i.link cables

J

Joel_kurtlifilms

Everyone, I plan on purchasing a i.Link(DV Cable, Firewall) And I need to ask some questions about them.

1. Is it worth buying?
2. Is the video quality, better then USB?
3. Does it capture the same as it would on USB, refering to Windows Movie Maker
 
I-Link is what everyone, but Sony, calls Firewire.

Firewire can handle a lot more bandwidth than plain USB-1.

Firewire and USB-2 are roughly the same.

Is the video quality, better then USB?
Click to expand...

Yes. This assumes you have a FireWire plug on your computer, mind you.

Does it capture the same as it would on USB, refering to Windows Movie Maker
Click to expand...

It should.

Connect camera to computer with FireWire cable, then tell your editing prog to Capture. It should recognise the camera being there.

:)
 
USB cables plug into USB ports.

FireWire cables plug into FireWire ports.

If you do not have a FireWire port (they've been standard issue for a few years now; pretty common), you can get a PCI card with FireWire ports on it... plugs into the motherboard. Like an adapter.

_______

If your computer is old enough to not have FireWire as standard ports, you might want to check the speed of your harddrive, btw. Older drives spun at 5400rpm... for solid, reliable, non-skipping video you'll need 7200rpm at the minimum. (Preferably on a second harddrive, too).

Plan on using 13 gigs of space for each hour of video... plus additional for render files, etc.

:cool:

P.S. Also look for an "IEEE 1394" port on your computer. That's the technical name/term for FireWire.
 
Last edited:
Does your camera have a USB-2 plug? I'd be surprised if it did.

How do you capture right now? Are you using some kind of converter box between camera & computer?
 
What model camera do you have?

_______

USB-1 & USB-2 ports and cables fit with each other.

However, a USB-2 device plugged into a USB-1 port can only transfer as fast as the port can go... which is pretty slow if USB-1.

A USB-1 device can be plugged into a USB-2 port... the port has the potential to handle a lot of bandwidth, but if the device is USB-1 it cannot physically deliver at that speed.
 
hmm.... well that stinks... I guess I will have to stick with plain old USB-1, thanks for your help, or I would of wasted my money on a Firewall cable haha
 
Zensteve said:
If you do not have a FireWire port (they've been standard issue for a few years now; pretty common), you can get a PCI card with FireWire ports on it... plugs into the motherboard. Like an adapter
Click to expand...

How much would one of these cost?
 
$20 to $40 at a CompUSA-type store, depending on brand.

Of course, your camera would have to already have a FireWire jack too...
 
I suppose brand might matter. I don't know which might be better though.

Btw, there are three types of FireWire cables.

4-pin to 4-pin
6-pin to 6-pin
4-pin to 6-pin

Just something to watch out for, if you buy one.
 
With regards to that:
Your camcorder will probably have a 4 pin plug, I've never seen a 6 pin one on the cam. Your computer may differ: if it's a bullet shaped hole, it's 6 pin. Otherwise, it's 4 pin. If you need to buy the card, just tell the sales guy you're doing video capture, and he should be able to hook you up.
 
The type of Firewire card you buy really shouldn't matter (6-pin vs. 4-pin) because you would still need to buy the firewire cable and you would just chose the right cable based on your needs--either 4 pin on one end and 6 pin on the other -- or 4 pin on both ends.

My recommendation would be to get a firewire PCI card with 6 pin ports, then buy a firewire cable that goes from 6 pin on one end to 4 pin on the other (assuming your camera has a 4 pin cable input). Total rig (card and cable) should run about $50 - 60 USD.

Firewire will input video much faster than USB 1. As Zen said, USB 2 speed is about the same as Firewire, but using USB 2 requires a specific USB 2 port on your computer. Older computers will likely only have USB 1, so if you want USB 2, you would need to buy a PCI card to add them (just as you would to add Firewire). I think a USB 2 card probably costs about the same as a Firewire card. BUT, as it was also said earlier, most video cameras have a firewire port, but they likely don't have USB2. For video purposes, right now I would opt for Firewire.
 
Last edited:
I'm actually surprised you're able to transfer video over the USB connection at all.. mine only allows me to grab stills thru the USB connection.
 
I'm actually surprised you're able to transfer video over the USB connection at all.. mine only allows me to grab stills thru the USB connection.
Click to expand...

Same here, I've never seen a USB connection out of a digital video camera, only firewire. Makes me wonder if the camera isn't something like a HI-8 and we're talking about an analogue rather than a digital transfer. This would be a lot easier if we knew what camera the video was coming out of and what kind of machine it's going into.

Unless we're talking about a digital stills camera with video clip capacity where small video clips transfer as files. Those guys are always USB connectors, but they almost never have firewire out on them.
 
Actually, for the indietalk contest, I captured from a Sony TRV-240 through USB. Problem is, it wouldn't capture in anything but MovieMaker, which sucked because it cuts down your resolution off the bat, has lines and corrupted footage. USB is a harsh way to capture.. firewire is definetly the way to do this stuff (at least for now).
It can be done through USB, but there are HUGE quality issues, and it's hard to get working off the bat.
 
well my camera is a Sony Digital Handycam TRV260, and my computer isnt nothing big, just a home computer, HP pavilion 501v, with Windows xp.

But when I got my computer, i wasnt thinking about what kind I should get, because at the time, I wasnt really doing any film editing on it. But I can capture footage on the PC with a USB cable, with Windows Movie Maker. Tho the video is a bit darker, and its not the best. But i can watch it on full screen., and its not tooo horrible. But im doing a film project this summer and I would like the best quality possible to put onto DVD. But with the videos i put on DVD that I make now off of Windows Movie Maker, on the DVD its sorta jumpy.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top