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Thread: Firewire to USB? 1394 port is gone.

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    Default Firewire to USB? 1394 port is gone.

    Hello. Enjoyed the boards here for about a year so far. Very useful info to a greeny. Thanks

    My questions are-
    - My new PC has no 1394 firewire harness, from what Best Buy and others are telling me the industry is going usb now. Well Ive tried going from my hv20 via usb to computer but nothing is recognized. Do i get a 1394 harness and install on computer or get some sorta 1394/usb converter?

    -Do I loose quality in doing either?

    Thanks in advanced.
    OC

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    Tropical Legend cgbier's Avatar
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    If you have a desktop, get a F/W card for 20 bucks. With a laptop you are screwed.
    The USB connection is for still image transfer only.

    Uhm, and I wouldn't trust anything anyone at Best Buy tells me in regards to our industry's future. F/W is alive and well, just not in consumer products anymore.
    "It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"

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    Yes Im working with a desk top currently. Is this FW card a harness to be installed on pc? or actual card?
    really appreciate the info. My old PC had the 1394 right on tower and that was nice. we are going to be upgrading PC's soon and all the new models have no 1394 either.. thought it was going obselete.. glad its not.

    suggestions on where to buy the FW card? I spoke with B&H and they suggested a $45 harness

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    Quote Originally Posted by OakCreek View Post
    thought it was going obselete.. glad its not.
    It is on the way out.
    Thunderbolt is the new speed demon.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
    The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

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    Typically people with desktop PC's get something like this:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...CE&PageSize=20

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    Quote Originally Posted by OakCreek View Post
    My questions are-
    - My new PC has no 1394 firewire harness, from what Best Buy and others are telling me the industry is going usb now.
    Then you made a bad choice. All your components need to be compatible.
    Well Ive tried going from my hv20 via usb to computer but nothing is recognized. Do i get a 1394 harness and install on computer or get some sorta 1394/usb converter?
    That won't work since you can only use firewire to output video. The USB is solely for photos on the HV cameras.

    -Do I loose quality in doing either?

    Thanks in advanced.
    OC
    Quality is the issue. It simply won't work.
    Quote Originally Posted by ejolson View Post
    Typically people with desktop PC's get something like this:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...CE&PageSize=20
    A routine upgrade for a desktop.
    Quote Originally Posted by HueyNRolf View Post
    It is on the way out.
    Thunderbolt is the new speed demon.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
    It's still way too soon to predict the future of Thunderbolt, but if Apple is as good at selling it as it is it's other gadgets, at least Macs will be wearing those ports in the near future.

    As for the rest of the industry, USB (though not as fast) still has the advantage since it's a powered port and backward compatible with 90% of the industry's hardware. My guess is, the two will somehow coexist in future machines.
    Last edited by Krane; 2011 August 3rd at 01:22.

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    I am having the same problem here.

    bought an hv40 and now I want to buy a new notebook, and there is no notebook with firewire.

    seems that one solution would be to add an pcmcia or pcm express with firewire ports, but there are
    also very few notebook with this ports.

    so, I am in search of a converter from firewire to usb 3, if it exists. I cannot go to a desktop computer since I need
    it for live shows...

    so...

    1- does anybody knows a firewire to usb 3.0 converter?
    2- which firewire standard uses the hv40? (the manual just says "firewire standard"
    3- does a "hdmi in to usb 3.0 device" exists for a reasonable price?

    excuse my english. it is not my mother tongue.

    cheers, leo.-

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    Quote Originally Posted by Krane View Post
    ... if Apple is as good at selling it as it is it's other gadgets, at least Macs will be wearing those ports in the near future.
    The ports are on the new Mini's and other Mac computers now. Peripherals are appearing as well. Intel seems to be the brains behind this to the point of publishing white papers and other literature that Apple references on their site. I like dual channels of 10Gbit transfer capacity and they seem committed to higher speeds in the future.

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    Leo, no! Those port adapters don't work. Save your money!
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    what can we do then !?

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    Quote Originally Posted by mintay View Post
    what can we do then !?
    No firewire, no HDV/DV.
    The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mintay View Post
    what can we do then !?
    PCI card?

    I've never use this particular card so you have to be careful with compatibility. I had used other ports cards though (USB), and one shut down my computer completely, and yet I have another one that works fine.

    I never really investigated why one works and the other doesn't but assume it's chip compatibility or driver issues?
    Last edited by Krane; 2011 November 12th at 19:32.

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    Tropical Legend cgbier's Avatar
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    Ask around in your neighborhood/family if someone has a PC with F/W. Another idea would be to check your community college's media service if they can capture your stuff (if they are a Land Grant institute, they are supposed to help you). Was part of my former job to help folks from the public with video problems.

    The easiest answer: Get a Mac
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    Read the feedback:

    "I should have listened to the content I had read about converting USB to Firewire via a cable... in a nutshell, it can't be done. This product is a scam by getting you to pay a few dollars for a product that can't and won't work and then you're stuck with it because it costs more to ship it back than you would get refunded. Honestly, I can't believe Amazon allows this company to sell on their site."


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    Quote Originally Posted by Janke View Post
    Read the feedback:

    ...I can't believe Amazon allows this company to sell on their site."
    I can.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Janke View Post
    "I should have listened to the content I had read about converting USB to Firewire via a cable...
    Indeed, but how many of them resist?
    Despite the efforts of the FUDCS, many succumb and are prey to the vendors of such snake oil. Interesting to note that most come around eventually. More power to the FUDCS, even if only the few are saved, it's worthwhile.
    The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

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    Thanks Janke. I was in a hurry and didn't read it entirely...
    My skills are vast, rendering me capable of too many things.

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    guys I may have missed something, but how about THIS thing? does it meet the requirements of a proper firewire to usb adapter?

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    Could you link to something that 99% of the world can read?

    It should work, but the problem is that you are limited to the supplied software for editing. Other NLEs need an (H)DV signal to come from the F/W port, so they won't work with that box.
    "It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"

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    http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSit...version+14.htm

    As cgbier says above, this is not intended to integrate with other editing solutions. Maybe you can find the user guide to see how it might be leveraged on non-FW computers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Janke View Post
    Read the feedback:

    "I should have listened to the content I had read about converting USB to Firewire via a cable... in a nutshell, it can't be done. This product is a scam by getting you to pay a few dollars for a product that can't and won't work and then you're stuck with it because it costs more to ship it back than you would get refunded. Honestly, I can't believe Amazon allows this company to sell on their site."
    Hey I forgot all about that thing... I've had one of those worthless... umm... I mean GREAT cables laying around for over a year now... PM me if you want to buy it... it's in brand new condition and I will only charge you the cost of shipping

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    Quote Originally Posted by chipgallo View Post
    http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSit...version+14.htm

    As cgbier says above, this is not intended to integrate with other editing solutions. Maybe you can find the user guide to see how it might be leveraged on non-FW computers.
    Are the captured files in some different format? It's odd what You say, because I thought we could use various software for just capturing HD such as Neoscene, Vegas, Premiere capture and they all can be edited in Premiere for example.

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    The apps you list all capture from the firewire port, hence you can use one app for capturing, another for editing.
    Pinnacle's Movie Box delivers its signal via USB. Therefore, it can only work with the supplied software. That is also the reason why these F/W > USB adaptors in general don't work.
    You could, of course, write a port emulator and protocol translator and place an App Hook to your programs into the Input Device Library (OS X - dunno if that is possible in Windows), then crack your NLE and find the Input Routine to connect the latter to the App Hook, but I'm not sure if the effort is worth it for you.
    "It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"

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    Tropical Legend cgbier's Avatar
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    Problem: If you use apps specific to capture, they'll give you a high quality file, either native or an intermediate codec. That Media Box will save SOMETHING to your hard drive, but the specs don't really say what. You mostlikely end up with some taste of MP4 which is not really suitable for editing, and you'll have a generation loss through the pre-render during capture.
    If you want to use the Media Box with its supplied software for family videos or YouTube, you should do fine, but don't expect it to be a tool for a somewhat serious filmmaker.
    "It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"

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