Could anyone tell me what the difference is between a 4 pin-4 pin cable and a 6 pin - 4 pin one? I am about to order a Nisis 3 port PCI Firewire Card from Amazon for my Sony TRV14 and I see that there are the two types of cable to get. In my owner's manual it says get 4 pin - 4 pin, but most seem to be the otherv type with 6 pins. Anybody help?

The difference is just what it says, the 4 pin to 4 pin has a 4 pin connector at each end, while the 4 pin to 6 pin has a 4 pin at one end and a 6 pin at the other.

Universally all camcorders using firewire are fitted with a 4 pin socket so thats where the 4 pin goes, virtually all PC's and therefore PCI cards are fitted with 6 pin sockets so you will need the 6 to 4 pin version. The 4 - 4 pin is usually only required if you are using certain laptops for editing.

The additional 2 pins are provided at the computer end to send power to any external hardware that may require it, but your camcorder does NOT.

Once again, I thenk you!!

[neekey]

i have a built in card with 4 & 6 pin, I have just bought a panny nvds65b, I have also bought a 4 to 4 lead. I am going to use winxp movie maker. do I just switch cam to vcr, plug in leads, and capture vid? Will it automaticly find the port?

Neekey

Yes basically it is as easy as that, make sure you download the latest version of Microsoft Moviemaker which is Moviemaker2 from the Microsoft website, it is miles better than the version supplied with winXP and it is FREE !!

The best site I know devoted only to MovieMaker2 and how to use it and overcoming any problems is :-

www.papajohn.org

...

[MarkE19]

do I just switch cam to vcr, plug in leads, and capture vid? Will it automaticly find the port?

Not trying to be pedantic but to get the software to detect the camcorder you should connect in the following order:

Boot PC
Plug camcorder into PC via I-Link (it is hot swapperble, so no problems)
Start Movie Maker

The above might sound obvious, but I have advised several people on this as the obvious is often overlooked.

Mark.

[neekey]

Now works fine, at first I was only showing the vid cards capure software for a cam, doing things in the correct order now shows my dv cam. What do people tend to do regards storing film that is edited and complete. I have just installed a sata 120gig drive purely for editing and storeage. I have read that 1 min of film takes up about 175mb, is this correct, is it best to then sore to dvd,
Sorry to sound thick, but this is new to me.

Neeks

[MarkE19]

Sorry to sound thick, but this is new to me.

No problem, we all have to learn somehow and asking questions is the best way.

What do people tend to do regards storing film that is edited and complete.

I'm awaiting Santa to deliver a DVD recorder for my PC. I also have DV in on my camcorder and all footage is copied back to DV tape for safe storage. This might no longer be required once the DVD recorder is up and running though!

I have read that 1 min of film takes up about 175mb, is this correct

the approx figures are 1Gb of disk space for every 4 minutes of footage captured or 256Mb per minute.

Mark.

I am new to this forum and I was not sure how to post my
question or where to post when I came across your reply.
I ha d advd recorder for christmas Pioneer 5100. I am unable to
record to or from my computer or sony video camera. I am using
a 6-4 pin lead and a 6 to 4 adapter when using video to dvd recorder. I am using Pinnacle studio 8 which does record a file from the dvd recorder but it will not play. Can you help please

thanks
Dave