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Firewire splitter

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Anybody knows of a device to split a DV signal via Firewire? The task is to record digital signal from one camera on two (or more) devices at the same time. Firewire hubs designed for computer networks do not seem to work (they somehow do not recognise a signal from the camera).

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It's just not going to work. The signals over Firewire just don't "split" because there's a lot of 2-way communication going on between the device sending and the device receiving. If there is a third device, it has to wait while the data is transmitted from one to the other and while that may work for regular data, that will not work for real-time data being played off of a videotape.

What -is- possible it to download the data to a server (aka storage area network or SAN) and then have the other devices access the data from that provided the devices has the capability to do this.

For instance, you could go from camera to computer to SAN and then from SAN to several computers at the same time.

What, exactly, are you trying to do?
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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What, exactly, are you trying to do?


At Malevsky Cup we needed to make a copy of each jump on DVD for judging, and then another copy on miniDV for the FAI. Double dubbing is a pain...
I've already figured out that Firewire carries lots of 'service' commands both ways (that's why hubs do not work), but I thought in theory it could be possible to physically split the signal on the hardware level.
Videoserver is an obvious solution of course.

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It IS possible, we just couldn't get it to work reliably enough to use for the world record 2004 dubbing. You need a switch not a hub. We could record to a camera and dv deck at the same time, and/or capture to a firewire hd which could be used at the same time by another laptop for editing.
The problem was, it would work sometimes but sometimes not. Seemded to have to do with the order you plugged in and turned on the appliances. Was a pain in the %^& frankly, although a nice idea when it worked. So we had to dub the old fashioned way...

ciel bleu,
Saskia

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if it's for judging - perhaps splitting analog signal would be a less pain in the ass solution ? - that would difinately work.


that would definately work indeed, but - surprise! - from this year SCS5 4.3.1 (3) demands that
The video recording, playback and auxiliary equipment used for judging FS, CF, AE and CP shall be of Digital PAL format.
:P

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We use a firewire hub for dubbing at the end of the day, we have had up to 6 camera's, one playing and the rest recording at the same time.

All the cameras were sony, although I'm not sure if that matters. On occasions the hub gets confused and has to be power cycled and the cameras turned off. It helps if the playback camera is the first to be turned on and starts to play (pause is OK) before the rest connect

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Why not use the RCA out


see above, it will violate the rules.
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We use a firewire hub for dubbing at the end of the day, we have had up to 6 camera's, one playing and the rest recording at the same time.


could you do me a favour and check the make and model? I appreciate

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