[graphics84]

does it work?

I was told that Final Cut Pro uses all the firewire ports from when in use... is this true?

if FCP uses all the Firewire ports for DV input... then you can't have an external Hard Drive via Firewire right?

can anyone clear this up?

[FD]

I use FCP 2 on my TiBook and iceBook with ext drives all the time. It works flawlessly for me. Video and sound come in from either a camera or Dazzle DV bridge, loop thru the ext firewire drive then in to the computer. In the 5 months I've been using these setups I've had no problems and no dropped frames(and I'm using 4200rpm 2.5" drives)

FD, I have tried using iMovie on my Ti400 with both internal and external 4200rpm portable drives. I have gotten consistently messages that says, "The disk has responded slowly...it may be too slow for your movie..." Can you tell me what settings you have on your computer, or what I might do differently? Thanks.

[bradoesch]

Originally posted by <Durhamite>:
<STRONG>FD, I have tried using iMovie on my Ti400 with both internal and external 4200rpm portable drives. I have gotten consistently messages that says, "The disk has responded slowly...it may be too slow for your movie..." Can you tell me what settings you have on your computer, or what I might do differently? Thanks.</STRONG>

iMovie used to give me that message as well. It happened when I was filling the last 5-10% of my drive. Perhaps making more room would help.
Also, are your portable drives FireWire or USB? USB is too slow for DV, so that might be why you're getting that message.

[Demonhood]

4200rpm is also dirt slow.
7200rpm is the standard for anything DV. i won't buy a drive (external or internal) unless it's 7200 (or 10,000 if i'm feeling sassy).

thanks for the responses. one more question: is it the rpm of the drive or the transfer rate of the drive that matters when it comes to DV? is there no way to do DV work on an external portable drive at 4200 rpm?