Firestore Nightmarestore

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Cut2muz

Active member
10th day into feature doc shoot. Firestore could be a great tool, but it's not. So far it's a nightmare. Drop-outs, reel storing issues, new clip every 2 min 18 sec........not fun when you're rolling non-stop for 30 minutes or so. Will report back with more details but support isn't helpful unless you can wait two days for a call back. Higher ups want to help but can't seem to get any either.

Don Wilson
AmericanaMediaInc.com
 
I had dropout issues too. I installed the firmware update. Seems to have resolved the issue. Unfortunately, previously shot footage is not repaired. Dropout issue was a record issue, not playback... so youre out of luck... Although, Im sure its a nightmare, but if youre dropouts were like mine, they seem like they could be concealed with a couple of frames being painted Photoshop style... hit After effects and youre footage may be salvageable.... Good Luck!
 
The file size limit is the biggest problem. Every 2 sec 18 frames you get a new clip when importing. We often shoot for 25 - 30 minutes non stop so we're ending up with waaaaayyy too many clips. There are other problems, like reel numbers following import into FCP. Will report back after the storm ends in three days.


Don Wilson
AmericanaMediaInc.com
 
Firestores use the FAT filesystem on their hard drives. FAT has a file size limit of 3.2MB. Most PCs use NTFS nowadays, which doesn't have the file size limitation. However MACs don't fully support NTFS, so Firestore still uses FAT for best compatibilety.

It would be VERY nice if the user could choose whether to use FAT for better MAC compatibilety, or NTFS for larger, single, files.

- Mikko
 
And OS X fully supports NTFS, but only read operations.
So a Device like the Firestore could easily use NTFS, as all you do is read and then format. I think Microsoft licensing is the problem.
 
Come on Andres..........pull another miracle out of your ###. This master clip being broken into little clips is killing us. I'll pay...............

Don Wilson
 
If I had just some more time on my hands, an "automatic clip joiner" would be on the top of my to do list...hopefully it will be solved by Apple with a FCP update...
 
Hello,

I thought I would clarify the 2GB segment issue. FS-100 is a FAT32 device. We record clips in 2GB segments (about 2 minutes, 18 seconds of DVCPRO HD). If a clip's duration does go over 2 minutes, 18 seconds, a new 2GB file will be seamlessly created (without dropping any frames). A P2 card is also a FAT32 device. It splits clips into 4GB segments (about 4 minutes, 55 seconds). Like a P2 card, FS-100 supports file spanning in the XML file created in the CONTENTS folder. If an NLE supports spanning files, it is possible for the NLE to automatically join the files on import into the system. It appears that Final Cut Pro 5 does not support this feature at this time. Hopefully they will in the future.

Hope that helps.

Matt McEwen
 
Thanks Matt,

I appreciate your efforts here. We've been bitten with dropped frames at the cross over point. After the new firmware install we've seen a more robust product but still have drop outs when we've had to go hand held and move around a lot. I may just have a bad unit. This is my second as the first had bad battery posts and they disintergrated the first day. Spec Comm sent me their demo unit and it had a huge glob of dirt in the LCD. I was able to get rid of it but had to really work at it. Also, no matter what we do in the field, the reels do not come across in FCP. I would lke to have kept things organized by reels/days and it never worked on import despite assigning clips to reels while shooting as shown in the manual. Is there something we did wrong? I feel like we know this thing pretty darn welll.

Thanks for your input.

Don Wilson
AmericanaMediaInc.com
 
Hey Don,

I didn't realize that the unit had a dirty spot when you got it. I know our guys were trying to get it to you ASAP and we had a lot of customers looking at it that day. I forgot you had the demo unit, so we'll be glad to replace it with a new one when we get stock or just take it back and put it back in the show room.

David
 
Want everyone to know that I do not think Spec-Comm is at all at fault for my dirt issue or anyting else. In fact, they saved my butt when Focus wouldn't even reply to my voicemails for days. Spec-Comm got me up and shooting and sacrificed their showroom unit and I am very grateful for that. Those guys are on top of it for sure!

Don Wilson
AmericanaMediaInc.com
 
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