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Firewire 400 and DVCPRO HD
I recently bought a HVX200 and usually shoot 720p. I use FC 5.1.4 and store my files in a laCie 300G external hard drive. I use a firewire 400 connection. I read in the apple final cut pro FAQ that “For compressed formats like DVCPro HD and HDV, simple Firewire 800 drives or multiple internal drives striped together will work just fine.” What is wrong with Firewire 400? It may sound basic but I’m a newbie and have a lot to learn.
Also, does anyone know where I could find basic infos on how to set up FC so it works best (using multiple drives, etc.) and on basic editing concepts like scratch disks, render files…
Finally, and on a different note: my computer is very old (Imac 1.8 Ghz PowerPC G5, 1GB ram) and I’d like to buy a new one. My budget is around 3000$, card included. Should I go with a Macbook or stay with Imac? Should I just upgrade my computer? Any suggestions? I use it to edit corporate videos (DVCPRO HD) and some After Effects. Thank you very much.
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6 Replies
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[Maxime Marquis] “What is wrong with Firewire 400? It may sound basic but I’m a newbie and have a lot to learn.”
Slow tranfer rate. Those drives are fine for DV and HDV, but for DVCPRO HD, they MIGHT work, but they might drop frames as they are not fast enough for many of the DVCPRO HD settings. 720p 23.98…sure, the data rate is low. But 720p60 to 1080i60…you will have issues. Firewire 800 is twice as fast, and raided drives like the Caldigit VR or G-Raid will get you better results. I started out editing using the G-Raids, but now prefer the Caldigit raids as they are more stable. But anything like those, or eSATA drives, will work fine. FW400 is just not fast enough for many of the frame rates.
Budget of $3000? Get a MacPro if you can. But then you need a monitor. You can get a base level MacPro and then get two Samsung 20″ monitors or two Dell 20″ monitors for under $3000. Or if you need portability, get a MacBook pro. The regular MacBooks DO NOT HAVE FIREWIRE PORTS! Yup…you heard me. NONE…ZIP..ZERO. And yeah, that is dumb. SO you wouldn’t be able to even EDIT on one of those machines. Get a machine that offers expandibility, like the MacPro or MacBook Pro.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
1. I don’t use DVCPRO HD, but according to the specs that I can find on the internet, I don’t see any theoretical problem with using firewire 400. According to this creative cow article, DVCPRO HD has a data rate of about 40 Mb/s. This tech note quotes firewire as having a 38 MB/s read speed, which is equivalent to about 304 Mb/s. With 264 Mb/s as overhead, I can’t imagine that you would have an issue using firewire 400 to capture your video onto a firewire hard drive. I get the feeling though that either my math or my sources are wrong, because if this was the case, then why do people experience issues using USB? I would love to get another COW member’s opinion on this one!
2. I would imagine all of that information would be in the manuals that came with your software.
3. What do you mean by “card included?” What card are your referring to? If I had that budget, I would be looking at a Mac Pro, or a Macbook Pro is portability is very important to you. I personally edit HDV footage on my 2.4 GHz Macbook Pro and have had no issues with it (other than compression times when it comes to export, and those should be dramatically decreased with a Mac Pro). Also, don’t forget that you can purchase refurbished macs. Just scroll down at the Apple Store and on the left hand side you should eventually see a link for Refurbished Mac. There’s a Mac Pro there for only $2,000.
I hope that helps,
Glenn Fisher -
By card included, I meant a kona card which seems to be useful. But after a few research, it’s way too expensive for me right now. Reading the posts, I see you don’t talk about Imac, is there a reason? Thank you for your time, Creative Cow is amazing!
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[Glenn Fisher] “I don’t see any theoretical problem with using firewire 400.”
Well, I have real world experience, and can say that FW400 can have issues with smooth playback of DVCPRO HD. 720p at 23.98 is less likely to do so, but even then I had drop frame warnings. Best to go FW800 or eSATA or INTERNAL SATA and not risk it.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
The iMac is an extremely capable desktop computer. The biggest problem with it would be in expandability. It seems limited in possible future endeavors. The Mac Pro, depending on the configuration, should be more powerful and since it actually has a case that you can open, it would present you with more options for adding cards, increasing your hard drive space, and so on. If you don’t feel that you need those options though, then I’m sure you would do just fine on an iMac.
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[Glenn Fisher] “why do people experience issues using USB? I would love to get another COW member’s opinion on this one! “
Hi Glenn,
The problem of USB is that can not maintain a stable transfer speed.
rafael
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