Panasonic HVX200 to Firestore FS-100 tapeless recording workflow
-- Below is a detailed, listed workflow of using the Panasonic HVX200 and the Firestore FS-100 to shoot DVCPRO HD at 720 24p. Please email me if you feel that there are changes or inaccurate information so I can make the according adjustments. Cheers~ MK --
Recording
1. Connect FS-100 Firestore recorder to the HVX200's DV I/O port using 4pin to 6pin firewire cable.
2. Turn on the video camera
3. Turn on the FS-100 by pressing the POWER ON button
4. Be sure that the camera mode is set to CAMERA (setting at the back of the camcorder)
5. Press MENU on the camcorder and check the following settings:
- #5 RECORDING SETUP
- REC FORMAT P2 --> 720P / 24P
- TC MODE --> NDF (to change this, you must first change the REC FORMAT P2 to a SD format, ie 480i)
- #9 OTHER FUNCTIONS
- 1394 CONTROL --> EXT
6. The new setting should now display on the screen.
i. TC 00:00:00:00 (it should be separted by ":" instead of ";" due to NDF; however, the TC will not run on screen. Watch the FS-100 for time code)
ii. 1394 (indicates the FS-100 is connected)
ii. HD720P (it should display the setting we chose earlier)
iv. 24P (at bottom of screen)
7. Set the setting on the FS-100
i. RECORD
- PRE-REC CACH -->
: 06 / : SS
ii HDD MODE
- DVCPROHD REC
iii DV FORMATS
- P2
iv SETUP (have the follow high-lighted)
- LCDLIGHT AUTO
- ALARM ON
- STOP FRAME
- EXT CTL OFF
- TC EXT
- TC NON DROP
- ** make sure you have the time / date setup properly prior to recording
v FUNCTIONS (this is shortcut keys displayed on the "home" screen)
- FA TAPELESS (short cut to set the control mode to "TAPELESS")
- FB DISPLAY (circulate b/w the different displays for the recording mode: ie, resolution / frame rate / remaining time / current time etc)
- FC LOCK (lock all keys, like a hold button)
vi UTILITIES
- ** no setting necessary for recording, but needed for playback
vii REELS
- ** ignore for now
viii PLAY
- PLAY CLIP
ix PLAY FROM
- TRACK LIST
x CONTROL
- TAPELESS (tapeless recording straight to the FS-100 hard drive)
8. Press the REC button on the HVX200, and the FS-100 should begin recording.
- alternatively, you can also press the REC button on the FS-100 to achieve the same result
- ** note again, that the TC on the HVX200 will not run, but you should rather read the TC off the FS-100
- ** although the TC will not run, the recording indicator on the HVX200 will change from pause to rec
9. If you want to split a clip in the middle of the shoot without stopping recording, press the REC button on the FS-100 and the file will automatically be divided
10. To stop recording, simply press the REC button on the HVX200 again, or, press the STOP button on the FS-100
11. The FS-100 will continue to run for six seconds as our PRE-REC CACH indicates
12. Shut down the FS-100 by pressing the OFF button, and then shut down the camera.
13. Unplug the firewire cable
PLAYBACK
1. Switch the HVX200 camcorder to VTR mode by pressing the mode change button at the back of the camera
2. Press the AUDIO DUB/THUMBNAIL button to the right of the nav pad on the top of the camera to turn thunbnails off.
3. Use FS-100's transport keys to playback video through the viewfinder
- << (Back search)
- this allows the video to play at different speeds than real-time backwards, starting from 1/2 speed to 30x speed
- > (play)
- start playback of the selected clip
- >> (forward search)
- play video at different speed than real-time, starting at 1/2 speed to 30x speed
- >>| (forward index)
- skip forward to the next clip
- |<< (backward index)
- skip backward to the previous clip
4. To continue recording after viewing your clips, simply press the REC mode button again to get back to CAMERA mode on the HVX200.
CAPTURE
1. Under the UTILITIES menu, click on ORGANIZE REEL and ORGANIZE P2 by highlighting them and clicking on the SELECT button on the FS-100
2. The FS-100 should display "COMPLETE", once the reel and P2 files are organized
3. Go to HDD MODE
- highlight DD DRIVE >, then press the ">" button
- the display should read "CONNECT COMPUTER THEN ENABLE BYPASS"
4. Connect the FS-100 and your computer using a 6pin to 6pin firewire cable, be sure that your firewire is plugged into the COMPUTER I/O port
5. On the FS-100, click on the ENABLE button
6. The FS-100 should now display "SUCCESS", and the FS-100 should have been mounted on your desktop.
7. Launch Final Cut Pro
8. Setting "DVCPRO HD - 720p24" as your project Sequence Select
9. Go to "File" --> "Import" --> "Panasonic P2 ..."
10. The Import Panasonic P2 pop up box should appear
11. Make sure you check the box for "Remove duplicate/adv. pull-down frames" so FCP will remove the excess frames to create a 24p clip
12. Select the clips that you would like the import
13. Click import and your clips should appear in your bin as well as the dedicated "capture scratch" folder in your hard drive
14. Unmount the FS-100 by dragging it into the trash bin, or "right click" --> "eject"
15. Click "EXIT" on the FS-100.
16. Turn the FS-100 off by pressing the "OFF" button down for 3 seconds
17. Unplug the FS-100 from your compute AFTER the drive is off