[plug] Video camera newbie

[skribe]

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:51, Carl Gherardi wrote:

> What is the general process for getting digital video via usb?
>
> Most of the stuff i'm finding on the web is - get firewire working, use
> dvgrab, open kino/cinelerra. I'm using usb so i'm a little lost.
>
> I've used usb mass storage devices previously, but the camera doesn't
> appear to act like one.
>
> If I need to get a firewire card I will, but i'd like to avoid it if
> possible.

As you probably know video files are big.  You need a 'fat pipe' otherwise 
you can start to 'drop frames' when you're capturing the video.  Dropping 
frames leads to a jerky video image.  It basically comes down to speed of the 
pipe:

usb 1.x : 12mbps
fw :        400mbps
usb 2.x:  480mbps

Unless your device handles usb 2 my advice is to spend the $30 or so and get 
a FW card.  

skribe
-- 
Public key information available at:
http://www.amber.com.au/~skribe/publickey.html
Key fingerprint = A855 9CA3 953B 5195 C518  12F2 0E05 DCCD 5A88 E8A4 

Maryel brought her bat into Exit once and started whacking people on
the dance floor.  Now everyone's doing it.  It's called grand slam dancing.
		-- Ransford, Chicago Reader 10/7/83

Xaraya Content Management Solutions http://www.xaraya.com/