Camcorders: Video editing: Firewire Cards

The term Firewire refers to a technology for transmission of data. It achieves extremely high transfer speeds (much faster than USB). As a result, it is able to transfer video (with almost zero loss in quality) from your camcorder to the computer. A Firewire cable runs from your camcorder DV output port to your computer's DV input port.

Purchasing a Firewire card.

Some Firewire cards are OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) compatible. This simply means that you can plug and play the card in the Windows or Mac environment. OHCI Firewire cards depend on the native software drivers that are included in Windows or Mac operating systems. They tend to be cheaper and are a good choice for the average home user. Other cards incorporate manufacturer drivers, which means that the manufacturer (e.g. Matrox) wrote their own specific software drivers for usage with the Firewire card. These cards tend to be pricer but they allow sophisticated features like real-time effects.

Real-Time Effects

If you're into video editing, you'll know that rendering a video can take a long, long time. Rendering is the process of compiling all the screen effects, transitions, titles and video layers in an edited video so that a finalized version can be produced. If you get a higher-end Firewire card, then many transitions and effects can be processed by the card itself, speeding up the rendering process. Of course, the more real-time effects you need, the more expensive the card.

Bundled Software

Many Firewire cards come bundled with video editing software. These are great products as they help you save you from purchasing a separate video editing package.

Recommended Firewire Cards

Buslink 3 Port PCI Firewire Card
This is a very cheap but good Firewire card. It retails for less than $40 online. The data transfer is 400Mbps which means it is good enough for real time video capture, as well as professional sound and graphics editing.

Buslink 3 Port PCI Firewire Card

Pinnacle Studio DV
Pinnacle Systems packages Studio DV v8.0 (an excellent video editing program) with a firewire card for about $90.

Pinnacle Studio DV

ADS Pyro Pro DVD 3-Port PCI Firewire Card
ADS Technologies, makers of the best-selling USB Instant DVD analog-to-digital video conversion device, sells great Firewire cards as well. The ADS Pyro Pro is a OHCI-Compliant card which also comes bundled with Ulead VideoStudio, DVD Movie Factory and DVD PictureShow. Excellent value for money.

ADS Pyro Pro DVD 3-Port PCI Firewire Card

Conclusion

To choose a good Firewire card, you should always consider the above factors: OHCI-compliance, availability of real-time effects and bundled software.