talking with firestore tech-support
 

In checking in with the focus enhancements support line, I was turned on to page 18 of the firestore4 Pro manual. There it describes setting up the drive in Sync Slave mode. This gets me part way there on the code situation. Inflipping through the different display options to 'DV NTSC' instead of 'COUNTER' the code on the screen for each clip is the camera exported FREE-RUN.

AND YET, I still am not getting this time-code printed on the firestore clips when I bring them into the NLE(FCP4).

This is where we are so far, the folks at Focus are delving into it, I think it might be ironed out within the next week.

how blissfully exciting.

did this ever get worked out?

free run time code on tape and matched on fs4 clips?

- shannonrawls.com

[QUOTE=Daniel Kohl
Another problem I have found is getting the power up order right. If I power up the FS-4 before I power up the camera the SYNC SLAVE won't work immediately, I have to reboot the FS-4 (costing even more time). But this may just be a problem with my unit (I have abused it through testing and modifications).[/QUOTE]

Hmm, on my Xl2, I have to have the FS-4 Pro on and recycle power on the XL2 to get the FS-4 Pro to record. Something their manual and tech support weren't aware of.

Regards,

Ty Ford

I have to do this with my recently bought FS-4 Pro (which is new and not abused) together with the XL-1s and the XL-2. So this may be an issue with some (or all?) FS-4 units.

I wonder if other people are having similar problems.

i have seen these weird boot issues also... if you are getting the "dv if" display in the viewfinder, what i've seen is that you typically do not have to reboot the fs-4, just hit the power-down button on the xl1s... using the button keeps you from wearing out the big rotary switch on the side of the camera.

what i've been seeing lately is that the fs-4 needs to be fully booted up before the xl1s is fired up.

I just read back over my original quoted entry. I think that I was groping in the dark at the time, trying to remember which power-up order was right.

My recent experience agrees with what Dan Euritt is suggesting. Power the XL- up and then the FS-4. If the XL- is on when before the FS-4 is booted (like when you are using the XL- to compose a shot and you turn the FS-4 off to save battery) then use the STANDBY button on the XL- to power down and then power up again after the FS-4 is fully booted. It's too bad that it's not "plug and play" (more like plug and pray) but this seems to work.

Do you have a picture of this?

Hmm, on my Xl2, I have to have the FS-4 Pro on and recycle power on the XL2 to get the FS-4 Pro to record. Something their manual and tech support weren't aware of.

The note is now in their FAQ.


Ty Ford

Here are some pictures.

http://www.marq5.de/FS-4.html

Cheers,

Is it tricky to do the right angle modification? The pictures look like this would be a good option; looks pretty clean at the end. Have you taken any pix doing the process by chance?
I have acytally not gutted a firewire cable before. Is something better done by a very expeienced person?
Thanks!

Hi,

It is not much more tricky to gut a FW cable than it is any other cable.

...The contacts are just very small so you have to use a sharp soldering iron when you reconnect the wires.

I did the operation quite a while ago so I don't remember the specific problems I ran into. I think I managed to remove the plastic casing from the 4 pin plug without ripping the wires out, so I didn't have to remember which wire went where. It was more difficult bending the outer hard shield to a right angle without it breaking. That is also not such a problem, though, because the shielding can be removed from the inner core where the small contacts are, and you can work on it without risking doing damage to the more delicate stuff.

I didn't take pictures of every step - but I think if you have any experience with tinkering with electronic stuff and soldering, you shouldn't have a problem figuring it out... I'm no engineer.