USB vs Firewire

[mbs66 0]

I have been usinf usb to transfer video to my laptop... whats the deal with firewire.. is it that much better?

[Deuce 1]

USB2 is plenty fast enough for me.

[vdschoor 0]

  Quote

I have been usinf usb to transfer video to my laptop... whats the deal with firewire.. is it that much better?

I would vote for firewire.. there is less load on the processor from firewire compared to USB

[dragon2 2]

From what I gather, USB2.0 is faster in potential, at 480 Mbps. But it only reaches that sometimes. But firewire can sustain its 400 Mbps.

Googled something (not an extensive search tho):
http://www.computervideogear.com/digital_video_capture_card/firewire-vs-usb.htm

My own experience: I have a Maxtor external 200 GB 7200 rpm harddrive. I used to connect it to my laptop with usb2, connect my sony camera using the only firewire port on my laptop, and capture to the maxtor. Dropped an occasional frame.

Then I couldn't find my usb2 cable one day, and a new one was expensive to get right away. I then discovered a second firewire port on my harddrive which I hadn't really noticed before. So, harddrive to laptop via firewire, then firewire the camera to the harddrive and voila, no more dropped frames...

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[AndyMan 7]

I didn't know you could transfer DV25 over USB(2). What cameras support this?

From what I've seen, the only video that can be transfered over USB is the poor quality video that the camera had already saved to the memory-chip....?

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[mbs66 0]

I have a Sony PC105. i hook it to my computer with the USB cable that came with it and the sync up. i can then control the camera from my computer... kinda like when you hook two cameras together with the fire wire i guess.

I was just wondering about the difference in quality. Do i lose quality by using USB? It always seems it is not as clear as it should be... or is there some way to change the download settings.

[dragon2 2]

Haven't got my camera handy, but what I think you're doing, is importing mpeg instead of avi. As this is compressed way more, the quality is less. If you capture a file, what's the extension it is saved with? (Filename?)

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[AndyMan 7]

I don't have a PC105, I have a PC120.

Based on my understanding of how all the PC cameras work - which might be wrong....

You simply can not get good high quality video over USB. If anyone's ever gotten this to work, please speak up!

You should see a major improvement in the quality of video when you switch to firewire. Unless the 105 is different then the 120, that is...

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[vdschoor 0]

  Quote

You should see a major improvement in the quality of video when you switch to firewire. Unless the 105 is different then the 120, that is...

I agree with Andy here. First I thought people were talking about an external harddisk connection. And in that case USB2 like Deuce said will do the trick (check out the dz.com boogie video for proof)

For my external harddrive, I also went with Firewire instead of USB. USB puts too much load on the processor, and that piece of equipment is busy enough as it is when you are working with video.

For transferring video off your camera to your computer, no questions asked.. Firewire is the way to go. I didn't even look at USB for that.

Iwan

[prost 0]

Do you have two firewire ports or do you have the camera and drive chained together?

[vdschoor 0]

  Quote

Do you have two firewire ports or do you have the camera and drive chained together?

They are chained together, I only have one firewire port on my computer (Sony laptop)

Iwan

[prost 0]

Thanks. I was not sure how well this would work but if it works well then it would be much better than using usb2 for the second hard drive.

[mbs66 0]

I just checked and the file is mpeg... i guess thats a good reason for the lack in quality. thanks for everyones input

[ltdiver 3]

  Quote

From what I gather, USB2.0 is faster in potential, at 480 Mbps. But it only reaches that sometimes. But firewire can sustain its 400 Mbps.

And now Apple's come up with, and is including in their new PowerBooks, an 800 Mbps firewire...

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[AndyMan 7]

Keep this in perspective... DV25 is.... 25MB/sec. Normal firewire at 400MB/sec is more then enough, even when daisy-chaining a diskdrive onto the same channel.

Anyone know what rate HDTV clocks in at?

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[murrays 0]

Isn't the ultimate bottleneck the amount of data/sec your hard drive can write to disk?

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[dragon2 2]

  Quote

And now Apple's come up with, and is including in their new PowerBooks, an 800 Mbps firewire...

Yup, also see this post:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=892498#892498

I'd like one of those please

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Isn't the ultimate bottleneck the amount of data/sec your hard drive can write to disk?"

That was the case a few years ago, read write speeds on typical discs nowadays far exceed those required for video editing.
For what its worth folks,
Legacy Firewire/I link/ etc is now called IEEE 1394a and ran at 400 mbps
New shiney fast firewire is called IEEE 1394b runs at 800mbps.
Maximum cable length has been extended to 100m for the new stuff, from 4.5m previous limits.
Legacy equipment is reported as being compatible with new shiney firewire, but I believe the 1394b standard has 9 pin connectors so a wee adaptor is required, Belkin make suitable adaptor cables http://www.online-computer-shop.co.uk/e483100.php .

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