Firestore FS-C various topics

Blake Calhoun · May 14th, 2007, 05:41 PM

Thanks for the info. I am trying to find a single solution for both cameras.

Of course I like to shoot the HV20 in 24p... hmmm. Seems they should do a firmware update? It's a popular enough camera.

I like Canon's CONSOLE too, but it doesn't work with the HV20 at all to my knowledge.

Jan-Arden Petersen · May 20th, 2007, 09:48 AM

Sorry for the late reply, we've been out of the studio extensivly during the recital season. I do have the 2.1 version, and I am shooting at 60i. I will try your tip of making sure the firestore is hooked up and on before turning the camera on. Sometimes the smallest detail makes the biggest difference.
Thank you for your thoughts.

Harry Bromley-Davenport · May 28th, 2007, 07:02 AM

I've tried plugging the FS-C into various different firewire ports, have rebooted etc but can't seem to get the firestore to show up on my Mac desktop.

Any ideas from you guys?

Thanks,

Harry

Blake Calhoun · June 1st, 2007, 01:39 PM

Looking to buy the FS-C, but can't exactly tell what it comes with? Does it include a battery? On B&H it doesn't say it includes this.

Also, will the FS-C record HDV 24F footage in it's true 23.98fps? It states it will record .M2T files in a 1080i stream. But 24F doesn't add pulldown...

Thanks,
Blake

Mark Hislop · June 1st, 2007, 07:46 PM

Blake:

Ours came with a battery, an AC adapter/charger, a short firewire cable, and some mounting hardware. Extra batteries can be bought.

Mark

Blake Calhoun · June 2nd, 2007, 07:59 AM

Thanks, I figured it did, but just wanted to make sure.

Do you know about recording the 24F HDV 23.98 footage?

Larry Kamerman · June 5th, 2007, 09:23 AM

The FS-C does record 24F 23.98. With the newest software update, it can record the footage as either m2t or quicktime files.

Philip Fass · June 5th, 2007, 02:52 PM

I'm hoping someone in this thread will answer a question for me:

Is there a difference in the stability or functionality of the FS-C vs the FS-4 Pro HD when used with a XL-H1? The specs seem the same for both, other than the mounting hardware for the "C."

Nathan Quattrini · June 6th, 2007, 01:01 PM

I have had so far 3 files of about 30 come out looking like this. The firestore was set to tapeless recording, every once in a while it wouldn`t record when I pushed record on the camera. Any idea what happened?

http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.jpg

*edit* I just tried putting it back on a Firestore FS 4 pro and repairing it, it said it was repaired...but when dropped back in Premiere it was still messed up

heres one of the clips as well..it just dies mid clip....be warned, turn your speakers down.

http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.wmv

Nathan Quattrini · June 6th, 2007, 02:01 PM

so far I have an H1 at work with an FS 4 HD Pro with 0 problems. And an A1 with the FS-C with my first long shoot loosing 20 minutes of 60 to corrupted, unrepairable files. Not sure what that would mean.

Arnaldo Paixao · June 8th, 2007, 06:41 AM

Hi Nathan.

Check your camera firewire connection. I had the same problem with a Canon XL1-S and an FS4. The firewire cable has to be secured to the camera.

Hope it helps.

Arnaldo

Chris Walker · June 19th, 2007, 09:49 AM

I just received and promptly returned a FS4 ProHD to B&H for the exact same reason. That and it would not charge/run from battery.

I tried several different ways of connecting the unit to my mac and FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS to the letter. But nothing would work. I kept getting "failed" on the enable screen. I tried on both a PC and a mac.

The battery issue tells me that there is something wrong with the unit. It will work while connected to AC. But once the AC is removed the unit dies. I charged one of the batteries over night and one for 2 hours. No Joy, the both will not run the unit.

I ordered a second unit to try from B&H and I am returning this defective one. If the second one is messed up, I am back to tape. Thanks to the B&H folks for helping out.

I did call Focus and the lady I talked to said that the battery issue would require the unit to be sent back. The firewire issue might be fixed over the phone with some troubleshooting. I told her that I would rather send it back due to the battery issue.

Try giving them a call. Let me know if you are able to get it working.

Chris Walker · June 22nd, 2007, 10:37 PM

I am not having a good day. I got the new FS-4 Pro HD this morning. I charged it for 3 hours. It fired up on battery power with no problems. I got home and tried to connect it to the mac. No joy. I cannot get it to connect to the mac following the instructions to the T. I tried various variations and none of them work.

At first the device would lock up when I plugged it in to the computer and after a few minutes I would pull the battery to reboot. You could not get it to respond to clicks on the enable or other buttons at all. I eventually got it to respond to the clicks. I am not sure how. But now after clicking on the enable it just reboots. It never shows on the desktop.

I even tried connecting it to the PC and it does the same thing.

Faith is fading fast. Unless someone here has advice, I am out of luck until Monday.

Stewart Menelaws · June 23rd, 2007, 04:50 AM

Okay Chris / Harry I understand this must be very frustrating....

Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again.... out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay.

Have you set the time and date? did you format the drive befor use? (these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable?

1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue

2: What version of Mac OS are you running?

3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac

4: Switch drive on

5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable

6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes

7: Icon should be on the mac desktop

All the best Stu
www.studioscotland.co.uk

Chris Walker · June 23rd, 2007, 07:27 AM

>>I understand this must be very frustrating....

Stu, that is the understatement of the year. I got very little sleep last night working on this thing.

>>Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again....

I don't know about Harry but I did that. Many times.

>>>>out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay.

Recorded about 1 minute, it did play back fine on the camera.

>>Have you set the time and date?

Date and time were set at the very begining. I did a reset later on and that changed the date and time back.

>>did you format the drive befor use?

Even though this is not in the instructions I did format the drive after trying a dozen times with no success. Formatting it did not help.

>>(these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable?

I have used 2 cables that I know work as they operate my other firewire drives with no problems.

>>1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue

Battery state was an issue with the unit I returned. It would not operate without AC power. This unit will operate with battery power.

>>2: What version of Mac OS are you running?

I am using the latest version of OS... fully updated.

>>3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac

Done and I even tried using the DV out and playing from the drive.

>>4: Switch drive on

>>5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable

>>6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes

This is not part of the connect instructions. The drive should appear even if the clips are damaged. Right??

>>7: Icon should be on the mac desktop

Never happens :-( Thanks for the advice. I will try again after breakfast and I wake up a bit. Maybe Harry will have better luck.

May 14th, 2007, 05:41 PM	#76
Blake Calhoun Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 157	Thanks for the info. I am trying to find a single solution for both cameras. Of course I like to shoot the HV20 in 24p... hmmm. Seems they should do a firmware update? It's a popular enough camera. I like Canon's CONSOLE too, but it doesn't work with the HV20 at all to my knowledge. __________________ Mainly dabble in features and WebTV: www.pinktheseries.com \| www.facebook.com/continuumtv \| www.killingdown.com

May 20th, 2007, 09:48 AM	#77
Jan-Arden Petersen New Boot Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: La Crescent, MN Posts: 7	Late reply Sorry for the late reply, we've been out of the studio extensivly during the recital season. I do have the 2.1 version, and I am shooting at 60i. I will try your tip of making sure the firestore is hooked up and on before turning the camera on. Sometimes the smallest detail makes the biggest difference. Thank you for your thoughts.

May 28th, 2007, 07:02 AM	#78
Harry Bromley-Davenport Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: LA CA Posts: 317	Can't get FS-C to appear on Mac desktop. I've tried plugging the FS-C into various different firewire ports, have rebooted etc but can't seem to get the firestore to show up on my Mac desktop. Any ideas from you guys? Thanks, Harry

June 1st, 2007, 01:39 PM	#79
Blake Calhoun Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 157	Firestore FS-C Questions Looking to buy the FS-C, but can't exactly tell what it comes with? Does it include a battery? On B&H it doesn't say it includes this. Also, will the FS-C record HDV 24F footage in it's true 23.98fps? It states it will record .M2T files in a 1080i stream. But 24F doesn't add pulldown... Thanks, Blake __________________ Mainly dabble in features and WebTV: www.pinktheseries.com \| www.facebook.com/continuumtv \| www.killingdown.com

June 2nd, 2007, 07:59 AM	#81
Blake Calhoun Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 157	Thanks, I figured it did, but just wanted to make sure. Do you know about recording the 24F HDV 23.98 footage? __________________ Mainly dabble in features and WebTV: www.pinktheseries.com \| www.facebook.com/continuumtv \| www.killingdown.com

June 1st, 2007, 07:46 PM	#80
Mark Hislop New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Aurora, Illinois Posts: 21	Blake: Ours came with a battery, an AC adapter/charger, a short firewire cable, and some mounting hardware. Extra batteries can be bought. Mark

June 5th, 2007, 09:23 AM	#82
Larry Kamerman Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New York,NY Posts: 100	The FS-C does record 24F 23.98. With the newest software update, it can record the footage as either m2t or quicktime files. __________________ www.gencofilms.com

June 5th, 2007, 02:52 PM	#83
Philip Fass Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Charlotte, VT Posts: 397	I'm hoping someone in this thread will answer a question for me: Is there a difference in the stability or functionality of the FS-C vs the FS-4 Pro HD when used with a XL-H1? The specs seem the same for both, other than the mounting hardware for the "C."

June 6th, 2007, 01:01 PM	#84
Nathan Quattrini Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Warwick, Rhode Island Posts: 740	FS-C corrupted files I have had so far 3 files of about 30 come out looking like this. The firestore was set to tapeless recording, every once in a while it wouldn`t record when I pushed record on the camera. Any idea what happened? http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.jpg edit I just tried putting it back on a Firestore FS 4 pro and repairing it, it said it was repaired...but when dropped back in Premiere it was still messed up heres one of the clips as well..it just dies mid clip....be warned, turn your speakers down. http://www.kiukle.com/temp/badfile.wmv __________________ Cinematography Site Last edited by Nathan Quattrini; June 6th, 2007 at 01:33 PM.

June 6th, 2007, 02:01 PM	#85
Nathan Quattrini Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Warwick, Rhode Island Posts: 740	so far I have an H1 at work with an FS 4 HD Pro with 0 problems. And an A1 with the FS-C with my first long shoot loosing 20 minutes of 60 to corrupted, unrepairable files. Not sure what that would mean. __________________ Cinematography Site

June 8th, 2007, 06:41 AM	#86
Arnaldo Paixao Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Vimeiro - Portugal Posts: 255	Corrupted Files. Hi Nathan. Check your camera firewire connection. I had the same problem with a Canon XL1-S and an FS4. The firewire cable has to be secured to the camera. Hope it helps. Arnaldo

June 19th, 2007, 09:49 AM	#87
Chris Walker New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Roanoke VA Posts: 13	I just received and promptly returned a FS4 ProHD to B&H for the exact same reason. That and it would not charge/run from battery. I tried several different ways of connecting the unit to my mac and FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS to the letter. But nothing would work. I kept getting "failed" on the enable screen. I tried on both a PC and a mac. The battery issue tells me that there is something wrong with the unit. It will work while connected to AC. But once the AC is removed the unit dies. I charged one of the batteries over night and one for 2 hours. No Joy, the both will not run the unit. I ordered a second unit to try from B&H and I am returning this defective one. If the second one is messed up, I am back to tape. Thanks to the B&H folks for helping out. I did call Focus and the lady I talked to said that the battery issue would require the unit to be sent back. The firewire issue might be fixed over the phone with some troubleshooting. I told her that I would rather send it back due to the battery issue. Try giving them a call. Let me know if you are able to get it working.

June 22nd, 2007, 10:37 PM	#88
Chris Walker New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Roanoke VA Posts: 13	I am not having a good day. I got the new FS-4 Pro HD this morning. I charged it for 3 hours. It fired up on battery power with no problems. I got home and tried to connect it to the mac. No joy. I cannot get it to connect to the mac following the instructions to the T. I tried various variations and none of them work. At first the device would lock up when I plugged it in to the computer and after a few minutes I would pull the battery to reboot. You could not get it to respond to clicks on the enable or other buttons at all. I eventually got it to respond to the clicks. I am not sure how. But now after clicking on the enable it just reboots. It never shows on the desktop. I even tried connecting it to the PC and it does the same thing. Faith is fading fast. Unless someone here has advice, I am out of luck until Monday.

June 23rd, 2007, 04:50 AM	#89
Stewart Menelaws Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Scotland (UK) Posts: 219	Okay Chris / Harry I understand this must be very frustrating.... Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again.... out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay. Have you set the time and date? did you format the drive befor use? (these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable? 1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue 2: What version of Mac OS are you running? 3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac 4: Switch drive on 5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable 6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes 7: Icon should be on the mac desktop All the best Stu www.studioscotland.co.uk

June 23rd, 2007, 07:27 AM	#90
Chris Walker New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Roanoke VA Posts: 13	>>I understand this must be very frustrating.... Stu, that is the understatement of the year. I got very little sleep last night working on this thing. >>Only thing to do is go over everything line by line again.... I don't know about Harry but I did that. Many times. >>>>out of interest, when you have recorded footage can you play it back through your camera? Is the drive recording okay. Recorded about 1 minute, it did play back fine on the camera. >>Have you set the time and date? Date and time were set at the very begining. I did a reset later on and that changed the date and time back. >>did you format the drive befor use? Even though this is not in the instructions I did format the drive after trying a dozen times with no success. Formatting it did not help. >>(these may not have any direct effect but its worth checking) have you tried another firewire cable? I have used 2 cables that I know work as they operate my other firewire drives with no problems. >>1: The unit (we are using the hd100) will get its power from the 6 pin firewire from the mac - so the battery state should not be an issue Battery state was an issue with the unit I returned. It would not operate without AC power. This unit will operate with battery power. >>2: What version of Mac OS are you running? I am using the latest version of OS... fully updated. >>3: Connect 6 pin firewire from "computer out" on the drive to the mac Done and I even tried using the DV out and playing from the drive. >>4: Switch drive on >>5: Check drive menu is set HDD Mode > DD Drive > Enable >>6: It may be necessary to repair clips as follows - Utillities > Repair disc > Yes This is not part of the connect instructions. The drive should appear even if the clips are damaged. Right?? >>7: Icon should be on the mac desktop Never happens :-( Thanks for the advice. I will try again after breakfast and I wake up a bit. Maybe Harry will have better luck.