Multi camera live edit on firewire?

A

AevnsGrandpa

Active member
Currently I video using 1 camera via firewire into my computer directly and this works great.

In some situations I have a need of using multiple cameras and want to use a live mixer to go between them for a single output but don't want to 'downgrade' my video to analog. Are there firewire 1394 mixers?

Thanks,

Jeff
 
I wasn't commenting because i don't think hardware firewire mixers exist, there are ways to do it with a pc, but i still don't see whats wrong with using a regular analog mixer?
 
Firewire switchers are rare birds. I saw a demo unit a year ago, unfortunately I can't remember the name. Firewire was never designed for this application, that's why it's difficult to find a FW switcher. The engineering headaches might not be worth the small demand for such a device. Your best bet is to call some staging companies in your area (Chicago?), they can point you in the right direction. If you find something test out a demo before you buy. I would be a little concerned with the possibilitty of audio drifting when swithcing multiple Firewire sources. good luck
 
There are loads of Video mixers with firewire inputs & outputs available on the market from manufacturers like FocusEnchancements (Formally Videonics), DataVideo, Sony, NewTek...

The thing is that Firewire really isn't very well suited to this application. There are a couple of major issues:
Cabel length. The Firewire standard limits cables to a maximum length of 4.5meters (15feet) - longer cables can, and are, used, but they can have problems.
The cabels arn't very robust nor do they have locking connectors, so there are physical problems there too.
Firewire signals are compressed DV, generally the camera's Composite outputs are pre-compression and will actually give you a better quality picture.
Firewire has lag. - which can play hell on live switching.

You are much better off using Composite over good quality coax cables.

- Mikko
 
Anything I have seen with a 1394 port is extremely pricey, anywhere from $3,000 and way up from there. I'd be happy just finding a small 2-4 channel composite for under a couple hundred. A/B and maybe some graphics is all I need.
 
here's something that might do the trick (if you have a Mac)...

here's something that might do the trick (if you have a Mac)...

Live Production with On-Air 2.0

Included with Intensity is Blackmagic On-Air 2.0, which allows two Intensity boards to be plugged into Apple™ Mac Pro systems for live mixing between two HD or SD cameras. On-Air includes everything you need for a live production studio including camera monitoring, program monitoring, graphic keying and recording to disk. Cameras auto sync, so you don't even need expensive genlock featured cameras as any HDV camera with HDMI-out will do. Full resolution live HD production is ideal for weddings, education, corporate production and more. HD has never been so affordable!

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/
 
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