Don't pass your 1394 from the camera through the advc100 and then into the computer. Just connect the camera directly to the computer and capture.

The ADVC100 adds nothing to the process.

Use the ADVC100 to convert analog to DV or DV to analog. It's great for that but it's no use at all when just trying to dump picture data from DV tape to a hard drive.

Again, stop doing that!

If you bought the ADVC100 thinking that this was what it's for and now you're kicking yourself, cheer up!. The ADVC100 will allow you to send video output over 1394 to a TV or (much better) studio monitor. That's worth a lot as you can then view lots of effects as the end viewer would see it.

If you're thinking, "My camera does that. Why the heck did I buy the ADVC100?" again I say cheer up. By using the advc100 you save many hours of wear on the camera and you also free up the camera for other uses while you edit.

Rob Mack

Basic concept here.

DV capture from DV camera to computer is just a straight data dump. No codec, no conversion. Just a bit for bit transfer. True, it will be wrapped in an AVI or MOV file wrapper but the data is just data. No conversion required for DV over 1394.

Lots of people ask this, including myself. When transfering from camera it's just a data dump. No codec involved. No conversion.

Some 1394 devices allow camera control to flow through them but the ADVC100 appears to Windows as a camera itself. When capturing from it you have to turn device control off. It doesn't (afaik) allow other cameras to be controlled on it's 1394 chain.

Rob

No, im not try to acheive anything. I guess the reason i asked is because my firewire ports are on the back of my computer. I have a mess of wires back there. I was just hoping that i could plug my camcorder's firewire cable into the front of the canopus unit instead of sticking my big clumsy hands back there and ultimately unplugging something else in the process. I have 2 ports that i have access to. ONe a firewire drive the other the canopus unit. Its not a big deal to unplug one and switch out but i was hoping i didnt have to do this as a workaround.

Thanks.

Suggestion. I just bought the Enermax Multifunction Transfer Panel. It puts a firewire and two usb ports on the front. Makes it easy to plug and unplug many devices. Sell for $15.95 plus shipping.

Dave T2

Yeah thanks for the suggestion. But unfourtanetly im maxed out of slots and spaces, 1 DVD drive/ 1 CDrw, 1 removable hard drive storage droor, 2 internal drives. The only way I could have access is if a drill a hole in the case. Ive tried 3 different Firewire hubs that left something to be desired. So i kind of feel out of options for front panel access.

Thanks Though.

Any luck plugging the camera into the back of the external hard drive? It often works (but not always). You will definitely have camera control this way.

By the way, If you're using scene detection in sfvidcap then your files will be small enough to recapture if you have dropped frames. Also, you can set vidcap up to show the clips that had dropped frames. Then you know what needs to be recaptured. Not that you want dropped frames...

Took me a while to figure out how to see WHICH clips had the dropped frames.

Rob

Just a word of caution, daisychaining firewire from HDDs to cameras etc is not a wise move, I've seen Mac users come to grief that way. It gets really nasty if the camera is on the same port as the drive you're capturing to, data goes from camera to PC and back to drive on the one cable. Even though f/wire has probably got enough bandwidth to handle it a lot of time is lost switching devices and when your doing r/w with tape the data can't wait.

I only suggest trying it. I've been able to capture this way even with a 700 MHz PIII. Disable the network interface first.

No guarantees.

For $50 you (Starixiom) could get a second 1394 card but it sound's like the goal was to have a port where you could reach it. Don't know how you'd fare with a bare 1394 cable sitting on your desk.

Rob

Our church techie just bought a nifty little device about the size of a hockey puck that is a hub with 6 firewire and 5 USB 2 ports. it connects to one firewire and one USB port on your computer with included 9' cables and can be placed anywhere that is convenient. I don't recall the brand offhand, but i'll check on that and the pricing tomorrow when i get to church.

If any of your USB devices need power then this hub does require a power connection to the computer's power supply. This isn't necessary for most firewire devices though.