USB to Firewire adapter

[Philippe Gosselin]

Can I it or do i absolutly need a firewire port.

Premiere doesn't see it and when i switch from CARD to TAPE on the cammy XP stop recognizing the cam.


Thanks a lot guys for the info and help

[Chris Hurd]

Hello Philippe,

It is not possible to capture DV through the USB jack. USB doesn't have a video recognition layer. You must capture DV through FireWire. Adding a FireWire port to your computer is simple and inexpensive (usually well under $50USD). Hope this helps,

[Philippe Gosselin]

Thanks a lot Chris ,


Guess it is time to buy that new Sound blaster Audigy WITH firewire port , don't you think !!! ;)

[Yung Mah]

Has anyone tried this adapter

Pixela 1394 to USB 2.0 Capture Cable. Transfer your camcorder video to your PC or laptop via USB 2.0. One of a kind product!

Thanks

[John Miller]

It converts the DV to MPEG-1 (not even MPEG-2!) and that's what you capture.

[Chris Hurd]

Man, I *never* thought I'd see the day arrive when the "USB to FireWire adapter" became a reality. For the longest time, this idea was in the realm of the "VHS to 8mm adapter" and the "Diesel to gasoline adapter." Amazing. Still can't recommend it for the reasons John points out above, but it's worth noting that thirteen years after the advent of FireWire, this thing has finally happened.

[Louis Maddalena]

I will never forget my high school tv teacher wanted to explain to us that just because there is an adapter it doesn't mean it would work. He used an example of a garden hose to power outlet adapter, he made one at his house and brought it in and asked us if it would work.

They obviously woudln't sell it if it didn't work, but its not really an adapter its converting the dv signal to something else. Either way, I wouldn't trust it.

[John Miller]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Man, I *never* thought I'd see the day arrive when the "USB to FireWire adapter" became a reality. For the longest time, this idea was in the realm of the "VHS to 8mm adapter" and the "Diesel to gasoline adapter." Amazing. Still can't recommend it for the reasons John points out above, but it's worth noting that thirteen years after the advent of FireWire, this thing has finally happened.

Actually, Chris, it's been out for 2 or 3 years. Just hasn't broken through.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Louis Maddalena

I will never forget my high school tv teacher wanted to explain to us that just because there is an adapter it doesn't mean it would work. He used an example of a garden hose to power outlet adapter, he made one at his house and brought it in and asked us if it would work.

Do you still have the schematics for that? Life is kinda boring around here these days. Perhaps I'll build one and "see what happens". <grin>

[Joey Gowdy]

I'm being forced to use my eMachines w3623 Desktop as an editor since my AlienWare a51 m7700 Laptop melted down a couple days ago.

So... is there an IEEE-1394 4-pin cable that can run from the XL1s to a USB v2 port?

[Giroud Francois]

i start to understand why your Pc melted down :-)

[Steve House]

Nope, the IEEE1394 is a FireWire port and cable. USB V.anything is a totally different animal completely. Don't even THINK of connecting one to the other directly, even if you can manage to force the connectors together..

[Joey Gowdy]

Originally Posted by Giroud Francois

i start to understand why your Pc melted down :-)

Unfortunately, that partuicular AlienWare model has over-heating issues... will be sending it back to them for a complete makeover as usual (free of charge thankfully).

Originally Posted by Steve House

Nope, the IEEE1394 is a FireWire port and cable. USB V.anything is a totally different animal completely. Don't even THINK of connecting one to the other directly, even if you can manage to force the connectors together..

That figures... any alternatives? What about going tapeless by attaching an external harddrive to the XL1s, recording to it, then transfering it using the USB v2 sockets or some other method?

[Edward Carlson]

Well you can't just record to an external hard drive. If you have a FireStore or something similar, you can, but not just any old hard drive. You can buy a FireWire PCI card for your computer. It should be a straight forward install.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Joey Gowdy

So... is there an IEEE-1394 4-pin cable that can run from the XL1s to a USB v2 port?

Believe it or not, strange as it may seem, yes there is such a thing:

USB to FireWire DV Adapter - NTSC - US Version

However, it costs $120. You'll be *much* better off if you simply add a $30 FireWire card to your computer.