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Author
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Topic: Firewire vs Capture Card
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Sledgeweb
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posted 12-22-1999 07:09 PM
Looking for some advice here...I'll be shooting a movie next fall with two mini-DV camcorders. I believe they both have firewire hookups, but I'm not sure. Supposing they do, would I need I capture card to export/import the video, or is there a "firewire" only card? I'm currently planning on purchasing a miro video dc20, but wanted to know if there was a cheaper alternative if using firewire cables. Thanks.
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Mr. Hutt
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posted 12-23-1999 10:53 AM
Alright, just so we know, how much does the dc20 cost? That'll give us a price range. |
Sledgeweb
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posted 12-23-1999 11:49 AM
I'm looking to get a refurb or slightly used one for around $150. That is probably as high as I'm wanting to go on anything... |
Sledgeweb
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posted 12-26-1999 01:14 PM
Any suggestions? |
tslayman
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posted 12-26-1999 02:51 PM
go with the fire wire card. it's much easier than a regular capture card and much, much , much better quality. You'll feel better if you get the fire wire card. It may cost a little more than the dc20 but it's much better. |
Film Boy
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posted 12-27-1999 01:38 PM
Sorry to ask a question in sombody else's thread but:
You need a firewire card? What if your computer came with firewire ports on the back? Would you need a card for them to work? |
doom1701
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posted 12-27-1999 02:27 PM
Firewire is going to be more expensive than a cheap capture card--no real way around that, but it is worth it. And you'd have to spend a ton of cash on an analog to get the 30fps, 720x480 captures that you'd get with a firewire card.As for using the firewire ports built onto your computer, it's kinda iffy. Sony (and Apple, somewhat) has been pretty good at providing a full driver set for their firewire ports, but they are one of the few. At the very least, you'd need drivers for the port, and video capture software to use with it. Plugins for premiere would be wonderful too. Some companies don't even provide Windows drivers (I've got a Gateway laptop I'm setting up for a client that has a firewire port, but they come right out on their website and say they don't provide drivers for it. Stupid, huh?)...
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TL
daa Productions Nobody lives forever, so you might as well go out with a good caffeine buzz... There's always hope, because it's the one thing that they haven't figured out how to kill yet... |
visiondancer
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posted 12-28-1999 08:41 AM
I've been using the ports on my computer (Apple G4) without problems. It's mostly just a matter of configuring everything right. If you have premiere look on Adobe's website and read their read-mes.I would suggest firewire too--you get camera control and batch capture abilities. It is so wonderful when you can tell the camera what in and out points to capture video from and just walk away for an hour while it captures. That's a lot better than the old way--basically capturing footage by pressing play on the camera and record on the computer and then rewinding and fast forwarding a lot. If you have digital (firewire ports) stay digital. It's still a bit on the bleeding edge, but it's worth it. |
Ivan
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posted 12-28-1999 10:19 AM
DV magazine has an ad for an ADS technologies Pyro Digital Video 1394 3-port PCI FireWire card for "under 149" with cable and Ulead VideoStudio(crappy but free), but it requires win98, win98 SE, or win2k. seems like it might be a good deal. Unless you have NT only programs and think win2k sucks as much as I do. But, Win2k is useable I guess.....hah, though it takes up about 800 meg....but, Im drifting here. says its available at CDW, CompUSA, Fry's electronics, curcuit city, and Nationwide.
hope this helps.
-Ivan
Oh yeah, their website is www.adstech.com
[This message has been edited by Ivan (edited 12-28-1999).] |
DackL
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posted 12-30-1999 01:30 AM
It is my understanding (don't quote me on this) That that particular firewire card is incompatible with Premiere or MediastudioPro. So if you are planning on running one of these programs with it, look else where. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
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NJRFilms
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posted 12-30-1999 02:06 AM
Yeah it doesnt at all. Save your money and get a good capture, making sure uhave a fast hard drive. |
