- If the DV500's firewire connection is OHCI compliant, you
will be able to use SF VideoCapture to transfer video from
am camcorder into your PC.

- You probably cannot use SF VideoCapture to capture using
the DV500's analog inputs.

- You might be able to use Vegas Video to render to the
DV500's hardware-DV-codec.

- BUT: AFAIK you cannot use the DV500's hardware-based
effects(transitions) and preview them in realtime.
Currently this is only supported by Premiere.

Maybe someone can give a definitive answer to these issues?

The DV500 is not OHCI compliant, and is not supported. With
some juggling you MIGHT get it to partially work, but don't
count on it.

Studio DV will work, as will ANY other OHCI compliant 1394
card, such as Pyro or SIIG etc. For best results, let
Windows install the drivers (don't install any of the 3rd
party software that comes with them)

The following is from the Pinnacle website.
http://pinnaclesys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pinnaclesys.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_sid=TEBKX5kg&p_lva=&p_li=&p_faqid=290&p_created=1005148583

=======================================
Pinnacle DV Products OHCI Compatibility

Here is the "Question":
Pinnacle DV Products OHCI Compatibility

Answer:
Pinnacle DV Products (DV200, DV500, and Pro-ONE) use Pinnacle drivers, allowing for compatibility with Pinnacle effects, transitions, and titling.

If you are using DV200 v2.0, DV500 v4.0, and Pro-ONE v1.5 or earlier, these drivers do not support non-video 1394 devices (such as 1394 connected hard drives and CD-RW drives). These products were designed with video editing in mind and as such, the Pinnacle drivers work with DV decks and cameras.

Some customers have had great success with running a OHCI 1394 card in addition to the DV500 and Pro-ONE.

DV200 Hardware:
There are 3 versions of the DV200 board: one is green (uses the Adaptec chipset) and the other two are red (one uses the Texas Instruments chipset; the other uses the Agere' chipset).

The red boards are able to run the OHCI drivers that are found in Windows98SE, WindowsME, Windows2000, and WindowsXP. The green board is NOT able to run these drivers.

Running the OHCI drivers on the red DV200s will allow you to use 1394 devices not supported by Pinnacle (such as 1394 hard drive or CD-RW drives), but you will not be able to install or use the Pinnacle DV200 software.



Premiere Compatibility:
Premiere v6.0 or higher directly supports OHCI 1394 boards, and as such, the red DV200 boards will work in Premiere v6, even if the Pinnacle DV200 software is not installed.

Previous versions of Premiere (v5.1c or earlier) does not support OHCI 1394 hardware and as such, can not use a DV200 red board that has the OHCI 1394 drivers installed for it.

To work with Premiere v5.1c or earlier, the Pinnacle DV200 software (and drivers) would need to be installed and used on DV200 hardware.
=======================================



I have WinXP Pro and VV3. I cannot get VV3 to capture or output through the DV500's 1394 port (and of course neither through the analog ports). I have to use the DV500 software to capture and the dreaded Adobe Premiere 6 to output to tape. :(

I mistakenly assumed that because the DV500 had the 1394 connections that it was OHCI compliant. I guess I'll need to buy a real 1394 card now.

If you have to capture analog (as I do), the DV500 works fine (with the Pinnacle capture software). I guess if I had a real 1394 card, then I could output directly from VV3.

Any recommendations on a good OHCI compliant 1394 card that is compatible with WinXP Pro?

The DV500 is not OHCI compliant. I got talked into buying the DV500+/premiere6 package and had nothing but problems on my machine. At the time I had win98SE, an abit KT7A raid board and an athlon 1.0gB chip.

Now I have w2k Pro, Gigabyte GA7DXR w/athlon XP1700. I finally bit the bullet and trashed the DV500+ card. Now I'm running VV3 with the ADS Pyro Platimum SE card and captured and edited more in 1 weekend than I did in almost 2 years. No more pinnacle for me. Real time! BS. Not real time. Real time preview of effects but you still got to render. Vegas Video is a "Final Cut Pro" for windoes as far as I'm concerned. Yea, I got a few small problems, but no where near what I had with the Pinnacle/Premiere package. And you can't run a DV500+ card AND a OHCI compliant card according to the Pinnacle folks.

Do yourself a favor and just get a $99 firewire card and Vegas Video. You'll be glad you did.
Allen