We hope our step by step guides will help you to get to grips with out kit, should you choose to hire from us or even your own equipment if you are new to film making. Feel free to send in questions and we will do all we can to help you solve your equipment issues.
Using the Panasonic HVX 200
1. Turn on the camera and press the menu button.
2. The first option “Scene File” allows the user to change the frame rate when combined with the scene file button at the back of the camera.
3. “Camera Setup” is where you can choose between 4:3 and 16:9. Always choose Squeeze if you want to film in 16:9. The other two options are 4:3.
4. The next option to choose is the “Recording Set up” option. Here you can choose the format you want to record in. “Rec format” allows you to choose from DV 576/25p right up to 1080i/50i. “Rec Mode” allows you to choose between DVC PRO 50, DVCPRO or DV depending on which “Rec format” has been chosen.
5. Once you have set up the format and set it as 16:9 you are ready to start making changes to the Firestore.
Using the Firestore FS100
1. Firstly connect the Firestore to the camera via the fire wire port on the side of the camera and the dv i/o port on the Firestore (not the port named computer).
2. Turn on the Firestore by holding down the on button for approximately 3 seconds.
3. Once the Firestore is on press the right arrow and make sure the cache option is selected. This means the Firestore is run for 6 secs before it starts recording and will run for 6 secs after you have finished recording.
4. Go back up to the top of the menu (Clicking the left button will bring you straight to the top) and press right again and choose the DVCPR50 option.
5. Go back to the top of the menu and select right and choose your DV format. Depending on your system you can choose between P2, QuickTime, AVI etc. If you choose QuickTime be warned that it will not work on a pc. The best file may be P2, which creates an mxf file, so make sure that your editor can handle those files as well. There are a couple of downloads for Premier and Final Cut, which will allow easy use of mxf’s.
6. Once that is all in place go back to the beginning screen, where you will see the time code an battery life etc
7. You are now ready to start filming. Please note that when you are recording the time code on the camera does not change and only the time code on the Firestore will change.
Using the Firestore FS100
1. When you have finished recording press the stop button on the Firestore so that you see “STOP” in the top left hand corner of the Firestore.
2. On the camera at the back you will need to change the camera to MCR/VCR mode by pressing the soft button beside “MCR”
3. On the camera viewfinder you will see a number of thumbnails.
4. On top of the camera you will need to press the “Audio Dub/Thumbnails” button and you will see the thumbnails change to a full screen on the viewfinder
5. You can then play through the footage by pressing the play button on the Firestore. You can fast forward or skip shots by using the controls on the Firestore:
6. To go back to recording again make sure you press stop on the Firestore so that you can see “STOP” in the top left hand corner of the camera. Then press the soft button at the back of the camera beside “MCR” so that the light under “CAMERA” is on. You are now ready to continue recording and it will automatically start from the end of your recorded footage.
Using the Firestore FS100
1. Press the stop button on the Firestore and press the right option button till you see utilities. If you are filming it in a P2 format then choose organise P2 and this will organise all the files into folders and will be easier to access for editing.
2. Disconnect the Firestore from the camera and connect it to your computer using the “Computer” port on the Firestore.
3. Select the right button till you get to HDD Mode and choose DD Drive
4. The Firestore will appear as an extra hard drive which you can simply double click and select all the files and drag and drop to a designated folder on your computer. It takes approximately 40mins to export a full Firestore if it is plugged in to the mains and may take around 70 – 80 mins if it is not plugged in.
5. You will find all the footage and sound in the Contents folder but drag over everything on the Firestore, as there are a few bits of data that you may need from the other folders.
6. Once everything has been exported to your computer then the scary bit of deleting all the footage on the Firestore must take place. Once you are back to the main menu on the Firestore then select the right button till you get to Utilities an choose format. This will delete all the footage and you have an empty Firestore again.