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Videoguys Home Page > DTV Handbook > FireWire Q&A
What is FireWire?
Technically it is the high-speed data transfer protocol IEEE1394. When the FireWire concept was first announced a few years ago, it was envisioned that it would become a new standard that would replace SCSI and link all our consumer electronics equipment and computers together. There was talk of FireWire hard drives, FireWire networks, FireWire home theaters and most of all FireWire camcorders and televisions. Well, the dust has settled and the hype has died down.
Digital cameras and camcorders now come with FireWire as a standard feature. You can even buy home DVD recorders with FireWire jacks. FireWire drives, webcams, and scanners are now available, but EIDE has emerged as the king for computer storage. Computer vendors have found USB to be far cheaper to implement. As a result USB has become the connection of choice for scanners, printers, modems and other computer peripherals.
The only application for FireWire that has lived up to and exceeded expectations is video editing. Today it is so simple and easy to transfer digital video (DV) information directly from a camcorder (or VCR) to computer, edit it, then either output it back out via FireWire, stream it on the web or burn it to CD or DVD.
What's the difference between DV and FireWire?
DV is the actual format of the video and it looks incredible. It is the new super high-resolution digital video format that is better quality then S-Video and has many broadcast professionals thinking about scrapping their BetaCam gear. The images are crisp, bright and have excellent depth and contrast. Best off all, the information is stored on the videotape in digital form, so it can be copied over and over without any loss.
FireWire is the jack and protocol that lets you transfer the DV data to your computer. The full FireWire spec includes frame accurate device control and the ability to read and write the digital video. Not all DV cams have FireWire, and not all DV cams implement the FireWire spec the same way. Worst of all, many PAL (the European television standard) DV cams have the DV input disabled, so that they can be imported at lower duties!
What's the difference between DV video and video captured using a video capture card?
Back in the mid 90s most of the analog hi resolution video capture cards on the market used MJPEG compression. The less you compress the video, the better it looked, but the higher the sustained data rate you need. At compression under 4:1 (over 4000 kilobytes/sec) the video looked as good as the original, but even then there was slightly lower quality. Back then you needed expensive SCSI drives in order to achieve these data rates and even then dropped frames and artifacts were common. Most users were forced to compromise on compression closer to 6:1 (3000 kilobytes/sec) and lower then S-VHS video quality. With MJPEG you always had to trade off between video quality and system throughput and cost.
The DV came along and changed everything!!
The DV spec is a 720x480 image size, at roughly a 5:1 compression. More accurately, it is compressed at a constant throughput of 3600 kilobytes/second, which averages out to 5:1 compression. This works out to 13GB per hour of footage. Unlike MJPEG compressed video, DV video can't be scaled. You can't capture ½ frame DV, or increase the compression. The fixed data rate of DV combined with cheaper and faster EIDE drives finally gave videographers the solution they needed for affordable non-linear editing.
DV in = DV out
This is what makes DV so special. When you capture DV footage to your hard drive via FireWire, the DV video on your hard drive is an exact digital copy of the original footage. There is no loss. DV is a constant. Every FireWire card we carry delivers the exact same DV quality output. When choosing a FireWire card, there is no video quality debate regardless of what CODEC (compression method) is used.
What are the different DV CODECs?
Basically the DV CODECs can be split into 2 groups. Hardware and Software. I will try to give a brief, non-technical overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each. Remember, the final video quality of your production is not an issue. DV in = DV out.
Software CODECs
The biggest advantage of software based FireWire boards are how affordable they are. They are much less expensive then hardware CODEC based cards because they rely on software compression and the speed and power of your computer to digitize and edit the footage. Software FireWire cards are really just an interface for bringing the DV video in and out of your computer. Everything you do with the video is done by software. The obvious advantage of this is that with computers getting more and more powerful every day, software based systems become faster and faster.
OHCI cards
These are DV cards that use the drivers found in the latest Windows operating systems. Since the manufacturers do not have to engineer any software drivers, they are very inexpensive, under $100. With these cards you can capture and edit your video, but this can be limited. Today almost every video editing program on the market supports these cards. From inexpensive programs like Pinnacle Studio and Ulead Video Studio up to Adobe Premiere 6.x, Pinnacle Edition, Sonic Foundry Vegas Video and Avid Xpress DV, all you need is an inexpensive OHCI card or the built in FireWire jacks in your computer. Just about any computer you buy today can be used to edit DV video, it's just a matter of how sophisticated and powerful an editing solution you require.
Apple has gone so far as to make every G4 or iMac video editing ready. FireWire is a standard feature and Apple offers iMovie for beginners or Final Cut Pro for professional work. You can also run Adobe Premiere 6.x or Avid Xpress DV on a Mac.
Hardware CODECs
These boards use the same DV chips used in your DV cam to handle the DV data. They have both analog and DV inputs and outputs. Your analog footage is captured and compressed directly into DV in real-time. You can create a timeline that includes both analog and DV footage. Because these boards have analog output (usually through a break out box) you can view your video full screen on a television monitor while you edit. This makes the actual editing process much easier and faster.
Real-Time Editing
One of the very cool features that most hardware based DV cards now have is real-time transitions, FX, filters, titling and more! Real-Time means you do not have to render, these effects play directly from the timeline. Not everything is in Real-Time with these cards. You get a special selection of transitions and FX that are Real-Time. Each Real-Time card comes with its own special selection of Real-Time features. When selecting these cards, make sure you get the features that are most important to you.
The under $1,000 Real-Time cards only offer you Real-Time output from the break out box. When you want to go back out to DV tape you must render. This is still a very powerful feature. You will spend much more time editing, then outputting to tape. Real-Time output on the VGA screen and a television will make you dramatically more productive.
The more expensive Real-Time cards have additional hardware CODECs that allow you to play your video directly from the timeline to DV and analog. These cards also have a wider variety of Real-Time features and power. The more serious you edit, the more productive these systems will make you. Prosumer / Event / Corporate videographers will find they can recoup the added costs of these cards very quickly.
You don't have to have special hardware to take advantage of real-time editing. Powerful programs like Avid Xpress DV, Final Cut Pro and Vegas Video offer you software based real-time solutions.
MPEG2
Why am I including MPEG2 in a discussion about DV? Because most of the hardware based DV cards also support MPEG2. MPEG2, like DV is 720 x 480. The big advantage of MPEG2 is that you can lower the data rate and still maintain close to DV quality. MPEG2 video is what is used on DVDs. So these cards also include DVD authoring software that lets you set up interactive menus and other cool stuff. Back in the spring of 2001 DVD burners became affordable with the introduction of the Pioneer DVR-A03 for under $1,000. Before then a DVD burner would cost you almost $5,000 and the blank DVD media went for around $30 each. The third generation of DVD burners is now hitting the market. These units are cheaper (under $400), faster and more reliable then the first affordable DVD burners introduced several years ago. Even cooler, you can get blank DVD-R discs for under $4 each in quantity!! Today you can output your finished video back to tape, or save it on a DVD. Add some interactive menus and some other cool features, burn it, then watch it on your home DVD player. VERY COOL!!
Can I use a standard Ultra DMA EIDE drive for DV?
YES you can!! This is one of the most important reasons why home video editing is becoming so popular. With today's powerful processors, lightning fast memory, super 3D graphics cards and huge ATA hard drives you can capture, edit & playback single stream DV video with an EIDE drive. That said, we still urge you to get a dedicated hard drive for all your video clips. If you are going to be using one of the new Real-Time cards, then we still recommend a VideoRAID or EIDE Raid for best results, especially if you make long format projects over an hour in length.
For Single Stream DV with an OHCI card like the Pyro DV, a dedicated ATA EIDE drive is enough. For home use you can even use a single EIDE drive for your system. Just make sure you have separate partitions for your software and the video.
Digital 8 or DV?
Both Digital 8 and DV camcorders allow you to transfer video directly to your computer via FireWire, using a DV capture card. Even the low cost OHCI cards work great with Digital 8. The biggest advantage of digital 8, besides the cost, is that you can put an older anaolg Hi8 tape in the cam, and transfer the video via FireWire. Digital 8 is a great choice for budget conscious videographers.
Now for a bit of reality. The video from these cams is simply not as good as what you get with mini DV. I don't think this has anyhting to do with a technical issue and the Digital 8 format. I think it has to do with the marketplace. Digital 8 cams are aimed at the price sensitive buyer. So they don't get the same quality optics, features and CCDs as DV cams.
If you can afford to get a DV cam, get one. But if you can't and a Digital 8 is in your budget, get Digital 8. Either way you are light years ahead of an older analog cam.
Which is better for FireWire editing, Mac or PC?
This is a very difficult question to answer, but I'll try to give it a go. Remember, DV in = DV out, so the video quality is identical. Either a screaming G4 or Pentium 4 is going to give you outstanding results. We say "If you are a Mac guy, go Mac, but if you are a PC guy stay on a PC".
Once again, the real difference comes down to the NLE software, the options/ features and the total cost of the complete solution. On the beginner side, we've all seen the really cute iMac commercials. Yes you can edit video with your iMac, but you can't really expand your iMac NLE system. On the other hand, you could spend $100 and put an OHCI card in your existing PC or get a new one with FireWire for under $1,000. You'll end up with about the same editing features as the iMac. With a PC based system you have a much wider choice of low cost software you can add. Even more important, if you become more serious you can pop in a Real-Time card down the road.
If you are an experienced videographer looking for a professional solution you can still do great on either platform. A G4 running Final Cut Pro or Xpress DV is a professional NLE system with lots of cool Real-Time features, but you'll find you pay a pretty hefty premium for a G4 vs. a similarly configured and powered PC. A fully loaded P4 with a lightning fast CPU and a ton of RAM will cost you less then $2.000. On the PC side you get more NLE solutions to choose from - Xpress DV, Edition and a wide range of Premiere based Real-Time solutions from Matrox, Pinnacle, Canopus and Dazzle.
Whatever you buy, the odds are very strong that in a couple of years, you will be drooling over the latest and greatest technology. So don't make your decision based on which system will become obsolete first. If you really get into digital video editing, your going to be upgrading as soon as some hot new feature captures your fancy and you have the budget for it.
So, which FireWire card is for me?
To get the best answer, you need to decide what is most important to you. Do you need the flexibility and combination of Analog and DV that the hardware based CODEC boards offer? Are you going to use it in your existing computer, or get a new one? Do you have adequate storage? What is your total budget? Once you have figured this out, it really comes down to the feature set. That's what separates one FireWire card from another. DV in = DV out, so no matter which card you get, the finished video will look as spectacular as the original footage. All of our FireWire boards have some unique utility or feature that differentiates them from the competition.
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