Upgrading a computer for Firewire compatibility (1 Viewer)

[Mike__D]

I had horrific results from an adaptec only a month ago. I don't blame adaptec, I blame the cruddy MS codec. I was using a $3000 sony camcorder at the time

You can not blame Adaptec even if you wanted too. Are you sure you are using MS's codec? Windows comes with other codecs as well, particularly Indeo's codec pack. And have you upgraded them? In another thread you mention you use Win98SE (which could be your problem as well). How about your hard drive.... you need a fast 7200 RPM drive to capture. Also, what version of Direct X do you use... I believe you'll need at least 8.1b, which solves some video capture problems.

Finally, if you are working with uncompressed AVI, well then, it uses no CODEC

One should do their homework before one points the finger of blame.

Mike D.

 

[MarkHastings]

But hey, if you like to spend more money than necessary, go ahead.

And if you want to gamble with possible problems in the future, then that's fine too. I just can't be bothered with that sort of gamble and prefer to spend the money.

 

[JamesHl]

Ah, I thought that everyone pretty much uses the TI chipset. Funny, looking at the drivers for the one in my laptop it's "TI OHCI compliant"... hmmm

 

[Christian Behrens]

Mark,

Generally I agree with you that it's worth to spend a little bit more money to get good quality.

But then there are also items where the cheap ones work just as well as the expensive ones, where you're basically paying a premium for a brand name and the company's marketing budget.

In my experience, firewire cards belong to those commodities.

-Christian

 

[Ken Chan]

Are you sure you are using MS's codec? Windows comes with other codecs as well, particularly Indeo's codec pack.

Although it's possible to inadvertently use a different codec when saving or rendering out DV material, most editing programs make it difficult to do this by accident. Even if that was so, you would need a DV codec to decode the captured DV stream so that you could see it in the first place, before it got saved to something else. And unless you installed a third-party DV codec, it must be the MS DV codec (on Windows, the Apple DV codec on a Mac).

//Ken

 

[Mike__D]

Although it's possible to inadvertently use a different codec when saving or rendering out DV material, most editing programs make it difficult to do this by accident. Even if that was so, you would need a DV codec to decode the captured DV stream so that you could see it in the first place, before it got saved to something else. And unless you installed a third-party DV codec, it must be the MS DV codec (on Windows, the Apple DV codec on a Mac).

I didn't think it was possible, but I wasn't 100% sure. Although my capture program allows me to choose with device control I want to use. I always pick MS's control, and the video is perfect everytime.

I'm thinking Jeff's poor results had to do with other factors, and not the codec.

Mike D.

 

[MarkHastings]

But then there are also items where the cheap ones work just as well as the expensive ones, where you're basically paying a premium for a brand name and the company's marketing budget.

If you read, I really didn't say not to buy a cheap one, I just said they worried me. The extra cash was worth my piece of mind. And yes, my comparison to cheap HT wire was probably not the best comparison.

As the guy who everyone (family and friends) come to when they have problems with their computers, I always cringe when I find out they bought something cheap and now it isn't doing exactly what they wanted it to do.

While I will agree with you that the cheap ones can perform the same as the expensive ones, let me just say that the probabilities of complications are slightly higher (IMO) with the cheaper ones...that's all.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Windows comes with other codecs as well, particularly Indeo's codec pack. And have you upgraded them?

Yup, most recent DX 8, codecs, drivers and a fresh OS install. The card was certified for Win98SE and I'm capturing on a Promise ATA-100 adapter from a 40GB 7200RPM drive (that was mostly empty and defragged)

I know what I'm doing here. My regular firewire card fried a few chips and I bought it asa stopgap. NOT impressed with the quality of output, and every time I tried to bridge seperate AVI files it would glitch. The quality of footage was noticably sub-par to what my Pinnacle card puts out (now replaced) and I've output 90min projects with no issues with Pinnacle, same gear, different card and it pukes after 5min