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Is there a lot of difference between using a USB2.0 and firewire external hard drive in AE?
Hi there
Basically im looking to get a new external hard drive as my current one has started going wrong, so i was wondering does it make a lot of difference using a usb 2.0 or a firewire drive when in after effects and doing stuff like rendering, or lots of effects and just in general really? i dont actually have a firewire port in my pc but was thinking of buying one of those pci cards with the firewire slots in….
thanks in advance!
dan
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8 Replies
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This is my understanding:
Firewire delivers a steady stream of data, USB delivers bursts of data. This can cause problems for video file playback – probably less so than if you were using a video editor, which doesn’t RAM preview (i.e., the data MUST come at a constant rate). Still, I’ve found firewire to be a better choice for video work.
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Aharon Rabinowitz
arabinowitz(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com—————————————-
Click the link below to subscribe to the Creative Cow After Effects Podcast, and get free AE video tutorials:https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=111087911
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read this…
https://www.digit-life.com/articles/usb20vsfirewire/
Sometimes a simple google search helps more than a user forum.
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Now that’s a REAL explanation. Thank you for the article, although it would be great to see if things have changed since windows 2000.
When I was first buying video/computer equipment, the tech people I spoke with basically expalined to me that while USB 2 was faster, the data did not come into video editing programs in a steady stream. Data came in packets, which meant a bumpy road. On the other hand Firewire came in to the app at a steady rate – Or at least that’s the way the software behaved. looking at those charts, it’s clear that it’s actually USB that’s coming in steady, and firewire that is working at a variable rate.
Technical stuff aside (and I’m the first person to enjoy a good tech discussion) this has been my experience: I have drives that are both USB 2 and firewire, and I’ve tested performance, and Firewire wins every time in my video apps. Hands down. USB stuff is stop and go a lot of the time. Not bad for storage, but bad for data access speeds at least on video going into a video app.
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Aharon Rabinowitz
arabinowitz(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com—————————————-
Click the link below to subscribe to the Creative Cow After Effects Podcast, and get free AE video tutorials:https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=111087911
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If ever your motherboard has SATA ports, you might want to look into eSATA enclosures. They usually have a USB 2.0 port as well if ever you need to bring somewhere else.
The NexStar seems to come up a lot: https://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-332-1.htm
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If I remember my ieee1394 spec stuff (fancy way of saying firewire) – Firewire is a little more reliable as its protocol can calculate latency.
Its been awhile since I really looked into this – but…
Latency is important as it is the delay between request and delivery (your drive feeding data). If your device can calculate latency, it means that the proper amount of data can be buffered into memory before delivery, providing a constant and consistent datastream. This gives nice, smooth and predictable performance. (Good for applications like AE and FCP etc)
My $0.02
Steve
GridIron Software Inc. -
That test is pretty old and only compares USB2 with Firewire400. Go for FW800 or eSATA.
Another thing to consider is that the Firewire controller chip is more ‘intelligent’ than USB which is more dependent of the CPU. If that is a difference enough to influence render speeds in AE I can’t tell but I know my brother sees a big difference in performance between USB2 and Firewire audioboxes when making music in Logic and Reason.
Myself I use LaCie FW800 drives for video/audio work and USB2 drives for normal file storage.
cheers
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I’m adding a vote to eSATA. Firewire and USB is so 2005 🙂
Alex
Lightdrop Video Production, Editing & Design -
Awesome, thanks alot for all the help guys, there is a lot of helpful information there, I can always rely on the creativecow forum 🙂 Think im gonna go with the firewire drive having read that….
do you know if using a separate pci card with firewire ports makes a difference to performance at all?
cheers!
dan
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