Firestore Import Solutions That Work

Y

yachtclubav

Active member
I wanted to start a new topic to lay out the current solutions to the numerous problems people have been encountering with the Firestore and FCP 5.1.2

----Make sure you have the latest firmware installed on your FS-100. the firmware is available at http://www.focusinfo.com/support/downloads.asp

1. Clip does not span - shows up as series of 2:16 incomplete clips.

Diamond showed me an easy workaround for this problem that has worked for me in several tests. Basically FCP only recognizes every other clip as spanned or incomplete. for instance I had 3 20 minute videos recorded to the firestore. clip 1 and 3 show up as spanned in FCP, however clip 2 shows up as incomplete.

The workaround is to first make a backup of the CLIP folder (located inside of the CONTENTS folder). Then remove all the XML files inside the CLIP folder for all clips except for the ones that are part of the clip that is coming in as incomplete (don't delete, just move). This forces FCP to recognize the spanned clip as being first in the order - which results in it being properly spanned.

You can move the original XMLs back to the CLIP folder after import.

2. Red Error : Unknown - Clip plays fine in the viewer, however I get an error when trying to import.

Same basic solution as with the spanned clip problem. If you remove the XML clip files for all the files except the ones you have problems importing - then FCP should import the video no problem. I do not know how this affects spanned clips as I have no way to test.

3. Clip appears to import, but file is named (clip name)FFFFF and is only 4k

A workaround for this is to shorten and simplify the file name you are entering into the log in FCP. Do not use symbols or other unecessary characters and keep the file name short - around 15 characters works every time, although you can play around with the length to see how long you can get it. Keep it simple and short and you should not see this problem.

I hope that helps out -- and thanks to everyone who has taken the time to provide working workarounds.

--anthony
 
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Thanks for the workarounds but they don't seem to help for the problem i'm encountering:
Did a shoot yesterday and two clips seem to be corrupted. I shot them in the DVCPro 50 PAL codec (P2) and they are about 8 minutes each. FCP 5.1.2 doesn’t recognise them on import. But they are definitely on the disk.
I then used Raylight on a pc to convert them to avi files for use in Premiere Pro 2. But then the picture looks very disrupted. Sound is disrupted too and the clips seem to play in a slow speed. When I use the Panasonic P2 viewer the icon of the clips show up but again they look scrambled with an pink exclamation mark. The viewer doesn’t see a start or end Time Code. The log file on the FS100 reads a couple of times: "stop occured before any frames written to disk". The files that won't show up in the FCP P2 import screen have normal sizes that seem to match their video-length,
After those two clips I shot other clips in the same shooting sessions. No problems with them. Did a ‘disk repair’ on the FS100. but nothing seems to help. Is there a way to restore them, because they’re very important?1

Thanks.
Stephan
 
Also be aware that it's not an FS-100 problem, it's a Macintosh problem, and many of us are working to figure this out.

sdjay, did you run P2 Organize? If so, did you have the FS-100 set to DVCPRO 50 rather than DVCPRO HD? And you're using the Pal version of the FS-100?
 
Hi BenB,

All my answers to your questions are positive. Did run P2 Organize, FS100 set to DVCPro 50 and yes, it's the PAL version (netherlands) I'm using it for about 5 months now without big problems like this.

Stephan
 
Wow, I'd get in touch with Focus tech support right away. They're really nice and trying to do what they can for the FS-100. It's normally a very reliable unit. It could be something simple their engineers can solve quickly.
 
I was having import problems with some footage I shot the other day... first time I got the dreaded red exclamation point. Tried everything, including removing the files in the Clips folder. This footage, by the way, was shot at 59.94. I then checked the Remove Pulldown flag in the FCP options box-- and everything imported properly.

So, I do think we have a problem with FCP 5.1.2 and I'll get that up the chain to my Apple contacts...

Ned Soltz
 
Spoke a bit too soon--- while everything imported properly, spanned clips had a moment of distorted audio at the beginning of the clip and no audio throughout the rest of the clip. Audio played perfectly in preview window. Yes, Houston, we've got a problem.

Ned
 
Discovered that I had a backup system hard drive still containing OS X 10.4.6 and FCP 5.1.1 Booted into that disk, launched FCP 5.1.1 and all footage imported properly. FCP 5.1.1 of course did not recognize the spanned clips, but there were no gaps or glitches between clips. No import problems, no audio problems. So, I must conclude that there is a bug with spanned clip import in FCP 5.1.2

Ned
 
nsoltz said:
So, I must conclude that there is a bug with spanned clip import in FCP 5.1.2

Ned
Click to expand...

Wow. Good research Ned.

We just shot an athletic contest with 1 8Gb and three 4Gbs.

We kept only one p2 card in the cam at all times. No issues.

We did this because we are concerned about spanned clips with either FS100 or p2 cards.

Now how do we get Apple's ear?
 
nsoltz said:
I was having import problems with some footage I shot the other day... first time I got the dreaded red exclamation point. Tried everything, including removing the files in the Clips folder. This footage, by the way, was shot at 59.94. I then checked the Remove Pulldown flag in the FCP options box-- and everything imported properly.

Ned Soltz
Click to expand...

....so....for the first time I had this problem... Did the work around.....nada.....then I UNCHECKED the remove advanced pulldown (was shooting at 2fps with FS100)... and it came in fine... the clip before it didn't have a problem at all with the pull down CHECKED......so....I'm a bit baffled, myself.
 
Matthew McEwen said:
I would agree, sounds like something might be wrong with your FS-100. Do you still have the clips with the issue? You may like to have them available when you contact support. Contact details for our European support group are as follows:
http://www.como.com/index.php?id=kontakt-support

Matt
Click to expand...
Just to let you know: the problems i have with these clips are probably related to the hvx200 itself. I had my reseller analyse the corrupted files and they seem to relate to a bad connection on the logic board in the camera. I'll send the camera to the tech department next week once they have a spare camera for me. I'll let you know...

Stephan
 
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