DTE Harddrives

JoeFowler

JoeFowler

Well-known member
I have been hearing a bunch recently about Firestores and other DV Harddrives that attatch to the DVX. They seem exspensive but I was told by someone that it is uncompressed footage and it's worth it. Then I read a post by Berry Green that said that it is compressed. What is the story with these drives and why are they so great? My question really is, do I need/want one? I know it's up to me to decide that, but if you all could give me your imput. Thanks.

Joe
 
I have a Firestore FS4. It's nice, although extremely expensive. The cool thing is that you can capture directly to the Firestore then transfer to your computer hard drive. This bypasses the TAPE. You do not need to capture your footage from tape to hard drive. That's a big plus. The fan is a bit loud on it when it starts to get hot, so that could be a problem if you're trying to record sound in quiet atmospheres. There are some other problems like recording to tape and FS at the same time or using the record button on the camera to start recording (it doesnt always work and it wigs out. you can just hit record on the firestore instead, it's not a big deal.). Anyways, it's a nice piece of equipment, it's just damn expensive. I got mine because my tape drive was acting up and I lost a day of shooting. I didn't want to lose any more days so I picked one up JUST IN CASE. And you might just want to take backing up your footage a little more seriously. after all, after the Firestore fills up, you have to delete what's on there. so if you transfer everything to a hard drive on ur computer, and that hard drive dies... you have no tape backup and u've lost your footage. So take backing up your footage a little more seriously. If you have any questions about the FS, just ask, I'll try to help and I'm sure there are others on here who know more than I do.
Good luck!
-Paul D.
 
Nope. The battery is said to last 1 1/2 hours. But they give you 2 batteries (it's a special they are having. I think it's still going on.) Only thing is that the battery has to be attached to the Firestore in order for it to be charged so swapping batteries back and forth while shooting isn't possible. You have to charge them ahead of time. If they run out, that's it. Kinda sucks.... BUT you can plug in the Firestore.... which is good....
-Paul D.
 
It is compressed.
Audio/Video/Timecode Specification:
25Mb/s, 8-bit 4:1:1 (NTSC-DV) or 4:2:0 (PAL-DV) video
(model dependent)
DV Embedded Timecode (Drop or Non-Drop)
Embedded 2-ch (16-bit, 48kHz) or 4-ch (12-bit, 32kHz)
Audio

I dont see how they could bypass the compression. Plus you need more Mbps if it's uncompressed, and I dont think the FS4 could handle it. I barely have an idea as to what I'm talking about though. Someone else should chime in. Also, does anyone know what the RAW DV file format is for? Thanks!

-Paul D.V.
 
The Firestore and similar DTE units capture the exact same files as your tape would. So, the *normal* NTSC DV compression is integral to the files and whether they're getting written to tape, HD, or stone tablets--it's all identical. The only way to capture uncompressed output from the DVX is to use the ReelStream Andromeda system.
 
A RAW DV file is not analgous to the RAW file from a digital SLR. Normally, there's an AVI or MOV (Quicktime) "wrapper" around a DV file. The wrapper does not have anything to do with the quality of the underlying DV data--it's just a format for the data. Normally, your NLE adds this wrapper during the capture process. So in FCP you end up with a MOV and in Vegas, an AVI (although the data is identical).

I'm not 100% sure on this one, but it looks like the Firestore can capture the DV file without a format wrapper. There may be some software that wants to see a RAW DV file, although it wouldn't be common.
 
Good catch. Current stone tablet technology allows for achiving but not for capture. *Nothing* beats a stone tablet for archiving, though. I'm working on adding a small peterodactyl with a chisel that could turn the tablet into a capture system.

JoeFowler said:
So, are the "Stone Tablet" DTE's coming out soon, I didn't see them on bhphoto.com.
Click to expand...
 
At this point, nothing I'm working on I would consider good enough to last millions of years, couldn't do that to our children's children.
 
I was considering buying FS-4 to save myself from the hassle of real-time capturing over firewire. Found the only place in Moscow, where the thing is available, went there to try it and gave up on the idea. I'm talking about PAL version, though.
First, noone can tell for sure if it works with 25p. Even devs on their forums - last post on the subject was on february and that was only a promise to implement/test it. Manual that comes with the unit mentions 25p on one page and leaves it out on 3 other, that list the recording formats. Quicktime 25p is nowhere to be found in FS-4 menu aswell. It did record both progressive and interlaced footage, but the whole conspiracy thing turned me away.
Secondly... it's HUGE. It's about 3 times bigger than what I was led to believe by pics. It's bulky and feels very cheap, being completely plastic and very light.
And last, non-Pro FS-4 PAL is 900$ without extra battery, mount, anything...
 
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