Here goes:...

I recently bought a new PC which I use for editing, Mostly After
Effects work.

I used to edit on a laptop, but now that i have a fast new PC I have wiped the laptop and use it for Admin only.
The desktop has four 6 pin firweire sockets and the laptop has one 4 pin firewire socket.
Is there any way I could use one of the firewire sockets on the desktop to send a video signal to the laptop, to use it as a second display?

Also, when editing in premiere I am able to use my TV to preview work, by hooking my PC to my camera via firewire (effectively using camera as a Digital to Analog converter), and hooking the camera to the TV via A/V connecttion(composite & 2 stereo). when set up like this, anything I preview in premiere comes up on the TV screen automatically.
Is there any way to achieve the same functionality in After Effects? is the only way to do so by buying a video-out card of some kind?

thanks for taking the time to read this, hope it made sense..!

1. No, to my knowledge you cannot send that across firewire.

2. I don't think After Effects is aware of cameras, so that will not
work. You will need a dedicated DV editing board which will route
the output to your screen.

I see. As I only capture from DV I have no need of analog inputs etc., Is there a board you know of which will simply allow me to display the composition window on my TV?

cheers

I think all of the Canopus and Pinnacle DV editing boards have
that feature. I hope some other people will chime in and verify
this for you....

Yes, and I think I read that the After Effects comp display plugin now comes free with a DVStorm2 purchase... http://www.canopus.com

not cheap tho is it! the card alone is roughly $1k in the states.

I'm sure there's a cheap and cheerful alternative somewhere...