FS-1 in the field
 

I looked and I think this has to be the slowest forum at dvinfo... ;)

It sounds do-able. I have an need to do all day recording at some events where wires are BAD. So, I need to have the camera stand alone. OK, stick with tape... but, I also need to get video back to a 'sales' booth to show and for edit. Broadcast is out as I do not have the budget to buy more cameras and hardware in that price range (at Drum Corps International finals, the crew even uses a wireless broadcast with a hand-held antenna!)

So, I am thinking a FS-1 (the price is better than the newer versions) with the Field Kit, some NP-1 batteries and maybe three Firewire drives. Still will do tape, but does anyone know of glaring issues?

George

i am trying to figure out the workflow for all day events myself.

The FS1 is an option except that you need two at least if you want to be able to bring back footage during the day

I would only actually need one at the camera. If I use bus powered drives, I can take them straight to an editor for a copy to NLE for a quick arrange and even possibly prodution of a DVD. I could create my DVD templates, graphics, and titles ahead of time and have a library of music on the machine gen'ed from my tools. So, I should be able to setup a preview and burn operation on demand after the drive is pulled. I would need at least 2 80GB drives.

Only if you have enought time to copy the data. If you have a full day of shooting without long breaks you would need at least 2 of them

George,
I also considering going to an FS-1 (for budget reasons)...I THINK I'm seeing price drops on this unit....do you have any experience with the FS-1
Thanks - David Bird

No experience either. The other solution I have is a $270 comsumer DV cam. I can run the tapes and draw from those, but it is 1:1 speed. Cheap to implement, but not what I want for response time.

I spoke with a retailer this morning that advised the FS-1 has (or will) been discontinued...there will be ongoing support for the unit. I checked with several other retailers and they told me the same thing....
David Bird

Sorry, but this is incorrect. The FS-1 itself is simply a bridge between the camcorder and a portable FireWire hard drive. You need only *one* FireStore FS-1, plus as many portable FW hard drives as you think you'll need; although a single 120GB drive will provide you with more than eight hours of recording time... which is a pretty full day.

Also, there is no need to "copy" the data from the hard drive... simply plug your portable FW drive into your editing system, drag and drop the files into your timeline and you're ready to edit. The fact that you don't have to copy the data is one of the big advantages of the Direct-To-Edit solutions that the FireStore provides.

For more information about the FireStore FS-1, what it does and how it works, see my FireStore article located at http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/camaccs/firestore.php

Even though the FS-1 has been discontinued, you can often find them in good used condition in our Private Classifieds forum. Hope this helps,

I bought one on Friday from one of our sponsors at a good price. Will add HDDs and NP1 battery as I can. 40GBs are about $140 each.

Videoguys have a deal on FS-1s. A really GOOD deal. Now that I have mine in hand...

NP1 Batteries
 

I am looking into the FS-1 and before I do, am wondering where do you find the NP1 batteries? I am trying to get an idea for total cost to implement one. Is the NP1 proprietary to Focus or is it a standard battery?
Also, I am looking at bus powered firewire drives. Do you know if the FS-1 can power the drive via the firewire port?

Hi Brian,

NP batteries are available from...

http://www.idxtek.com/products.htm

There is also a host of Asian manufacturers making NP batteries. NPs are not proprietary to Focus.

It is also possible to bus power a FireWire drive from the FS-1 FireWire port. You will need a drive that supports this however.

Thanks,

Matt

Thanks Matt. I went to the site but when it comes to FS-1 and batteries I am a novice. You wouldn't happen to know a battery model # would you?

I just bought 2 x 100GB bus powered firewire drives!

Thanks,

Brian

Any NP series battery should work.

Hope that helps,

Matt

Hi Brian,
Where did you get your 100GB bus powered drives?

Anyone ever used a Li-ion NP with the FS-1? They are generally around 16.5 v when fully charged. The manual says 15VDC max and I checked with Focus and they said 15V is already %25 over the normal operating voltage of the FS-1.

thanks,
Matt

100GB Bus Powered External Drives
 

I purchased the following items from computer3g.com

Hi-tec HIPF-25F iPockey FireWire 2.5 Hard Drive External Enclosure
Toshiba MK1032GAX, HDD2D08 100GB 5400rpm 16M 2.5" Notebook Hard Drive

Unfortunately my laptop does not offer firewire bus power but my desktop does! It works really well.

Excellent, thank you Brian

whole day events
 

We use an FS1 for large events. Typically we provide on site webcasting and encoding support from our van. All inputs (from the broadcasters and our own cameras) go through both video and audio mixers and processors and come out onto a distribution amp and/or matrix. The FS1 hangs off that along with whatever other outputs we're producing. Our FS1 is in a roadcase with 2x 120GB disks and a DV bridge. Sometimes we pack along another case with n x 250GB disks - as required.

We always copy the days shoot onto another disk in case of disk failure. These are typically events that run non-stop and cannot be repeated. eg a days rowing champs. They may be in remote locations and disks do fail.

For footage during the day we'd pack a DV tape drive or another FS1 so that our main copy wasn't interrupted. - We also provide feeds from the van via satellite or Internet. We did 17 feeds for LOTR #3 - 5 hours long all 17 feeds.

The van generally has 4 encoders in it (but may have up to 10 or 12 -one job was 2 days 10 hours non-stop - across 5 streams. We slept in the van too). One encoder is live, one spare, one recording to disk (backup to FS1) and one doing server management and link testing.

Shame the FS1 is going. We'd have liked MXF and HDV support and the FS4 is no good without external disk interfaces. Gotta have big disks.

Rich

you could probably hack the fs4 with extension/adaptor cables plugged into a full-sized drive, so the question would really be, does the operating system of the fs4 support big drives?