Impervious - no one word better describes the new MCE QuickStream SS Ultra-Rugged Solid State DV and HDV FireWire Capture Drive. Impervious to bumps and bangs, impervious to motion, vibration, and getting tossed around with the rest of the camera equipment. Operating in complete silence the MCE QuickStream SS has no hard drive to spin up... or to crash for that matter. No, the MCE QuickStream SS records all your important footage, both HDV and DV, to its vault-like solid state memory. The new MCE QuickStream SS is the smallest, ruggedist, portable, FireWire DV and HDV capture drive on the market today bar none. Every environment you've dreamt of shooting and capturing, automobile, speed boat, or helicopter cams, helmet cams, anywhere you'd have to be insane to bring a hard drive based capture system, the QuickStream SS is there. The new MCE QuickStream SS breaks new ground in the Direct to Edit (DTE) field by allowing tapeless acquisition in conditions never before possible. The new QuickStream SS captures high quality HDV footage, in addition to DV footage, on-the-fly, via your camera's FireWire port, to its solid state memory in your choice of file-format (.MOV, .AVI2, .DV, or .M2T for HDV) while you are shooting and completely eliminates the inefficient, time-consuming process of capturing DV or HDV footage from DV tape to your Mac or Windows non-linear editing (NLE) system. When shooting has completed, simply unplug the QuickStream DV/HDV from your DV or HDV camcorder's FireWire (1394, i.Link, etc.) port and plug it into your NLE system's FireWire port and begin editing and/or viewing your footage IMMEDIATELY.!
Solid State HDV and DV Capture and Storage
The many benefits of saving important data to reliable solid state storage over hard disk based systems are well known. Nowhere is the need for an extremely reliable capture and storage system greater than in video acquisition. Hard disk-based capture systems do work perfectly well in many common motion-free situations and shooting environments. However, to entirely eliminate any of the vulnerabilities inherent in hard disk storage such as hard disk crashes and physical drive failure... especially if your shooting environment has any amount of motion, or the potential for motion or vibration, then the QuickStream SS ultra-rugged solid state capture system is the only reliable solution for these conditions.
Silence is Golden
The QuickStream SS has no hard drive to spin, whine, click, or otherwise add unwanted audio noise to your video. When the QuickStream SS is capturing your HDV or DV footage it does so in complete silence which means that if the most convenient place for mounting the QuickStream SS to your video rig is near or directly under a microphone it will not make itself known later when you're reviewing audio... think of the QuickStream SS as your "silent partner."
Capture HDV and DV Footage!
When connected to an HDV camcorder, the new MCE QuickStream SS automatically detects the HDV stream coming from the HDV camcorder's FireWire port and automatically saves it to its high performance solid state memory as a standard .m2t HDV file! No operator intervention is required! Once shooting is done, simply connect the new QuickStream SS to your computer and drop the .m2t clips directly into your favorite HDV editing application! You will be editing immediately without the time-consuming process of transferring from tape to computer and without tying up your HDV camcorder! If you are currently shooting with a DV-only camcorder, your investment in the new QuickStream SS is retained if you eventually upgrade to an HDV camcorder... the new QuickStream SS will transition right along with you!
Ultra-Rugged Enclosure!
The new QuickStream SS has a completely redesigned enclosure constructed out of aluminum alloy for improved heat dissipation as well as strength. The internal solid state memory coupled with the strength of the aluminum alloy case, makes the new QuickStream SS highly impervious to the knocks and dings of the mobile environment. At only 3" x 5" x 1" thick, the new QuickStream SS functions flawlessly in any orientation... always adapting itself to your environment.
Top AND Bottom 1/4-20" Screw-Hole Mounts!
The new QuickStream SS includes both top and bottom 1/4-20" screw-hole mounts located directly on its case! This is the same industry standard screw-hole attachment found on the bottom of every camcorder on the market and already utilized by a huge array of readily available accessories. Now, in addition to being able to mount the new QuickStream SS on top of your camera using the included hot-shoe adapter, or underneath to your camcorder's 1/4-20" screw-hole, your new QuickStream SS can now also be mounted, or sandwiched, between your camcorder and tripod! All hardware required to do this is included! Now even more so, the new QuickStream SS not only complements your existing camera equipment, it quickly integrates into and becomes part of it.
Battery Level Indicator!
A highly requested feature from owners of previous generation QuickStreams was the ability to see the level of the internal Lithium-Ion battery with greater accuracy. We integrated this feature into the new QuickStream SS and now you can quickly see when the internal Lithium-Ion battery has greater than 50% capacity, has between 20% to 50% capacity, or has under 20% capacity so you will know how much time you have left before needing a recharge or connecting to AC power.
Instant Review!
View your last recorded clip directly on your camcorder's LCD or monitor! Just hit the "Review" button on the QuickStream SS control panel and gain the peace of mind in knowing that shot is exactly the way you want it. Note: HDV review functionality via camcorder LCD is forthcoming via free firmware update.
SureCapture Technology!
Even while in standby mode, the new QuickStream SS is continuously capturing up to six seconds of video from your HDV or DV camcorder to its solid state buffers. When you press the "Record" button on your HDV or DV camcorder or QuickStream SS then this pre-captured footage is automatically appended to the front of your clip... ensuring that you'll always get your shot in those instances where timing is everything.
Universal Compatibility
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No Dropped Frames
The all-new solid state QuickStream SS was designed and engineered expressly for the purpose of capturing HDV and DV footage in mobile and extreme environments... as well as in the studio. Due to its vaullt-like solid state memory, redundant data buffers, its ruggedized enclosure, and numerous other built-in fail-safe considerations, we can make this guarantee.Selectable File Formats
Every non-linear editing software has a preference for the type of DV file it prefers to work with. Apple's Final Cut Pro prefers QuickTime based (.mov) files, Adobe Premiere and many others prefer AVI-2 (.avi) files, and other editing softwares prefer raw DV (.dv). The all-new QuickStream SS allows you to preset the drive to one of five DV file formats in which to capture. (When capturing an HDV stream, the new QuickStream SS automatically captures in industry standard .m2t HDV file format for compatibility with nearly all HDV editing applications.) The DV formats are QuickTime (.mov), AVI-2 (.avi), Canopus AVI-2 (.avi), Matrox AVI (.avi) and raw DV (.dv). When done shooting and the new QuickStream SS has been connected to your workstation, your captured footage is recognized natively by your editing software as its preferred format so that you can start editing your video clips immediately! And just in case other new file formats become popular in the future, we have enabled this function of the QuickStream SS to be firmware-upgradable... meaning that your QuickStream SS will support these new formats as they appear and as we build support for them.
DV/HDV Recorder and Self-Powered Portable FireWire Solid State Drive
Upon powering up the all-new MCE QuickStream SS it scans its FireWire port, seeking out a signal containing either a DV or HDV stream or a standard FireWire storage signal. If it senses a DV or HDV stream it goes into Record Standby mode and waits for the command to begin recording... either from your DV or HDV camera or from its own "Record" button. If it senses a standard FireWire storage signal it moves into FireWire Storage mode and mounts on your Mac or PC as a high-performance FireWire solid state drive... your video clips are located inside a special "Media" folder on the drive. And because in this mode it operates as a standard FireWire solid state drive you can use it to save, store or transfer any other data you wish!
Shoot Alongside Tape
Attached silently to your camera, on your belt, or wherever is most convenient, the new QuickStream SS responds to the "Record" button on your DV or HDV camcorder to start and stop capturing... flawlessly recording to its internal hard drive everything you record to tape... a seperate clip is created on the new QuickStream SS each time you hit start and then stop on your camcorder. Your tape now becomes a very economic backup to whatever you record to the QuickStream SS. When recording to the QuickTime format (.mov), timecode information is captured that is identical to that being recorded to tape. This timecode information is usable in editing applications that utilize this format such as Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, and QuickTime Pro among others.
To Tape, or Not To Tape...
The new MCE QuickStream SS has its own "Record" button also. Pushing it will capture video from your DV or HDV camcorder's FireWire (1394, i.LINK, etc.) port while your camcorder is in standby mode! This means that you can shoot in completely tapeless mode and without the need to change tapes every 60 minutes. You've just entered the world of non-linear recording. In addition, you've just entirely eliminated wear and tear on your camera's recording heads and tape mechanism and just greatly increased your camera's life-expectancy by no longer having to record to tape and no longer manually transferring (or caputuring) footage from camera to computer. As well, your camera's runtime on battery power has just been greatly expanded by not having to power the tape mechanism.
Lithium-Ion Powered
The Lithium-Ion polymer battery and power circuitry inside the new QuickStream SS were designed to accept the extreme conditions of mobile environments. The DC-in port can utilize any DC voltage from 6 to 18 volts to power the QuickStream SS as well as recharge its battery during those idle or "power-down" moments when there's leftover current. This means that, if needed, it can tie in to camcorder batteries, camcorder power supplies and auto cigarette-lighter adapters. Back at your editing workstation, when you plug the QuickStream SS into a bus-powered FireWire port then, like Apple's iPod, the QuickStream SS will utilize that current, as well, to not only power itself, but also replenish its battery as needed.
