Firewire Help?

[Banger]

I am trying to connect my DVD camcorder up to the PC. I Need a camcorder USB cable but i have been told i also need Firewire aswell?

Could somebody explain this principle to me please.

My local shop wants £50 for the cable ,Firewire and software. Anyone Know Cheaper? And whats it all about...Thanks

 

[Banjaxed]

Banger

It's unlikely you'll need a USB cable. Most digital camcorders transfer digital video data to the computer via a 'Firewire' connection. This is a high speed serial connection similar to USB... but different! Below, I have shown typical Firewire connectors - as you can see, they look somewhat like USB, but they are NOT interchangeable!
Video editing is probably the most demanding task most computers will ever face. There's a good intro article here. If you DO want to edit video, you'll need a fairly modern computer with a fast processor, a fair amount of RAM and (importantly) a big hard drive. Preferably, the video should be saved on a different drive from where you have Windaz installed. Check your computer for a socket labelled 'Firewire', 'iLink', or '1394'. If you have one, you'll just need the cable (try eBuyer. If not, you will indeed need an internal Firewire card. There are cheap ones available (under £9), but you might be better off buying a decent make such as Belkin. Again, mail order will be quite a bit cheaper than local retail (around £23 for the card, £3.50 for the cable - Quickcode 77160 on eBuyer).
Need any more info, send me a PM.

 

[Fanum]

Banger...you won't need both.

Using a USB cable is fine, but I get a fair few more dropped frames (where the data flow isn't fast enough so it skips a frame or two) while transfering my films from the cam to the PC using USB......but the inside of the Firewall cable is treated with extra special grease so the little pictures flow a lot smoother- no dropped frames.

Firewire will also (depending on the actual camera model) allow you to control the cam from the PC........If I tranfer through USB, I have to manually start and stop the cam, but using Firewire it takes control through the software and I can FF, RW and even record directly from the PC- that just makes things easier and less pissing about.

Check the back of your PC...most modern sound cards and/or graphics cards come with a firewire port.

If you can spend the money though, I'd thoroughly recommend Pinnacle Studio 9....it comes with (depending on the package actually) a firewire card and the software- it's really easy yet very very good, lots of good effects and titles etc etc, and comes out best in the reviews for the price.

HTH

 

[Banger]

Thanks for the replies . I have a Sony DVD 91E so unsure which to get.
As for the software, i recently was given a sony disc, not to sure what it was, i think it was Sony Vegas 5.
i downloaded the Manual....370 pages

Now to you Buffs maybe you could make head or tail of it. but its to much for me just starting out.
I gave up on page 15 and through it away. I think windows movie maker is a start for me or maybe a simple bit of Sofware.

 

[Greg Masters]

I've just move on from Windows Movie Maker to Sony Vegas 5 - it's a pretty big leap! I certainly spent more time reading the manual than I did at the keyboard.

But Vegas 5 is very powerful - on my first effort I'm particularly pleased with creating 5.1 xound transitions ie the sound not just moving left - right, but front - rear too.

If you haven't edited before, do a couple on Movie Maker before leaping in to Vegas.

Greg

 

[Eddy802]

I believe the USB cable option allows your PC to see the memory stick in the camera (for stills and short mpeg movies) as an external hard drive.

On my Sony camcorder I can't do both the memory stick bits and the video editinig (focussed on in the posts above) with one cable ofr the other, so need both, or a seperate reader for the memory stick.

My camera came with the USB cable, but I had to buy the firewire cable.

Eddy