Basic Questions from a Newbie Re: Set-up for Capture

KCJC · Post by **KCJC** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:55 pm

I am a definite novice to video editing, but just received VS10 for Christmas. I am trying to make sure that my computer can handle video editing, but have found that my 3 year old D_ll was not really made for this sort of thing. Therefore, I have upgraded my RAM and have purchased an external hard drive. Processor is severely lacking (it's a Celeron....I know). My question is this:

Neither my main hard drive nor the external have FireWire ports. The guy at Best Buy said that transfer of video through USB 2.0 is faster than FireWire and the quality is equal. I have read a few of the tutorials on this site and it doesn't appear that is true?

1. If I capture my video from my miniDV camcorder using USB, is there a quality difference?
2. If so, can I install a FireWire card in my main system hard drive, capture through FireWire, but then somehow save it to my external drive?

I know these are really basic questions for you all, but I would really appreciate some help. Thanks!

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:21 am

1. You can always try it and see what it looks like. Only you can tell if there is a quality difference.

2. When your external HD is connected to your pc you can tell VS exactly where you want your captured clips, via the firewire, to go. That is exactly how I have my system set up.

Ken Veal · Post by **Ken Veal** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:42 am

Hi
Firewire is quicker than USB2, USB2 is quicker than USB, cant remember the transfer rates but I am sure I will be corrected if wrong
regards Ken

Post by **Ron P.** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:50 am

Ken is correct, Firewire is faster then USB2.

The reason:

FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer

Hi-Speed USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which the computer handles all arbitration functions and dictates data flow to, from and between the attached peripherals (adding additional system overhead and resulting in slower data flow control

Source: http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:20 am

I tend to disagree with the statement that firewire is faster than USB 2. On the surface it is not

, however, sustained throughput is what counts and in that department firewire beats USB hands down. The available bandwidth with USB is shared among all the USB devices which limits its bandwidth from the nominal. Many users also have reported problems with USB devices not being registered by the capture module.

If your existing PC has a free PCI slot, go for it and get yourself a PCI firewire card. Don't forget to get the right cable as well to connect your camera to the firewire port. These are usually, possibly never, included with a camcorder. While the box is open, slot in the second HDD and use it internally. It's a lot more user friendly that way. Depending on the speed of the existing one you might want to set up the new one as master and the old one as slave. This would most likely change the existing drive letter to D:\, make sure your BIOS looks at the D: drive for the boot up and you are ready to roll as long as the rest of your set up is to minimum spec'.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:03 am

Please view:
From camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio

KCJC · Post by **KCJC** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:18 am

Thanks to everyone for your helpful input. Looks like I'm headed out to get FireWire.

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Basic Questions from a Newbie Re: Set-up for Capture

Basic Questions from a Newbie Re: Set-up for Capture

Firewire capture