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Choosing The Best Firewire Card

By: Gary Hendricks

Article Word Count: 913 words  [Comments (0)]
Total Views: 112 Views







Choosing The Best Firewire Card









Confused by Firewire or IEEE 1394 technology? Don't know which




Firewire card or device to buy? Let's see if we can answer some




of your queries. Firewire can be a confusing concept for some




beginners in digital videography. It's made worse by the fact




that many camcorder manuals do not document Firewire concepts




clearly.









The term Firewire refers to a technology for transmission of




data. It achieves extremely high transfer speeds (much faster




than USB). As a result, it is able to transfer video (with




almost zero loss in quality) from your camcorder to the




computer. A Firewire cable runs from your camcorder DV output




port to your computer's DV input port.









Let's see what factors need to be consider when purchasing a




good Firewire card.














OHCI and Manufacturer Drivers




Some Firewire cards




are OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) compatible. This




simply means that you can plug and play the card in the Windows




or Mac environment. OHCI Firewire cards depend on the native




software drivers that are included in Windows or Mac operating




systems. They tend to be cheaper and are a good choice for the




average home user.









Other cards incorporate manufacturer drivers, which means that




the manufacturer (e.g. Pinnacle) wrote their own specific




software drivers for usage with the Firewire card. These cards




tend to be pricier but they allow sophisticated features like




real-time effects.














Real-Time Effects




If you're into video editing,




you'll know that rendering a video can take a long, long time.




Rendering is the process of compiling all the screen effects,




transitions, titles and video layers in an edited video so that




a finalized version can be produced. If you get a higher-end




Firewire card, then many transitions and effects can be




processed by the card itself, speeding up the rendering process.




Of course, the more real-time effects you need, the more




expensive the card.














Bundled Software




Many Firewire cards come bundled




with video editing software. These are great products as they




help you save you from purchasing a separate video editing




package. However, be wary of those Firewire cards that come with




a 'lite' or scaled-down version of the video editing package.




I'd recommend those that come with the full fledged version of




the video editing software - such as Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV.














Recommended Firewire Cards




Let's now take a look




at some of the Firewire cards I personally recommend which are




available in the market today.














Buslink 3 Port PCI Firewire Card




This is a very




cheap but good Firewire card. It retails for less than $40




online. The data transfer is 400Mbps which means it is good




enough for real time video capture, as well as professional




sound and graphics editing.














Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV




Want some quality bundled




software? Pinnacle Systems packages Pinnacle Studio (an




excellent video editing program) with a Firewire card for about




$70.














ADS Dual Link PCI Firewire Card




ADS Technologies,




makers of the best-selling USB Instant DVD analog-to-digital




video conversion device, sells great Firewire cards as well. The




ADS DLX180 Dual Link PCI card is a OHCI-Compliant card and is




excellent value for money.














Conclusion




To choose a good Firewire card, you




should always consider the above factors: OHCI-compliance,




availability of real-time effects and bundled software. My feel




is that for home users, just get a simple card like the Buslink




3 Port PCI Firewire Card, or a software bundle like Pinnacle




Studio 9 AV/DV. In future, when you become more experienced, you




can always upgrade to higher end cards.




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