Firestore workflow?

Clint Nitkiewiz Hernandez

Clint Nitkiewiz Hernandez

Well-known member
I plan on shooting a feature with the hvx200 and the firestore, any thoughts? I heard the firestore is bad because dropouts or other firewire related issues, but I never used it, I just heard bad things. The only good thing is the size is able to carry, but Im not sure I want to be able to capture so much "bad" content. I plan on shooting 1080p.a with it by the way,

Any thoughts, workflows, would help, thanks.

Should I ditch the firestore and go p2?
 
I, for one, am a huge fan of the Firestore. I have never had a problem...not a hiccup...glitch or loose cable. I loaned it to a friend who had all kinds of problems because he didn't read the manual and test the device before hitting the record button. There's a lesson to be learned there.


My workflow is: Mount the Firestore on a Noga arm attached to my Zacuto rig. Velcro the short firewire cable to the Noga arm to give the cable stability than plug it into the Firestore and camera. Set up the Firestore to match your camera and filming plans. At the end of the day, or when the Firestore is full, just follow the instructions in the Manual. Organize P2... than offload the CONTENTS and LastTXT file to two hard drives for redundancy. Verify the files transfered properly than format the Firestore and shoot some more.

It really is that simple. And when done right...error free.

As far as "bad" content...never seen it. Poor shooting yes. "Bad" content...no.

You will get all sorts of opinions. And I would suggest searching this forum for more information. But, the bottom line is...follow the instructions and you won't have any problems with the Firestore.

Jim
 
I believe you can. I've not used that monitor so I can't say from first hand knowledge...just from what I have read here on this forum. I use a Marshall hanging on another Noga arm. It provides a great image and is easy to work with.
Jim
 
I also use the FS160 and have never had any problems with the ones i've rented or the one I purchased used. I love my Firestore, I bought a BeBox for mine so it sits underneath and does not increase the footprint of my rig. I used a rental last december on a -40 winter day here in Montreal, not a hicup, just frozen fingers;)
 
I love my firestores. The only time they've hiccuped was in extreme heat conditions. IN other words, a very abusive environment.
 
ı also love mine.But the thing makes me stressed and scared is,in any shooting conditions,you have to really really take care of a ''hardisk'' without any protection.What ever you do,if someone falls it to ground and hits it, its over.Of course its not over ,you can send it to repair but the shooting will be destroyed.But in P2 card this is not issue,you can fall it safelly:)

Always and always have suspecion about files.What if it is corrupted.Never happened,but what if one day?I think i am little freak and obssed about these things:)
 
I've used the FS100 many times and have had on occasion problems with it admittedly these were users errors. Other people that I know have used it on several shoots and had problems with the unit on several occasions as well. But these were also user errors, at times I could trouble shoot over the phone when they called me up stressed for help during their shoot. Other times I actually had to go to their set and help them out. Only after thoroughly reading the manual, using and experimenting with it enough I was able to work confidently error free during a whole shoot.

Between each setup I would go through each one of the menu options. Rite to left until back on the main menu and make sure the settings fit the shooting requirement as these seamed to change. This could be due to a faulty unit or fiddly crew members on set. What ever the reason, I found that the menu options would change during a shoot something that happened even after a firm ware upgrade. The most common problem was that the recording format was changed to a different setting than what the camera was shooting at. Fastest way to recognize this was that the display suddenly showed a much higher or lower number of minutes left of recording time than would be expected. Would suddenly jump to 300 minutes or so in the middle of a 1080 shoot...

If shooting a feature might as well invest the time and energy needed to become proficient with a new device. To that matter ensure you have a reliable data wrangler on board that will constantly be backing up the footage to archive and redundancy. Also consider getting a couple of 32GB cards permanently filling both your slots. Shoot simultaneously to both Firestore and P2 and when you reach approximately 60GB capacity on the Firestore back it up. Once back up and redundancy are confirmed as secure then format the P2 cards; Back up the back up, that's my theory.
 
I am on a shoot in Arizona with my own firestore and having a problem recording, in the minutes box instead of showing 111 when I record it goes to 434 and won't record. I was okay with my unit before I lent it to a friend, if there is anyone out there that can help or know of any place to rent one in around ABQ New Mexico let me know?

Thanks a Million for the DVX site.

PVL2
 
I believe there was (or possibly still is) a problem that leaves you unable to record if the UB MODE in the RECORDING SETUP menu is not set to FRAME RATE.
 
It sounds like you have a different recording format setting on the firestore to what the camera is giving it.
See if the firsestore is set to the rite recording format in the HDD mode menu.
I suggest also making sure the camera is on free run TC and making sure the 1394 control is on both.

Take a look at this file I wrote it after giving regular phone support at ridiculous hours of the night, it is written in a simple laymen term language (not derogative in any way). Check out the preparing the HVX to record on a firestore and also preparing the firestore for HD recording sections.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/24954/1217214596.zip

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top