Without any extra hardware...

EW wrote on 7/27/2004, 12:13 PM
On an AMD 2800+ PC with 512MB DDR PC2700 Ram and Firewire for acquisition of digital video, what is the best quality format that can be captured, edited (natively) and output, assuming that the only external hardware would be the video camera connected to the computer?

I know about the firewire DV formats, but is there anything higher-quality available or soon-to-be available? Would HDV be the current top-of-the-line under these circumstances? Again, assuming the ONLY additional hardware attached to the system would be a client's video camera.

If extra hardware were added, at the cheapest price possible, would the next level be to get a $300 Decklink card?

Comments

BrianStanding wrote on 7/27/2004, 12:23 PM
By "higher quality," do you mean "higher resolution?"
EW wrote on 7/27/2004, 12:58 PM
Yes. Basically, If someone asked me what is the highest resolution camera that can be hooked up to my system via firewire, what would I say? What tape format would that be? What would be the limits on PTT using said format?
BrianStanding wrote on 7/27/2004, 2:01 PM
At present, I believe Vegas can only handle the various DV variants for capture and print to tape over firewire, without any hardware other than an OHCI 1394 port.

Those would include:
NTSC DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO25 (720X480, 29.97 fps interlaced)
PAL DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO25 (720 X 576, 25 fps interlaced)
24P NTSC DV (720 X 480, 24 fps progressive scan)
25P PAL DV (720 x 576, 25 fps progressive scan)
30P DV (720 X 480, 30 fps, progressive scan)

Vegas is quite happy editing uncompressed SD and reportedly can manage HD video, but you'll need additional hardware to capture into this format.