by Alan Sheckter, Videomaker news editor
Focus Enhancements has released Videonics FireStore, which it claims is the first DV product that allows users to record footage directly to their FireWire hard disk as edit-ready files from a DV-based camcorder, without the use of a computer.
FireStore is said to give users the ability to edit immediately after shooting, eliminating the time it would take to capture video. FireStore also can allow users to record two identical versions of their footage, simultaneously to disk as well as their camcorders’ tapes.
FireStore converts any IEEE 1394 hard drive into a high-performance digital disk recorder/player. Imported, edit-ready files can be used immediately by most DV-based editing system, the company said.
To edit video clips, users can either cable their FireWire disk drive directly to their computer (via a standard IEEE 1394 card) or alternatively use the bypass mode, which allows the hard disk drive to mount to the computer through FireStore.
FireStore is said to be supported by FireWire disk drives that have FAT 32 disk volumes, making it compatible with Windows 98SE, 2000, Me and Mac OS 9 operating systems.
FireStore, the company said, is set up to allow most FireWire based DV camcorders’ record and record pause modes to be triggered by the press of the camcorders Record Start/Stop button. Upon each Record Start, FireStore creates a new clip on the disk drive. FireStore also features many other functions, including play, reverse play, stop, multi-speed fast forward and rewind, single-frame forward and backward, next track/previous track and still record.
Videonics FireStore is available now for a MSRP of $995.
