Suggested hardware specs when capturing MiniDV footage through Firewire?

[guy24s]

Hello,

I am going to attempt to transfer some footage from MiniDV tapes to my computer through Firewire.
I would like to capture the footage in uncompressed video for optimal quality. How demanding is this procedure, and what in terms of computer specs is it that ultimately matters when capturing video through firefire, e.g. harddrive speed, graphics card, RAM, and so on?
I have two different computers and I would like for you to tell me which one you think would work best for this purpose, and if you think my specs are enough to do this without running into problems such as frame drops etc.

I checked the computers' specs with Piriform's software Speccy. Both computers' harddrives have speeds of 7200 RPM. Here is some other information Speccy told me about the computers:


----------------------------------------------

COMPUTER 1:

CPU: Intel Core i5 2320 @ 3.00Ghz
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology

RAM: 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665Mhz (8-8-8-20)

Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0XR1GT (CPU 1)

Graphics: 1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 (NVIDIA)

Storage: 931GB Seagate ST31000524AS ATA Device (SATA )
Manufacturer Seagate
Form Factor 3.5"
Heads 16
Cylinders 121,601
Tracks 31,008,255
Sectors 1,953,520,065
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA8-ACS
Serial Number 6VPKEPJ2
Firmware Version Number JC4A
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 2691 times
Power On Time 845.9 days
Speed 7200 RPM
Features S.M.A.R.T., AAM, NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 931 GB
Real size 1,000,204,886,016 bytes
RAID Type None

----------------------------------------------

COMPUTER 2:

CPU: AMD A10-7800
Kaveri 28nm Technology

RAM: 16,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard 2B35 (P0)

Graphics: 2048MB ATI AMD Radeon R7 240 (Unknown)

Storage: 1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EARX-00PASB0 SATA Disk Device (SATA )
Manufacturer Western Digital
Form Factor GB/3.5-inch
Heads 16
Cylinders 243 201
Tracks 62 016 255
Sectors 3 907 024 065
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA8-ACS
Serial Number WD-WMAZA5704434
Firmware Version Number 51.0AB51
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 1257 times
Power On Time 131,7 days
Features S.M.A.R.T., NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 1863 GB
Real size 2 000 398 934 016 bytes
RAID Type None

----------------------------------------------

So which one do you think would work best?
If there is any other information about the computers you'd like to know that is missing here, tell me what that would be.
Thank you so much for reading this far and for any suggestions.

[DB83]

You simply can not capture uncompressed DV footage via firewire.

A DV for DV transfer is your only option in this manner.

[guy24s]

You simply can not capture uncompressed DV footage via firewire.

A DV for DV transfer is your only option in this manner.

Thank you for replying!
Sorry, I'm not very good with this stuff. What file format would I end up with if I connect the camera to the Firewire port, and capture?
And regardless of which format that is, do you think any of the computers I listed are good enough to do it, and if so which one would be my best chance of capturing the footage without any issues?

[jagabo]

What's on the tape is already already compressed with the DV codec. Firewire capture is really just an unmanaged transfer of that digital data to the PC. Under Windows you usually end up with DV in an AVI container. On a Mac DV in a MOV container.

Minimum specs for DV "capture" is something like a 1 GHz P3. Ie, a 20+ year old computer.

[DB83]

jagabo beat me to it.

It do not particuarily understand the specs of the 2nd drive since its speed (rpm) is not quoted. The first disk , speed-wise, is fine as long as that is not the OS drive. But if the drive is partitioned then just 'capture' to the non-OS partition.

I use the word 'capture' in its loosest sense since I, and jagabo, already stated that a DV capture is essentially just a 1:1 transfer of that is already digitally stored on your tape.

[Cornucopia]

Both of those machines should be way overkill for what is sufficient to transfer DV.

What I do NOT see, however, is:
1. What OS you are going to be using
2. What app you are going to be using
3. What Firewire (aka 1394) interface card you are going to be using (strongly pref. TI chipset)
4. What DV-compatible Firewire driver you have installed

FYI:
DV is 4:2:0 color(PAL)- or 4:1:1 color(NTSC)-subsampled dct-type compressed ~5.5:1 compared to uncompressed SD. That comes out to 25Mbps or ~13GB/hour.
DV datastream transfer over firewire is Isochronos (NOT like asynchronous file transfer).

Scott

[guy24s]

Thanks for the additional replies!

What's on the tape is already already compressed with the DV codec. Firewire capture is really just an unmanaged transfer of that digital data to the PC. Under Windows you usually end up with DV in an AVI container. On a Mac DV in a MOV container.

Minimum specs for DV "capture" is something like a 1 GHz P3. Ie, a 20+ year old computer.

jagabo beat me to it.

It do not particuarily understand the specs of the 2nd drive since its speed (rpm) is not quoted. The first disk , speed-wise, is fine as long as that is not the OS drive. But if the drive is partitioned then just 'capture' to the non-OS partition.

I use the word 'capture' in its loosest sense since I, and jagabo, already stated that a DV capture is essentially just a 1:1 transfer of that is already digitally stored on your tape.

Okay, I understand. Both drives are 7200 RPM. In the first computer, I also have a second harddrive (also 7200 RPM). So it would be better to transfer the DV content to the 2nd drive (which is not the OS drive)?

Both of those machines should be way overkill for what is sufficient to transfer DV.

What I do NOT see, however, is:
1. What OS you are going to be using
2. What app you are going to be using
3. What Firewire (aka 1394) interface card you are going to be using (strongly pref. TI chipset)
4. What DV-compatible Firewire driver you have installed

FYI:
DV is 4:2:0 color(PAL)- or 4:1:1 color(NTSC)-subsampled dct-type compressed ~5.5:1 compared to uncompressed SD. That comes out to 25Mbps or ~13GB/hour.
DV datastream transfer over firewire is Isochronos (NOT like asynchronous file transfer).

Scott

If I'll end up using the first computer I listed, the OS will be Windows Vista (64-bit). The other computer is Windows 7, but I'm still thinking the first one is a better choice because it has a second harddrive and I wouldn't need to transfer to the OS drive, plus according to the Firewire card's specifications, it's not compatible with anything but Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista 32/64 bit.
I have no idea which app I'll be using. If you have any suggestion, I would greatly appreciate to hear it.
The card I'll be using is called "PCI-E IEEE1394a (TI) (2P+1P) CARD". The specs say its chipset is Texas Instruments XIO22313AZHH. It also says the following:

-Compliant with PCI Express Base Specification 1.0a
-Compliant with IEEE 1394-1995, 1394a-2000 and OHCI 1.1 Standards
-PCI Express 1-lane(x1) FireWire adapters works with PCI Express slots with different lane width
-Installs in any available PCI Express slot and supports data transfer rates up to 400Mbps
-Two external and One internal 6-pin FireWire(1394a) ports to support DV camcorders, hard disk, removable drives, scanner, digital cameras and other FireWire audio/video devices
-Onboard power connector to provide reliable source

I haven't installed any drivers. Where would I get them? I assumed they would come with the card, at least the seller claims it does. I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

[jagabo]

Use WinDV or DVIO.

[JVRaines]

I haven't installed any drivers. Where would I get them? I assumed they would come with the card, at least the seller claims it does. I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

The drivers come with Windows. You'll have fewer headaches with the Vista machine because MS "improved" the driver for Win 7 and many users have had to revert because it doesn't work with DV sources.

[guy24s]

Use WinDV or DVIO.

Thank you. I have downloaded them and will try them both once the card arrives.

I haven't installed any drivers. Where would I get them? I assumed they would come with the card, at least the seller claims it does. I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

The drivers come with Windows. You'll have fewer headaches with the Vista machine because MS "improved" the driver for Win 7 and many users have had to revert because it doesn't work with DV sources.

Okay, I see. Vista it is then. I hope it will work, otherwise I will return with more questions.