When BMX videographer Richard Montalvo first discovered the FS-4, he was facing impossible production deadlines as the production manager for iSports TV, an Internet-based sports broadcasting company. Richard covered BMX racing events across the country, shooting approximately 100 individual races at each event. Using a camera and recording footage to tape, typical workflow consisted of shooting, editing, coding, and uploading. He recalled his challenge, “We’d finish shooting races Sunday night and had to get everything up on the web site by Tuesday. We simply were not able to meet the deadline. Capturing the tapes and labeling everything took forever. We’d finish on Thursday, two days after where we wanted to be.” Faced with this grueling schedule and lack of sleep, Richard turned to the FS-4 by Focus Enhancements.

 

The FS-4, a portable, one-pound, palm-size Direct To Edit® recorder, lets videographers record HDV or DV streams directly to disk via FireWire. With the FS-4, Richard can transfer his footage directly to his Final Cut Pro or Premier Pro editing tools, eliminating hours of capture time and enabling him to meet that Tuesday deadline. “We finally hit the deadline,” said Richard. “And it didn’t cost us that much more. It’s just incredible—the time we saved capturing, labeling, and looking through tapes.” Although he can record tapeless, Richard still uses tape for backup and archiving.

 

Richard currently uses the FS-4 for posting BMX race footage to his own web site at bmxvideo.net. The site is dedicated to providing race videos and photos to BMX fans free of charge. He’s able to get footage up faster than ever before. “I can’t live without this product,” said Richard. “Capturing tape is the biggest waste of time for an editor. The FS-4 allows me to focus on the creative editing process instead of logging and capturing footage.” 

 

Now that Richard found a solution to speed up production time, he wondered if the FS-4 could withstand the rigors of extreme sports BMX videography. After all, shooting extreme sports is not your typical “set up a tripod and shoot” video job. On race day, you can find him crouching on the side of a jump or perched way on top of a mogul. And then there are the BMX riders. Richard has been hit more than once and, through it all, his FS-4 hasn’t failed him.

 

Richard recalled the first time he realized the FS-4 recorder’s durability. “I was on the back of a turn about 30 feet off the ground when I was hit by a rider. I went down, along with my equipment. When I saw my FS-4 bounce across the ground, I was pretty sure I’d be shooting the rest of the day with tape and was not looking forward to a long night in the editing room like the old days. But I picked the unit up, turned it back on, plugged it in, and it started working. That was a big shock to me.”

A dynamic Internet-based sports broadcasting company, iSports TV is dedicated to bringing nonmainstream sports to the forefront by providing fans and athletes with an environment that is both informative and entertaining.

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Weighing about one pound and only 1.5 inches thick, Focus FS-4 HD and FS-4Pro HD Portable DTE Recorders bring Direct To Edit Technology to your DV or HDV handheld camcorder. Whether mounted directly to your camcorder or clipped to your belt, the FS-4 is designed to excel in the field. Focus FS-4 Portable DTE Recorders are available in two models—the FS-4 HD and the FS-4Pro HD (available in three configurations).

Save $200 on FS-4Pro HD for a limited time

Purchase a Focus FS-4Pro HD 80GB or 100GB Portable DTE Recorder from an authorized Focus reseller through March 31, 2008, and save $200 with a mail-in rebate. Click here to download rebate form.