Fire-un-store!!

D

dissentfilms

Member
I shot a video in 720p/24p DVCPROHD on the HVX to the firestore's "Quicktime PN" setting. Now i have no useable footage (actually the only footage that works is one clip shot in the 720p/60 frame rate????).

Is there any way to save and use the footage in FCP 6.0.1?
 
Define unusable. Does the file import but misbehave, or do you get an error when you try to log the file? Do you have the option to remove duplicate frames unchecked?
 
Unuseable as in when I play back in the camera it looks as though I am a video artist inspired by bad 80's 8bit flourescent colored graphics.

Playback in camera is distorted, and I get an error when importing to FCP: 28 files recognized; 0 access denied; 27 unknown.

?

This shouldn't be happening, am I right?
 
also, the files on the firestore look like this: 20070718-205458j01.mov

notice the "j" in the file where there is normally a "w"

This is odd. Firestore works fine in non PN format.

whats the use of PN if you cant use it?
 
wow that is helpful. I have a firestore/HVX has anyone successfully used the PN function on the drive? Anyone else had the same problem as d-films?
 
i have used it in quicktime pn successfully. however, it sometimes creates extra files that are like 3 frames of multicolored digital garbage. it also randomly switches over to standard 24p from time to time with no rhyme or reason. these clips still import but i have to reverse telecine to ditch the pulldown. i have never had it completely sh*t the bed on me like what you are talking about but i can see the potential...

i have heard that you must never mix formats on it. i.e. do not record pn/p2/reg. quicktime together. you must format the drive if you wish to change formats. i don't know if it's true but i have always followed that rule just in case...

i second that firestore is a clunky POS. i only use when absolutely necessary and worry every time....
 
Wow.
I know this isn't helpful to the problem you're having - but I've used the Quicktime PN mode on everything I've shot with the HVX, and haven't had any problems.

My file names all have the 'j' designation that you pointed out.
I also get the 3 frame multicolored digital garbage clips, but there is a rhyme and reason to them - they are created whenever I switch framerates. For example, if I'm shooting 24P and want to shoot slomo I have to switch the framerate on the HVX, and then hit record - the Firestore will start recording, then stop, then go into record pause.
Just like when you first start it up - it has to be 'primed' to record the new framerate and that's when those clips are created.

I have no idea why you would have gotten 26 unusable clips.
Are you certain you had the HVX in 24P mode and not 24PN?
Just a thought.
 
This isn't the first time I've used the firestore. But, I did notice that it was jumping back and forth during recording from "264" minutes to "111" minutes. I figured that the first clip sets the frame rate since I was previously shooting 1080/24PA. AHHH, anyway...

It works great in the "quicktime" format regardless of the frame rate, etc. I've been shooting a documentary using it for the past three months and the fact that I can record without stopping for nearly 2 hours is beneficial to the genre. There is no way to successfully shot a doco with P2 cards. NEVER gonna work until they make 64+GB P2 cards.

Nothing against the Firestore, I'll just stay away from the PN format.
 
David S. said:
We've had one for quite a while now with no issues. My guess is that most people who don't have issues don't report here that they aren't having any issues.
Click to expand...

Same here, I couldn't agree more.

It seems everytime I've run across someone with a Firestore issue it has either been traced back to user error or, in once case, an actual hardware failure.

But this case does seem different - I haven't run across anyone else using the newest firmware who is reporting this type of corruption on their footage.

If this were me, I would definitely call Focus and go through the settings, recording some more to see if the problem is repeatable. I wouldn't just accept that PN mode doesn't work - because it should and does work flawlessly on every other firestore I've encountered. If the PN mode isn't working correctly today there is no telling what else might happen tomorrow.
 
There are enough issues with the inconsistency of the Firestore that I would recommend we have a Firestore section in the forum. We have enough users on this site with those problems to justify it. That said... before the implementation of such a section, Focus should be contacted and asked to assign a representative to daily field questions and issues with their product (like a Jan from Panasonic).

I am currently working on a television series. We are using Panasonic's AJ-HDX900 cameras with Panavision lenses. We are synchronously shooting 720p(s) 24p / 59.94 to tape and Firestore. We use 3 FS-100s on set at all times. After 2 weeks of shooting we have sent back 2 of the Firestores because of inconsistent problems with the units not recording scenes, splitting clips, dropping frames, stalling... etc. We shot today with 2 replacement units Panavision sent out and I will see if things improved… 4 more weeks of shooting to go…

Anyway, I say all this because it is obvious that the Firestore isn't 100% reliable as a whole. It seams that getting a good unit is a hit or miss endeavor. I think that there are enough "misses" with this product to warrant that Firestore give better support to its users for their nearly $2K product.
 
Yea. So I just tested it again. PN format causes a recurring issue, and in P2 PN the Firestore isn't even recognized by the camera. In Quicktime PN it causes the recurring issue.

I guess I will have a new firestore soon.
 
Shawn Tallard of Full Compass has talked to someone at Focus Enhancements about assigning a rep to the DVXUser forums and was promised that they would do so but as far as I know, nobody from Focus Enhancements has ever posted here, at least not as an official representative.

Regardless of whether it happens at Shawn's request or someone else's, it would clearly benefit both Focus Enhancements and their customers to have a communications channel that doesn't necessarily get used until a user runs into a problem.

Getting feedback and avoiding user disappointment goes a long way towards building a good relationship with customers.
 
dissentfilms said:
Make sure that in the Recording Setup on the HVX, the UB Mode is set to "FRM.RATE"

Idiot.
Click to expand...
This forum exists to share knowledge and get answers to questions one might have -- calling someone an idiot contributes absolutely nothing and has no place here. I think you owe an apology.
 
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