FS-100 in the field. Low cost solutions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SeanEmer
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SeanEmer

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I've done a ton of research on the HVX-200 and FS-100 combo, and I'm very close to convincing the Powers That Be of the value of this package. The only thing left I haven't gotten my mind around yet is how to solve this problem:

Assume that you are shooting with a single FS-100 in the field. That only gives you about 1.5 hours of HD footage before you essentially have to 'pack it in'. Would it be more effective in the long run (or short run) to simply bring more FS-100 units with me, or to bring a much cheaper 500GB external HD to dump to if I need to shoot more. Would I need a laptop as a go between, or can the FS-100 connect and transfer directly to external hard drives? Also, I assume that transferring the footage from the FS-100 to an external would take a while, perhaps even the equivalent of a real-time transfer. So then would it be ideal to have two FS-100 units as well as the external drive(s) and laptop so that while I transfer I can keep shooting on a clean unit? You guys have been working this system for longer than I've been interested in HD, so you would know better than me.

Thanks for any advice you might have!
 
The P2 card capacity is catching up and negating the economic reason for going with the FS. For example 2 x P2 cards (16gb) are about the same money and will hold over 80 minutes of 720/24pn. The 32gb cards come out later this year...but the 16gb you invest in now will not be obsolete.

Dump to a laptop or through the laptop to an external drive. The workflow is to dump the full card while continuing to shoot with the other. The FS will require a longer downtime to drain. With 2 or more P2 cards, you can keep shooting all day.
 
While I will certainly be using the package for studio film productions, I also plan on marketing it as an available HD camera for ENG style shoots. For example, I work on the video crew for a very large paintball game every year, and theres no time to be running away from the action every 30 minutes to dump my cards. The P2 cards have pretty good capacity for SD, but the HD is pretty low from what I've seen, and for the price I would pay for the 16GB cards I could just purchase an FS anyway. And having two fs-100's would allow for an extended record workflow similar to having 2 p2cards. I see your point, and eventually I will probably switch to a P2 card workflow, but at the moment I am going to be relying on the FS. On that note, would the workflow I suggested above function? Can the FS-100 dump directly to an external?
 
Both FS-100 and P2 cards have their place. The FS-100 with fw400 interface takes a while to copy to HDD. As has been pointed out, a rotation of 3 P2 cards and a laptop can go all day. If you are shooting 720p to FS-100 with the FS-100 set to native to remove the dupe frames, then you can get almost 4 hrs on FS-100. That's for all practical purposes almost a full-days actual footage.

I am also a believer in backup. In a commercial and field setting, I would ideally like to have 2 FS-100's.

I have personally had such good luck with my FS-100 under very harsh conditions of run-and-gun in hot desert climates that I do feel it worthwhile for field work.

Ned Soltz
 
There really is a best solution for each situation. Sounds like you have the right solution for the long, continuous event shoot. The back-end process is secondary.

For the studio, you can arguably use either FS or P2. The P2 advantage is that it will allow the back-end part of the process (ingest, editing, proofing) to crank up without camera downtime.

For ENG, it depends on what format the broadcaster wants and when. (boy are those wide variables)
Assuming it is not a live feed...Near future workflow may be something like this: rough edits in the field, then the file uploaded via mobile broadband wireless from the laptop.
 
Technology always moves too fast, haha. Anyway, since I'm not personally coming up with the funds for this system I think it wouldn't hurt to argue for the 2 FS-100s. I won't be doing much work for the next month or so, so it will give me a chance to do test runs using fs and p2 to see which I prefer in different settings. Thanks for the advice guys! I can't wait to come back here and whine about all the other problems I'm sure I will encounter, haha.
 
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