I have a few comments here.  Though I'm not sure if the original options
that Paul outlined are viable, some of what Max states here is not entirely
correct.  USB runs at 12 Mbs.  The parallel cable runs at 2.5 Mbs.  I'm
still not sure if this makes USB a viable option for video, but I do know it
is done.  Yes, most digital camera's come with firewire connections, mainly
because you can get firewire to run at 400 Mbs, 800 Mbs, and 1600 Mbs.
There are reports that a 3200 Mbs firewire technology is being worked on
too, but I have not heard any more about it for about a year.  I have seen
digital video camera's with USB.  Not because it's the most efficient, but
because it's what most people have.

As far as video compression goes, I am no expert, but I do have a recent
movie that runs at about the resolution you stated below.  It is in a ".avs"
file format and all two hours are compressed into two files of 245MB each.
Both files fit on a single CD.  Using Windows media player the files are
nearly crystal clear in full-screen mode.  So, two hours of video have been
compressed into 500MB.  I don't know how this was done, but I know it can be
done.  With the compression tools we have today I don't see why one hour of
video would require 9GB of drive space.

Kyle


Sent: Friday, July 07, 2000 1:03 AM
From: "Timchenko Maxim" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Video Capture through USB Port and Software


<<snip>>

> As for the USB, its throughput is simply not enough. Taking a VHS camera,
> that is about 500x250 pixels (250 in every frame, interlaced, gives 500),
> in, say, 16-bit colour, at 25 fps, we have 500x250x2x25=6.25 Mb/s. USB is
> about 2.5 Mb/s, isn't it? So USB is not an option - UNLESS some gadget,
> like Snappy or the Iomega's Buz! (it is for video capture, isn't it?) is
> used to compress the video and send it to the computer.

<<snip>>

> This is the solution I would recommend if you're about to put some video
> on your PC, but buy yourself a lot of hard drive (1-minute video @ 320x240
> @ 20 fps is over 150 Mb uncompressed - one hour of filmed video,
> consequently, 9 Gb ) and a different TV tuner card - FlyVideo's user
> interface is "in a galaxy far, far away" from being perfect.
>
> If you're about to put a lot of video, think about professional video
> capture card and, maybe, a hardware MPEG encoder.
>
> Yours,
>
> <> Max Timchenko [MaxVT]
>
> On Thu, 6 Jul 2000, Villano, Paul wrote:
>
> > I know about Dazzle and Snappy peripherals to allow you to connect a
video
> > camera to a PC.  But is there a way to do it through a USB port and
software
> > only without the Dazzle or Snappy product?  That is, is there any
software
> > out there that will recognize the attached camera through the USB port
and
> > import the video without having a go-between appliance (other than the
USB
> > cable)?

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