transfer via firewire like watching entire tape?

[Leonardo Silva Jr.]

Hi I need help on transferring a video from a dvtape via firewire. I can successfully transfer the video to pc using batch capture but is it really like watching the entire tape during the capture process? It was said on lot of threads that firewire is the fastest way to transfer vieo to pc.

It is my first time using firewire, I capture video via capture card (S-video) before, and it takes a lot of time(like watching the entire tape) is this the same way you capture video via firewire?

I am using 3.2Ghz processor and 512 ram (DDR2) SATA HDD thanks for the reply in advance.

[Edward Troxel]

Capture via firewire is REAL-TIME. So, yes, it could be considered the same as watching the tape. If you have 1 hour of footage, it will take you 1 hour to get it in the computer.

[Adam Kampia]

When people say firewire is faster for capturing, they really mean the transfer of data packets is more efficient. USB and analog are more prone to dropped frames and other errors. Firewire is just more reliable for video. To date, there is no way to cap DV tape to a PC in faster than real time.

[Glenn Chan]

There are some systems that can capture faster than real-time.
A- A few exotic editing systems can transfer at 2X or 4X speed. They cost like $25k or something like that. You can read about it on Adam Wilt's DV FAQ. They aren't really popular.
B- Direct-to-disk recorders can transfer faster than real-time. There's a forum here on dvinfo.net dedicated to them.
C- Some programs like Scenalyzer can shuttle through the tape at high speed and build a scene index out of that. You still have to capture in real-time, but if you only want to capture 10 minutes it would take like 15 minutes.

In any case, you should be ok with real-time transfer. You can take notes while you watch the footage capture (as in, capture the whole tape in one shot and use date/time DV scene detection to break up the clips; not to be confused with log and capture). Or just let it run while you do something else, and then come back to the footage.

Some cameras can capture via USB (i.e. Sony). Just avoid it and buy a firewire card. Those cameras can only transfer MPEG2 over USB and you will have a hard time editing it.

2- There's also firewire and USB for connecting hard drives (in addition to the ATA, SATA, and SCSI interfaces). Firewire can run into problems with dropped frames if the firewire devices don't share the firewire bus nicely.
USB had higher CPU utilization than firewire, and has roughly the same sustained transfer rates (or slightly less). On paper USB looks better. *You might get some problems with USB if other USB devices are taking up too much of the USB controller's time??

On Macs, USB can be significantly slower than firewire. It depends on the USB controller.

[Leonardo Silva Jr.]

Edward, Alan, Glenn thanks for the reply that's s straightforward answer i am looking for. in relation to this question, when i do an auto batch capture, it first quickscan the entire tape then rewind back to start to do the capture process, is that normal since it will make your cam wear more. thanks again.

[Edward Troxel]

What are you capturing with? With both Scenalyzer Live and Vegas capture I can capture the whole tape without it scanning the entire tape. Scenalyzer DOES have an option to scan the tape but it's optional. Plus both can either capture into a single file or break it up into pieces based on camera starts and stops.

[Leonardo Silva Jr.]

I was actually using cyberlink's power director, haven't explored yet if it has an option not to quick scan the entire tape, thanks for the reply.