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Streaming Video via USB?

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floridaguy


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Hi. I'm a potential switcher. I may be using the wrong terms since search didn't find anything.

I have a camera that can also record High Definition video. It has a USB port and and HDMI port but no firewire. If I want to stream video from the camera to a MacBook can I do it using the USB port?
 
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floridaguy


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floridaguy said:
Hi. I'm a potential switcher. I may be using the wrong terms since search didn't find anything.

I have a camera that can also record High Definition video. It has a USB port and and HDMI port but no firewire. If I want to stream video from the camera to a MacBook can I do it using the USB port?
Click to expand...
Wrong forum? Unclear question?

Last night I did some research and it appears there are Mini Port to HDMI converters. Is that what i need or will USB suffice?
 
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mikekan


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Are you sure? I think that HD videocameras must have the "small" firewire called i-link or i-something like that...
 
bobtomay

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I would suggest:

A) checking the owners manual or manufacturers website for details on your camera.

B) telling what camera you have

Not all cameras are created equal.
 
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floridaguy


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xstep

xstep


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On page 284 I found this; "Movies: MOV (Image data: H.264; Audio data: Linear PCM (stereo))". This suggests a QuickTime file format that can be imported into iMovie. Perhaps iMovie 09 can also read directly from the camera and do the import that way. See the iMovie tutorials regarding importing on the iLife web page.

The USB cable connection should give access to the content from your Mac.
 
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floridaguy


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xstep said:
On page 284 I found this; ...

The USB cable connection should give access to the content from your Mac.
Click to expand...
I know how to access the content. The issue that concerns me is it's quality. Let me try asking the question a different way...

Say I have a movie recorded on my camera... I want to play it on the Macpro with using the card on the camera as a drive. Using the USB port will it play without jittering and pausing? My actual application is to do this with a live feed but just so you understand what I'm asking...
 
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Well, that depends

This isn't as simple question as it may appear. There are many variables that will determine whether any video will play without stutter on any PC or Mac.

What is the video format?(Mpeg 1, mpeg2, mpeg4, 264, avchd, etc.)
What is the envelope? (AVI, MOV, etc.)
What is the resolution? 1920x1080p, 1920x1080i, 1300x720p, etc.

In my experience, in general, video from a usb drive can play nicely. But video in a format for editing as opposed to display won't playback well no matter what you do.

I believe most of these potential problems exist on the PC/Windows machine also.
 
xstep

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floridaguy said:
Say I have a movie recorded on my camera... I want to play it on the Macpro with using the card on the camera as a drive. Using the USB port will it play without jittering and pausing? My actual application is to do this with a live feed but just so you understand what I'm asking...
Click to expand...

Do you mean that you want to stream the live video off of the camera into your computer? If so, then the first question is, does that camera support such a feature? A search for the word, stream, found nothing in that manual you linked to.

I've heard of hacks that use the 'live view' feature of cameras. If I recall correctly, the frames per second are low and the quality is not full resolution such as the 1080 HD that the camera can do.
 

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