip
Control: Tapeless

When I press "Tapeless" (FA) button a black square (Stop Icon)+ "E" appears in the top left corner of the display. I press REC button on the camera and it starts recording (display light blinks blue and pink): it records few seconds, then it stop and restart recording a new clip of 2-max 5 seconds.

Could someone kindly help me?

Thank you all!

Sorry to hear of your troubles. The audio glitch at the clip boundries has been a problem since back in my FS-1 days and now with the FS-4. I've had lots of dialog with Matt about this issue, but have found no solution other than cutting-in a few seconds from the mini-dv tape from my XL-1 for the affected clips. My symptoms match yours -- 1-2 frames of perfect video, but missing audio.

I'm not familiar with the JVC so this might not be helpful, but on my Canon GL-2 I have to set the camera to provide "control" over the firewire in order to get tapeless recording on my FS-4 controlled by the button on the camera.

Have you checked if there is a similar setting on the JVC?

I am sorry but I have no words to describe the anger that I feel towards this device. This thing is driving me nuts. Now I always expect that something will go wrong... OK. What happened?

I was filming an event for an hour and half. Both FS4 and my XL1 were always ON. I only used REC/PAUSE on the camera. Again thanks god I had tape in my camera. I regularly check if the time code is running during recording.... So everything seemed fine when I returned home until I copied the material from FS4 to my PC. I knew I had filmed around 80min of material, but when I opened all the clips in Scenalyzer (which I always do to check for consistency and errors) the counter showed only around 62min. It was very strange so I made a so called scenalyzer cliplist file which essentially makes a text file very similar to an EDL list with file locations, timecodes, durations, errors etc... In that file I quickly saw serious timecode problems. Based on timecode data i saw that some clips were missing. Even one very large of about 15 minutes. There are some obvious timecode problems even in FS4's log. Please take a look at this:

This is the short version of Scenalyzer cliplist export:
(Pay attention to the places where instead of timecode only "-1" is shown -
looks like serious timecode problem.)

______name_____________timecode-in_____timecode-out_______duration
20070520-093327b01______0:00:06:16______0:00:13:13______0:00:07:08
20070520-095043b01______0:00:12:10______0:00:33:03______0:00:21:09
20070520-095204b01______0:00:32:09______0:00:56:07______0:00:24:11
20070520-095448b01______0:01:13:21_____________-1______ 0:00:21:11
20070520-095628b01______0:01:33:08______0:02:17:15______0:00:44:16
20070520-095717b01______0:02:17:14______0:02:28:13______0:00:11:08
20070520-095742b01______0:02:28:01______0:02:52:05______0:00:24:11
20070520-095830b01______0:02:51:16______0:03:07:02______0:00:15:09
20070520-095900b01______0:03:06:20______0:03:23:18______0:00:17:13
20070520-095944b01______0:03:22:18______0:04:04:04______0:00:41:16
20070520-100043b01______0:04:03:06_____________-1______0:00:44:22
20070520-100145b01______0:04:47:09______0:09:14:02______0:04:27:04
20070520-100630b01______0:09:13:02______0:10:44:21______0:01:32:10
20070520-100839b01______0:10:44:01______0:16:34:04______0:05:50:14
20070520-101449b01______0:16:33:14_____________-1______0:03:56:10
20070520-103512b01______0:36:31:23_____________-1______0:02:14:04
20070520-103818b01______0:38:45:08______0:47:58:09______0:09:12:24
20070520-103818b02______0:47:58:10_____________-1______0:00:39:17
20070520-104817b01______0:48:36:12______ _______-1______0:00:25:17
20070520-104924b01______0:48:59:01______0:48:59:23______0:00:01:07
20070520-104928b01______0:49:01:01______0:54:36:24______0:05:35:21
20070520-105519b01______0:54:36:06______0:55:13:02______0:00:36:19
20070520-105638b01_____________ -1______0:05:10:03______0:05:11:08
20070520-110251b01_____________-1_____________-1_______0:06:28:14
20070520-110922b01______0:11:28:15______0:11:46:15______0:00:18:09
20070520-111103b01______0:11:45:22______0:12:24:18______0:00:38:19
20070520-111225b01______0:12:23:24______0:12:43:04______0:00:19:09
20070520-111422b01______0:12:42:01______0:12:55:23______0:00:14:09
20070520-111442b01______0:12:55:10______0:13:11:20______0:00:16:08
20070520-111515b01______0:13:10:20______0:13:22:03______0:00:11:06
20070520-111603b01______0:13:21:24______0:13:35:06______0:00:13:08
20070520-111631b01______0:13:35:00______0:13:50:08______0:00:15:09
20070520-113803b01______0:13:49:08______0:13:59:23______0:00:10:22
20070520-113822b01______0:13:59:04______0:14:10:05______0:00:11:07
20070520-113847b01______0:14:09:15______0:14:22:24______0:00:13:10
20070520-114018b01______0:14:22:09______0:14:46:11______0:00:24:10
20070520-114057b01______0:14:45:07______0:14:58:08______0:00:13:07
20070520-114114b01______0:14:57:22______0:15:21:23______0:00:24:10
20070520-114146b01______0:15:21:16______0:15:53:18______0:00:32:13
20070520-114227b01______0:15:53:05______0:16:08:15______0:00:15:08
20070520-114326b01______0:16:08:04______0:16:22:13______0:00:14:07
20070520-114354b01______0:16:21:18_____________-1______0:06:14:17
20070520-115020b01______0:22:36:05_____________-1______0:00:18:10
20070520-115139b01______0:22:53:05______0:23:13:16______0:00:20:11

So a small clip is missing between 0:00:56:07 and 0:01:13:21. And then the large one between 0:20:30:00 and 0:36:31:23.

Same problems are visible also in FS4's own log.
Example:

Creating file /mnt/VOL01/20070520-093325-01/20070520-110251b01.avi; File type = AVI Type 2
Time code 00:00:00:00; 0 in frames; Audio is 32K
Record completed
Total files in track = 1
Ending timecode: Time code 00:00:00:00; 0 in frames
Track length = 00:06:28:14 (9714 frames)

See?? - where both timecodes start and end are 00:00:00:00. ????
I have timecode problems from the start because Vegas is not reading the FS4
timecode at all. So.... I had to manually capture the missing clips from the tape.
I also attached both log files if someone wants to analyze them.

Thank you Bohan. I'm sorry for your problems and hope you get them resolved. Your posts saved me $1000 and a world of grief. I will not even consider buying an FS product. Thank you.

To resolve some of the gaps in your files, check out this thread...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=85791&highlight=danny+fye

It's a work around to the gaps problem. We use JVC HD-110 Cameras and record only to the firestores. We have never really had a problem with them other than the gaps. The construction I will admit is less than optimal - Their FS-3 units were MUCH more solid. But we use IDX battery systems and use a powertap connector off the battery mount to go to the firestore that actually powers the units, and it recharges them somewhat when they are plugged in. We never get the alarm problems. We have not recharged the firestore units in 3 months.

and I am less than impressed with it. the synchro slave issue is a major
pain. If you forget to set it, you have no footage. Tape is a pain to capture,
but is cheap and reliable. I am GLAD I didn't buy a Firestore for myself.
Work bought one for me. I HATE shooting tethered. Makes it a pain to
have both the FS4 and a Battery pack at the same time. the FAT32
file system sucks. the 2gb limit is a royal pain. Until there is NTFS,
I wont have a DTE. If thenew XDCAM XE is as good as is supposed to
be, I will spend the money and get one of those, and shoot on Express cards.
If you can, return that pos, and buy some cheap $2.00 Sony Premium tapes.

The construction is a bit shoddy but so are many products nowadays. Still,for the price and the small package, I'd expect something darn near indestructable. Focus' pricing strategy is a bit out-of-whack, too--charging nearly $500 more for another 20 or 40 GB when the price differential between two 2.5" drives is negligible, and there is not ANY work on Focus' part to support a larger drive (up to a point, w/FAT32) seems egregious. And the display seems constructed of cheap components--mine is discolored along one side.

Still, the FS-4 has better reliability reports than other portable DTE's, according to articles I've read (one specifically detailed the experiences at The Burning Man thing....). When I called Focus for a replacement disk cable for my out-of-warranty FS-4, they sent me one--free. I've never had a problem with dropped video (when I've remembered to set my camera's 1394 to HDV-out!!), but always use a tape anyhow. Hitting the sync button, followed by lock, is just part of my work flow, and I never thought anything about it until this thread. And I'm able to muck about with the contrast to get the display to remain readable.

This is certainly NOT a product that my detail-oriented-self would have sent to market. But it IS still best of breed, for now, and for me does what I need it to do. No tape dropped frames, and easy start on editing (although converting M2T to Cineform takes at least as long as a tape capture...but no dropped frames!).

Oh, and one more thing--a decent external laptop batter functions well as a power source. I got one at Fry's with interchangeable tips and use an old laptop cord to charge it up. Works great & no alarms, lasts MUCH MUCH longer than Focus' expanded battery (although they may change the power adapter form factor if they are spiteful). I get several hours of constant run time (haven't actually run the battery down yet--longest time was 4 hours and the external read as almost full still...)

Thanks,
Matt

Thank you all and thanks to Kit Hannah for the link.
Unfortunately the post describes problems with Vegas and *.m2t HDV files which is not my case. I have regular DV avi files.
Anyway... I don't really understand how can such a product find its way into companies like JVC, CANON or PANASONIC which sell these DTE recorders along with their cameras.
It seems that SONY is the only one which is "refusing" to follow that pattern. I think it would be great if this companies make their own disk recorders, they would certainly make a better job.

Hi, I'm fairly new to DVInfo, and have been reading up on the FS-4 and the many problems people have had with HDV. We're shooting on the XL-H1 at HDV 1080/60i and recording onto the FS-4ProHD with .m2t format.

This DOS command works well for combining the files together and makes editing much easier. However, we have quite a few producers who would not know or even want to do something like this when they have to shoot with the FS-4ProHD and our HDV cameras. My question is therefore, what kind of workflow do people follow when using the FS-4 and recording in HDV? So far, I haven't read anything to that here or anywhere else.

Thanks!

Quite honestly, even though I push the workaround all the time, I really don't use it. In Vegas, there is always a 6 frame drop. If you're using one camera, I can see the problem, but we use multiple cameras, so I usually just cut to another one when the drop occurs.

Hope you guys can shed some light on this.
In researching the possible purchase of FS4 I have found 2 units that I have been told are the same thing, supposedly just older and neweer part numbers. An ASYF 1158-01LF and an ASYF-0919-01. They are supposedly the same unit BUT I can get the first one for about $650 and the second one for almost $1000. Doesn't sound like the same unit to me. Does anyone know if there is a difference between the two??? As far as I can tell they both come with the same accessories (firewire cord, battery, belt clip etc.) These are 40G units - not the Pro model. Any help?

I want them for use with the PD150, any problems?
Thanks

No One Out there to help??