Direct to pc laptop recording

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Filip Staresinic

Active member
Hi. If we don't think about practical problems that recording directly to laptop brings is it then better then P2 or firestore? The situation is like this. P2 cards are a little bit expensive for a very small capacity of HD fottage, firestore is expensive, makes noise, and is not very reliable. That is for me.
So I think about buying a laptop to record to it via firewire.

What are the minimum needed specs for one pc laptop to record live HD stream?

Any one familiar wih the problems that recording to laptop brings?(i allready said-ignore practical reasons as 'difficult to carry it arround and batery life.
 
Hmm not sure a PC laptop would do the trick. You could do it with FCP on a MacBook but you'd be locked into 59.94 recorded streams off the Firewire output. My suggestion is Firestore. It's not any louder than most laptops, a lot easier to work with in the field and more reliable. That or just rent more P2 cards as needed.

Noah
 
For a Windows laptop you'd need Adobe OnLocation (aka DV Rack) or an NLE that supports firewire streaming of HD footage such as EDIUS Broadcast or Avid XPress Pro HD.

The best solution for live capture is OnLocation -- it's nearly miraculous, it's so good. Live monitor, scopes, and a digital disk recorder, and it supports all modes of the HVX.
 
NoahK said:
Hmm not sure a PC laptop would do the trick. You could do it with FCP on a MacBook but you'd be locked into 59.94 recorded streams off the Firewire output.
Noah
Click to expand...

Scopebox breaks this limitation with its capability to remove redundant frames on the fly out FW.

Might want to look into that if you are on a Mac.

scopebox.com
 
Hello,

I'm testing On Location in my HP laptop with the HVX200 and it looks great.
I have only one firewire port in my HP, a USB external hardrive should be good to disk recorder or it is too slow ?
Can I record 720/24P using On Location ?

Thanks,
Ulisses
 
Should have no problem with a USB external drive.

It will record 720/24p with no problem; it won't record 720/24pN simply because the HVX does not send signal over Firewire in that mode.
 
NoahK said:
Hmm not sure a PC laptop would do the trick. You could do it with FCP on a MacBook but you'd be locked into 59.94 recorded streams off the Firewire output. My suggestion is Firestore. It's not any louder than most laptops, a lot easier to work with in the field and more reliable. That or just rent more P2 cards as needed.

Noah
Click to expand...

Is this why, regardless of which easy setup in FCP 6, that when I tell it I want a 1080i/30p project and import video direct using uncontrolled device that when I drop the footage into the timeline it always tells me to change my project prefs to match the footage that it ends up not being progressive?

Wow a terrible sentence. But in essence it sounds like log and capture really wants to see a card if you truly want progressive????

Thanks.
 
I posted this question elsewhere, but this may be a better spot...isnt the firewire cable itself the limiting factor along with the hard drive capacity?
I keep seeing references to a 50 mbit/sec ceiling for fire wire and a 20 to 40mbit/sec for hard disks...how does this reconcile with the top res of 100 mbit/sec output of the Hvx200?
 
Answered in the other thread, but I think I understand the confusion now: (conventional) firewire is limited to 50 megaBYTES per second (400 megabits = 50 megabytes). HVX is 100 megaBITS, 1/4 the speed of a regular firewire 400 cable. The HVX's firewire port is a 400-megabit port. The firewire is absolutely not a limiting factor here.
 
No doubt about, PC laptop, OnLocation, firewire cable (15 ft. max for DVCPro 100, 100 ft. for DV), sata PCMCIA or PCI Xpress card, Sata 2.5" (100 GB) hard disk. the best solution ever!!!


Try it, i bet you'll never work without it again!

I on it since DVrac 1.0 (DV only), 4 years ago!
 
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i am trying to get a video stream out of the hvx200 to onlocation on my pc but there is nothing coming out. I am shooting at 720p/30p and have set the 1394 control to "both". I dont know what i am overlooking...

does anyone know exactly what settings need to be changed???
thanks
 
Ok...nice post. Too much options...and i have to translate a little bit, so i get a little confused....but here again with rookie questions...

I have 1,000 dollars. I feature film to do.
A hvx200 pal. A sgpro. No P2 card yet. No firewire (sold it because didnt work with pal). I understand that the best quality is 720p because gonna do a film out and put it in santo domingo's movie theater -getting advantage of a new born market- ...
with the money, you professional/experiensed guys would:
a) buy two 8gbs p2 cards and download cards to everyday use laptop.
b) buy a good laptop just for capturing the media via firewire -and if so, it will get all the resolution i will need?
 
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