Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Essential Technology for Digital Filmmaking - FireWire

Digital movie footage is really nothing more than a series of electronic files—extremely large files—and the best way to move those files is over a FireWire cable.

It’s not without good reason that manufacturers of multimedia devices have adopted this high-speed serial data-bus technology. Offering transfer speeds of up to 400Mbps.

Firewire does more than simply connect camcorders to computers

it enables aspiring directors to incorporate myriad bold, new peripherals, such as still cameras, audio mixers, and scanners into the creative process.

FireWire also accelerates the performance of conventional equipment like hard disks and CD burners. As you venture further into digital filmmaking, you will see that the benefits offered by FireWire are monumental: Easy cross-platform implementation, simplified cabling, and hot swapping are just a few.

When FireWire was introduced, it was limited in the cable distances it allowed and its ability to capture footage directly to disk while recording. But today most of those problems have been overcome, and a number of FireWire hubs, cabling systems, DV mixers, and signal converters allow you to use multiple devices and AV inputs for live events and direct Webcasting.

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