Oh, and Michael - I was running tape simultaneously and the fault was NOT recorded to tape. So I am tending to rule out a camera fault. What do you think?

Thanks for the reply.

Harry

It seems more likely corruption in the firewire stream.

All the unit does is record the digital data being fed down the cable and sometimes some processing to put it in a quicktime or avi wrapper.

It never get's converted back to analogue (until you play it back on your monitor).

You have to ask yourself some questions:

1. Did it happen every time this dark to light scenario occurred? Or was it intermittent?
2. Did it happen at any other time during the recording?
3. Was the hard drive subject to any violent knock, coincidentally at the same time (less likely)?
4. Could the camera itself have a fault that is post the tape section in the camera i.e. does a sudden change in auto iris cause disruption to the power section of the camera that is on the same circuit as the firewire output board?

I know if you blow the firewire output on your camera it can still record to tape so the signal originates from the same place but is routed separately.

I'm not trying to be an apologist for Focus - I think these units are fundamentally flawed as field units - they simply aren't rugged enough to stand up to daily field use. In this case however it seems unlikely that the unit itself is at fault.

John,

Thanks for your reply.

The firewire stream coming out of the camera seems to be ok, because I have test recorded direct to the computer via firewire and the fault is not present.

To answer your other questions: Yes, it does happen on every occasion, and also the unit did not receive any violent shock at any time of which I was aware.

There is now a person at Focus who is trying to be consiferably more helpful and I am running a series of tests for them.

In any case, many thanks for your input and help.

Harry

FS-C, Canon XH A1, FCP 5
 

So, after reading many posts written in December of last year, I wanted to check up again. Right now, is there a FS-C model that will record in Quicktime 24f, with a Canon XH-A1, and work easily with FCP 5? If there is, please direct me, and anyone else who is interested, to the website where we can finally purchase it.

Thanks!

According to the Focus Enhancements website, the FS-C model will.

Firestore FS-C Canon XHA1 and Avid
 

I had the opportunity to test a Firestore FS-C, and would like to report the following observations.

First, the usefulness of any piece of hardware depends on how you intend to use it. In my case, I am interested in a “backup” medium to use in case of the occasional HDV tape dropout, as well as during tape changes. My work centers around stage performances (music and ballet), and I need at least one camera to capture an unbroken time line.

I understand that the FS-C is great if you want to shoot 24P/F and edit in FCP, but I am currently happy just shooting 1080 /60i HDV to tape.

My first test was to connect the FS-C to a Canon A1, and operate the firestore in “manual” record mode. I then recorded to tape on the camera, stopped, ejected the tape, and reengaged the tape to resume recording. There were no problems connecting the firestore to the camera or to the computer.

The test clips were imported into an Avid 1080iHDV project (ver 5.2.4), but most of them would not open in the source monitor with the following error:

Audio PMM_insufficient_media()
Player version is longer than actual

I could get a working clip into Avid if it did not involve start/stop and tape change operations.

Explanation: I followed up by doing the same test with a Canon HV20 recording in from the A1 firewire output. Turns out that the A1 firewire output drops a few frames when the camera goes into and out of record mode. So I conclude that the A1 breaks the firewire stream at these two points, and the FS-C responds by starting a new file, but with a somewhat “nonstandard” file format. (Note that Avid is very “picky”)

For those interested, the same glitch happens when the A1 is recorded to a laptop using HDVsplit. The file, however, is not broken around the glitch, and will import just fine into Avid. It is then possible to edit up to each side of the glitch and save all but about 1 second of the shot.

So the next logical test was to use the FS-C in “syncro” mode where it responds to the camera start and stop controls. Results were much more reliable… except, if the tape is spun down when record is engaged. The startup delay generates one of the glitches, and you get a 9 min “droupout”.

For the record, I tested the ability of Avid to join the 9 min segments, and yes, it did loose one or two frames. For a solution just look at: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=85791
The copy /b solution works just fine in Avid with no lost media.

I also tried direct capture to Avid, but although the video made it into the capture monitor, Avid seemed to think it couldn’t control the deck, and would not actually capture anything. (Newbee alert: I may not know how to properly configure Avid, but I tried.)

Battery Life: Had no problem with battery life, estimating 6 to 7 hours of continuous use…. but then again I did not use the firestore battery. I am really pleased with Tekkeon MP3450 batteries: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855997152
I did not even try the included battery, just ran it from the tekkeon.

Conclusion: the price/usefulness factor of the FS-C is too high for my simple “backup” requirements. If someone wants to shoot 24P tapeless for FCP, then the FS-C should be perfect. The potential 9 min “droupouts” can be avoided, but it adds the possibility for error if you don’t notice a tape spinning down.
Currently I am considering either getting the cheapest FS-4 or even another Canon HV20, which would make a firewire clone recording on a second tape. In any event I will wait until just before I need it… perhaps one of you will come up with a better idea.

Another simple FS-4 HD (40GB) upgrade to 120GB
 

I just replaced the hard disk (40GB) on my FS-4 HD unit with a Fujitsu 120 GB (5400rpm,8mb,0.6A) and the unit booted up, asked me to partition the new drive and is now showing 610 min (over 10 hours!) available. Will likely almost double battery life as well as only draws 0.6A compared with 1.0A on the original oem hitachi drive.

Drive cost me 79 bucks.

Hi Frank

This is great to see your FS-4HD upgrade to 120GB. You say:Will likely almost double battery life as well as only draws 0.6A compared with 1.0A on the original oem hitachi drive

Is that less power after upgrade? or double battery life?

Why I ask because I have FS-4HD, never buy the extra battery 180mins. The battery are very good as even without using 3 days, the battery did not loss any power. Is a great Direct-to-Disk (Tapeless) Recording.

Agreed. Great solution.

Yes...less power draw (40% less) so should have a proportional improvement in battery life.

Model Number
 

Frank, do you know the model number for the Fujitsu Drive? I just purchased a Fujitsu MHV2120-AH to use in my FS-4. Is that the same one you used?

FS-C missing files
 

Need help with Firestore FS-C missing files. Unit has worked great until now. I recorded the other day and went to input into FCP 6 and when I mounted drive , it shows no clips. The unit usually has 306 mins or so available when freshly formated. I noticed that FS-C show 260 mins available which leads me to believe that these clips did record and are there. One problem I noticed was I had camera set to DV and FS-C was set at HD Rec. Not sure if this would cause this. Please help. Need these clips. Also have file called FSCK0000.REC that i have not seen before. Did backup to tape, but I was to work on digital and friend has tape. Like to recover digital.Thanks Steve

Hey Kelvin...ya that was the one. Working great so far.

Drives...
 

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

Thanks!

JR

hidden?
 

Is there a way on a mac to "view hidden files" like there is in windows?

JR

Well I got the Fujitsu 120 GB hard drive. I got it formatted. (a small challenge.. had to power off and on until it would go to 'found new drive format disk' option)
I'm not getting 610 minutes.
It says 520 minutes (NTSC)

Did I do something wrong?

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.

FS-4 / Quicktime
 

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?

My FSC records in quicktime
 

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

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.

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

FS-C Drops Last 2 Seconds of Each Clip
 

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!

Update
 

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.

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.

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

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!!!

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

Advice... Fs-4
 

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!

can the FS-4 HD Record Quicktime HD?
 

can the FS-4 HD Record Quicktime HD?

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

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>??

FS-C Playback?
 

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

Thanks Ron

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?

Firestore FS-C to final cut? Which file type?
 

How should I capture HDV from a Canon XH-A1 onto the Firestore for dumping to a Final Cut Studio 2 machine? I remember trying QT once with my Mac and Premiere and it couldn`t be used. Anyone know which to use? QT or M2T?

Use the Quicktime HDV setting.

Gary

I just purchased a FS-C to use with my Canon XH-A1. I use Canopus Edius Broadcast as a NLE app. I find that when I import HDV m2t footage to the timeline the resultant playback studders miserably.
I have been told that m2t files will cause this effect and that it is better to use the Canopus HD. But since using the Canopus HD involves capturing from tape, it kind of negates the value and purpose of the FS-C.
My computer has 3 gigs of ram and is a quad core 2.4GHz. It would be pretty disappointing if this is the best FS-C and Edius can do!

Hum. The problem may have been a faulty Maxtor media drive. When I tried to defragment it it froze. I pulled it out of my machine and ....no more problems!

QuickTime HD preview on a PC
 

I am PC based. I am doing a shoot where the footage will be delivered and edited with Final Cut. I want to deliver the best possible files from my FS-C which should be the Quicktime HD option the Firestore has. Unfortunately I can't preview the HD Quicktime file on my PC. Is there a way or does Apple reserve that to a Mac?

Replace HD with larger
 

This actually goes back a few posts but I was wondering if those who replaced their small HD's with a larger hard drive, is it possible to change from FAT32 to NSTC thereby avoiding the 2 gig (or is it 4 gig) limit?

Changing drives in Firestore
 

On another thread there were posters that changed out the smaller drives in their Firestores to a larger drive. Has anyone tried this with the FS-C? Also apparently when drives are replaced they need to be re partitioned. Anybody try NTFS rather than Fat 32?

FS-C & Canon A1 Sync...Tapeless
 

Interesting discovery is that when using the FS-C with an A1, the FS-C will record SD whether set to SYNC or TAPELESS. This comes in handy because I am switching between my Panasonic DVC 30 and the Canon (with no tape in it).

Edit the above
I could not repeat the sync/tapeless as mentioned above. Sorry may have led some astray. I find that I do need a tape in the Canon to have the FS-C record in SYNC mode. All of the "tally " lights on the camera and FS-C work properly. I need to set TAPELESS not SYNC on my A1 (with no tape in it) for everything to work flawlessly.

FS-4 HD with a SATA drive installed
 

I just received my FS-4 HD (60GB) and WD 120gb PATA drive with the intent of upgrading the hard drive. When I opened the FS-4 I found that the interface was no longer IDE, but instead SATA. But what's even more distressing is the fact that factory installed is an 80GB. Of course, the system boots to the 60GB recording times suggesting that the system may be limiting the space of the hard drive installed and this may be permanent, i.e. it doesn't matter if I install a 300gb SATA, it will be formatted to 60GB by the firmware.

Please tell me someone out there upgraded a newer FS-4 HD, with the SATA interface, and had success formatting the extra space...

Please...

UPDATE:

My math sucks and I was wrong. My 60GB model is using all 80GB of the hard drive (365 mins in DV mode = 80GB). After the Focus Enhancements bankruptcy announcement, I wonder if they just aren't clearing out product - putting extra 80GB hard drives into 60GB models to liquidate instead of ordering more 60GB drives...

The sticker on the back plate also says "FS-4 Pro HD" though I do not have a Pro model.

Hmm..

Regardless, there is still hope that I can swap out a SATA drive and take advantage of the extra space. I'll post an update when I find out more.