Canon XL2, Focus FS-4 and Final Cut Pro HD

Capture 24p 16:9 DV on a Canon XL2 with Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-4 — and edit in FCP HD

Mount the FireStore FS-4 onto the metal backplate of the Canon XL2. Connect a FireWire DV cable from the DV In/Out port of the XL2 to the DV I/O port of the FS-4.

STEP 1: Connect the FireStore FS-4 to your DV camcorder

STEP 2: Set up the Canon XL2 to capture 24p in widescreen 16:9

Power ON the XL2 and choose your favorite exposure mode. Set the Aspect Ratio switch to 16:9. Set the Frame Rate switch to 24p. Press the XL2 Menu button and enter "Camera Setup." Select either 2:3 or 2:3:3:2 Mode (the FS-4 will record either mode). Next, scroll to the XL2 "System" page to "DV Control," select "ON." The XL2 is now ready to capture in 24p widescreen and control the FS-4. Tape is now optional because you’re connected to FireStore.

STEP 3: Set the record format on the FireStore FS-4

Power ON the FS-4. With the front navigation keypad, navigate to the "HDD MODE" page and select "DV RECORDER." Navigate to the "DV FORMATS" page. Select "QUICKTIME 24P" to edit your DTE capture files in Final Cut Pro HD, or choose "AVI TYPE2 24P" for use with other NLE’s. Make sure that you properly set up the Date and Time within the FS-4 "SETUP" menu. This will ensure that your DTE capture files are named properly according to the actual time and date of your shoot.

STEP 4: Choose between TAPELESS, SYNCRO SLAVE or LOCAL control modes

Navigate to the "CONTROL" page. Select "TAPELESS" if you’d like to capture your footage without using tape at all. You can capture up to three hours of DV (or HDV footage with the FS-4 HD upgrade option and an appropriate HDV camcorder) with the FS-4 40 GB version, or just over six hours with the optional FS-4 80 GB version. For added recording confidence, shoot to both Tape and FireStore at the same time using "SYNCRO SLAVE" control mode. In either "TAPELESS" or "SYNCRO SLAVE" mode, the FS-4 is controlled by the REC start/stop trigger of your DV camcorder via the FireWire DV I/O port. Your DV capture files will be a mirror image of what is being generated in-camera to tape. Even if your DV camcorder runs out of tape, the FS-4 will continue recording until you decide to press the Stop button. If you’d rather directly control recording via the front FS-4 keypad, select " LOCAL" Control Mode.

Once you hit the REC start trigger on your camcorder, you’ll notice "REC" on the FS-4 display along with the clip number and time counter. The FS-4 is capturing the same time code that’s being recorded to tape via your camcorder.

STEP 5: Activate RETRO CACHE for added backup

Using the front navigation keypad, navigate to the Record menu and select "RETRO CACHE." This activates a six-second memory buffer that means you are always recording. Every time you press the REC start/stop trigger, the FS-4 will append a full six seconds of "pre-roll" to the beginning of every shot. This provides an excellent backup in the event that you are a little late with the record trigger into shooting your scene. The optional FS-4 PRO offers 10 seconds of "RETRO CACHE" as well as a Retro Disk feature that lets you extend the retro-record time based on the remaining available space on the hard disk.

STEP 6: Connect the FS-4 to your computer

The FS-4 hard disk is formatted automatically as FAT-32 by the FS-4 OS, which is directly compatible with Mac OS X, or, if you decide to edit in your favorite PC NLE with your preferred file format, with either Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Simply connect the FS-4 computer I/O port to the FireWire 400 DV I/O port on your Mac with a 6pin-to-6pin FireWire cable (6pin-to-4pin for most PCs). On the FS-4, navigate to the "HDD Mode" page, select "DD Drive," then select " Enable." Once the FS-4 is connected to your Mac in "DD Drive" mode, it will mount to the desktop and show up as a regular hard drive, giving you access to all of your QuickTime 24p clips immediately. Now, you’re ready to edit your footage in Final Cut Pro HD. If this is the first time you edit 24p 16:9 footage in FCP HD, you’ll need to make sure that your sequence timeline settings are set to handle 24p 16:9 NTSC DV footage.

STEP 7: Set your FCP HD sequence settings

Launch Final Cut Pro HD, create a new project and open the "Audio/Video Settings" window under the FCP HD pull-down menu (keystroke: Option/Command Q). Click on the "Sequence Presets" tab and select "DV NTSC 48 kHz - 23.98" as your project’s sequence setting. The "Sequence Settings Summary" confirms your editing timebase is 23.98 fps, but there is one more setting to check before closing the "Audio/Video Settings" window. Click on the "Edit" button at the bottom to enter the "Sequence Preset Editor" window. Click on the "Anamorphic 16:9" button to turn it on. Now your sequence settings are properly set for editing 16:9 24p digital video.

STEP 8: Your "DTE" clips are ready to roll—no rendering necessary

You can immediately import your DTE clips into Final Cut Pro HD directly from the FS-4 disk drive and begin cutting. No file transfer, file conversion or rendering is required. Save your project and you’re ready to edit! Since you’ll most likely be back in the field to shoot more footage with your FS-4 later on, copy your DTE capture files from the FS-4 to your designated FCP Capture Scratch project folder as you normally would in capturing any media. Once you’ve backed up your DTE capture files, you can then re-format the FS-4 disk drive with the easy Format Disk utility built into the FS-4 and your FS-4 will be ready to capture more footage. That’s DTE: By capturing to hard disk as you shoot, you save tons of time and money, plus you output faster and more efficiently. Rinse and repeat!

Support Gear: Mac OS X or Windows 2000 or XP, 6pin-to-4pin FireWire cable, 6pin-to-6pin FireWire cable, Apple FCP HD

YOUR GUIDE

Daniel and Donald Berube, Digital Filmmakers, Noisybrain Productions, LLC

Daniel and Donald Berube are founders of Noisybrain Productions, LLC, a collaborative of established filmmakers who share the vision of creating compelling storytelling using the new tools for digital cinema. Both have more than two decades of production and editing credits on public and network television and have created productions for Canon USA, JVC Japan, Focus Enhancements, Tiffen, Bogen Imaging and MIT AMPS. Daniel is an Apple Certified Trainer and founder of the Boston Final Cut Pro User Group ( BOSFCPUG) and Co-Leader of the Final Cut Pro User Group Network. Donald is a DP skilled in both SD and HD formats. They are currently collaborating with wildlife filmmaker Art Smith to document the changes taking place within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ( ANWR).

Daniel And Donald Say Keep In Mind...

DTE, or "Direct To Edit" Technology means that the FireStore FS-4 Disk Recorder captures your DV footage in your native NLE file format to fast "edit-ready" 5400 rpm hard disks. This tutorial shows you how the DTE process works with Final Cut Pro HD when you’re using 24p 16:9 footage shot with the Canon XL2 digital camcorder.