0
czechbase

Hooking up camera via firewire and external harddisk usb or otherway round?

Recommended Posts

I've got a technical question:

My laptop has a 1334 (firewire) port and a usb port (usb is not 2.0), my problem is dropped frames when I run the camera into my laptop and then into my external harddisk.

Question is, would it be better to plug in my external harddisk into the firewire while plugging in my camera into my USB? Would that cure the dropped frames problem? Or the other way around? I use Adobe Premiere and I even tried Windows Movie Maker, but I still get dropped frames.

My external harddisk is USB2.0 (but my laptop is only 1.0). Oh, it's also running at 7000bpm and is 120 gig.

Any suggestions/advice? I ask as I want it to be DV format/quality and my internal laptop harddisk is full.

Thanks!!

Matthew
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What make/model of ext hard disc are you using?
Most Ext hard discs have 2 firewire connections.
USB is not fast enough for full DV transfer, (USB 2.00 is reported as being fast enough but I 've not played with it yet)

Go here
http://www.canopus.com/US/products/free_utilities/pm_free_utilities.asp
download raptest and run it on your system. It will actually check system compliance for a card called a raptor, but it doubles as a good system checker.
Its a good idea to shut everything that you don't need, use a free application called enditall
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Reviews/r91.html

Also check you premiere settings, ensure you are writing data to the F/W disc and not to your laptop drive.
--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I've got a technical question:

My laptop has a 1334 (firewire) port and a usb port (usb is not 2.0), my problem is dropped frames when I run the camera into my laptop and then into my external harddisk.

Question is, would it be better to plug in my external harddisk into the firewire while plugging in my camera into my USB? Would that cure the dropped frames problem? Or the other way around? I use Adobe Premiere and I even tried Windows Movie Maker, but I still get dropped frames.

My external harddisk is USB2.0 (but my laptop is only 1.0). Oh, it's also running at 7000bpm and is 120 gig.

Any suggestions/advice? I ask as I want it to be DV format/quality and my internal laptop harddisk is full.



USB 1.1 = no good whatsoever, not for your external HD, not for your camera. You need to either get extra firewire ports in your laptop (pcmcia card) or see if your hd has 2 (works with my own external hd, a maxtor 200 gb 7200 rpm usb2.0/firewire disk). If your external hd has usb2.0 too (like mine does but most don't) you can get a pcmcia usb2 card instead of course.

Or you can dump video on your laptop's own hd then disconnect camera and so on..... Not really doable unless you've got a very large internal hd and you can also dump most of whatever is on it NOW to your external hd to make room.......

ciel bleu,
Saskia

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It might be cheaper getting a firewire hub, but I've never seen one in the flesh...:S

It would be best to see if your system has any bottlenecks before spending money, hence my suggestion to use raptest to benchmark it.
--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Actually, I am using a pcmcia card to connect to the firewire into the camera. What I think I need to do is hook the external harddisk (a maxtor 120 gig, 7000 speed) to the firewire port on the rear of my laptop.

I use an external casing with powersource for my 120 gig harddisk which can also be used to put a DVD drive into. I am not sure if it has a firewire port, but it is USB2.0. If it doesn't have a firewire port what should I do?

Thanks.
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The dropped frames problem means that there is a bottleneck somewhere on your setup.
Can you connect the hard drive on its own and test the read/write speed (the raptest should be able to do this for you), then you will know if your hard drive is set up effectively.
The hard drive should be capable of sustained read write in excess of 5MB/sec.
I have a Maxtor drive with 2 firewire ports built in, they are the 6 pin (larger type), are you sure your not looking at a 6-pin firewire and mistaking it for USB 2.0? Its a silly question but I have to ask it...:S
On my Laptop I have an ADS Pyro PCMCIA card, the dongle that comes with it has two firewire conns, both work fine, as does the drive with a camera attached via the spare port.

Finally what type of laptop are you using? There are known isues with some laptops, Cajones knows about these, try PMing him.
If all else fails, try here...
http://www.dvdoctor.net/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&category=1&BypassCookie=true
--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Have you tried making the camera the last in the firewire chain and just running through the hard drive? I can't imagine your firewire hard drive to not be set up with 2 firewire ports. Just plug the camera into the hard drive and then the hard drive into the computer. I don't understand why you would need to use USB at all. Maybe I am just missing something here. By the way, firewire is IEEE 1394, not 1334. Not sure what that is. Are you sure you read it correctly?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Opps, yes, you are right it is IEEE 1394. The thing is I bought an external casing which can house a DVD drive or a hard disk. I just checked and the external casing does not have a firewire port!!! [:/] Only a USB 2.0 port.

My laptop is not USB2.0 compliant, so I think I will need to get a pcmcia card for USB2.0.

I don't think I can't plug the camera into the hard disk as the external casing has no firewire ports....
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just found the problem...my read write speed on the external hard disk which is USB 2.0, and my laptop is not, is less than 1MB/sec!!!

My internal drive read/write speed is more than 5MB/sec so no problem on that.

Gotta get a pcmcia card that supports USB 2.0. That should do the trick right?
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yep that would be causing the dropped frames. I'm actually surprised you got anything at all thru the USB.

You can either get a pcmcia USB 2.0 adaptor, or you can get a firewire case, and return the USB one.
I'd prefer to see a Firewire drive chained to your cam and firewire port, but thats only because I know it works.....never played with USB2.0.

I'm pleased this forum was able to help you!B|
--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I just bought a pcmcia 2.0 card, I hope that works. If not, I will have to return the casing for a firewire casing >:( And to think I told the shop people what I wanted to do, they just want to flog stuff!

Thanks for all the help, I couldn't have done it without you guys! :)
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yeap! Just managed to finally get it right. This time I hooked the external harddisk into my firewire port into my laptop, and then connected my camera via firewire into the external harddisk, magic! :)
Thank you so much all!

Now I have to learn how to use Adobe Premier, seems quite difficult....just take some time I guess :ph34r:

Matthew
www.motavi.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0