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Firestore intermittent recording
We’ve completed a Live Concert shoot – at various locations. It was a 3 camera shoot – 2 Panasonic 300s and 1 900. The 300’s were using P2 cards, and the 900 was using the firestore.
In reviewing our RM files on the firestore, we found a few times that the firestore would stop recording, completely power off, and then start again. So at times loosing up to 14 mins. of performance. Fortunately we had the other 2 cameras to cover.
We chose the Firestore because of the live event, long clips, and that the camera would be on sticks. Each set up was basically stationary. So that it failed – has us concerned for future shoots. We had 2 firestores on the shoot. The problem seemed to happen more on one unit than the other. So not sure if it was a faulty unit or if something else would contribute to this problem.
If anyone else has had a similar problem using a firestore with a 900, your feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andrea -
3 Replies
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Sounds like a loose or bad Firewire cable to me.
You should probably also head over to the Firestore forum and do a search for questions like this.
Many set-up and troubleshooting tips for the FS can be found there.Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Nehalem Octocore 12 GB Ram, Nvidia card, MBP, MXO, MXO2 mini, Windows Vista Adobe Studio CS4, Vegas 9.0, Lightwave 9.6, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 7, Continuum 6, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects -
We’ve had much shorter problems. Firestores are not solid state… and we’ve lost far more clips on them then when using P2
Not starting a flame war…. you get what you pay for. Firstores are cheaper… but ned more babysitting.
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: Video Made on a Mac, Photoshop for Video, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Studio On the Spot and ATS:iWork
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Actually now that the P2 cards have become cheaper and added capacity, the point is almost moot now.
Back when the P2 was only 4GB and you had to hire a separate “loader” for every shoot over 8 minutes long, the choice was much simpler and easier. That being said, I have never “lost a shot” on the FS since the first day they came out, and I own two of them. I have definitely gotten way more than “what I paid for,” very reliably, for many years now. The only problem I have ever had with the FS is when someone either hit the cable and loosened it or actually yanked it out. The problem is that most people don’t ever read the manual or do a test on the equipment they use before they have to actually shoot. I for one would never rent a FS without specifically checking the “snugness” of a FW connection, and running it for a full hour to test it before a shoot, making sure my FS and P2 settings were the same frame rate etc. and testing the clips out in an actual timeline in FCP. People are not gentle with rental equipment, that is specifically why I never rent or loan out my personal gear. The problem actually goes much deeper than that though, as you can see from reading the P2 forum and seeing all the people who have problems with that workflow as well. There seem to be quite a few people “loosing” (sic) clips and whole shoots using P2 all the time. I call it the “dumbing down of the Cow.” There have been several posts in many different forums from leaders lamenting the basic lack of any knowledge of hardware, software or experience from many of the Cow posters now. I really miss the posts and technical discussions years ago on the Cow from people like Marco Solorio and Mat Silverman, where a certain skill level had to be attained before you even could follow their posts coherently. Now people are actually asking “how do I do dissolve” in FCP, and “how can I loop 4 real time video clips in AE for three hours” etc., etc. The same questions get asked about mixing frame rates, interlaced vs. progressive, dropped frames from using either internal or USB drives over and over again. After awhile it does seem like a futile waste of time even responding anymore…
Enough said, rant over, and out…..Dual 2.5 G5, IO, Kona LH, IO, Medea Raid, UL4D, NVidia 6800, 4Gig RAM
Nehalem Octocore 12 GB Ram, Nvidia card, MBP, MXO, MXO2 mini, Windows Vista Adobe Studio CS4, Vegas 9.0, Lightwave 9.6, Sound Forge 9, Acid Pro 7, Continuum 6, Boris Red 4, Combustion 2008, Sapphire Effects
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