firewire Vs. svideo

[owais]

I have a 3DFX Voodoo3 3500TV that has a little box(forgot what it's called) that can connect A/V wires going into my computer and sending them out to whatever, such as a TV. I also have a Mini DV camcorder that I'd like to copy some footage off of. I can either connect it by firewire which is supported but I don't have it in my computer, or I connect it with the box through S-Video. Would there be a quality difference? I want something that'll look as good as it does on my T.V. with my camcorder. I haven't actually connected the camcorder using S-Video since I don't have the cable or the camera on me right now. So, is it worth the extra money to get a Firewire card? Another question is about sound. Do I get sound through firewire?
Thanks in advance.

My system rig at:
http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=10588

 

[mbetea]

yes you can get sound through firewire. with firewire, there's no compression or generation loss at all. its pure digital. svideo is an analog signal, so compared to firewire you will see some loss. but svideo is not bad by any means. also too, what kind of camcorder are we talking about? a 1ccd camcorder will not give you broadcast quality no matter if you use firewire or not.

 

[owais]

I really don't have the camcorder on me, so I can't tell you what kind it is. What I can tell you is that the camcorder costed a hefty $1000 and its by JVC. It's farely new and has quite a bit of features. The quality blows everything that I have seen away. The quality is comparable to a DVD.
Thanks for the help.

My system rig at:
http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=10588

 

[bw37]

owais,

I'd strongly recommend getting a DV in card with some editing software. With that, you should have no image quality loss through the transfer to PC: DV to DV. You can then edit in DV and then choose what format to store final versions. That final conversion should be your only image loss if necessary.

With s-video in, you have to convert analog to some form of digital in, to "capture" on HD for editing. Most all of these captures are lossy unless you want huge files (DV are big enough as is).

There are cheap DV-in/editing packages out there (though you get what you pay for to some extent). You might even get some software with your camcorder. Another DV advantage is that most camcorders can be controlled by editing software through the DV connection. This makes dumping just what you want to HD easier as well as storing finished edits back to DV tape. You need to make sure that the DV card and software you get is compatible with the camcorder to take care of all these capabilities. Check w/ JVC.

Check out the video editing section below for more info. including some information sources, etc.

my $.02

BW