multiple video sources simultaneously

Discussion in 'Video capturing from analog sources' started by knubile, Feb 27, 2006.

  1. knubile

    knubile Member

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    I'm looking to capture 2 rca video inputs at the same time for video editing afterwards. Hard drive space is not an issue, so I will be capturing to raw uncompressed avi.

    This will be done in a mobile environment, so I am debating between using a portable pc system based on a mini-itx board or a laptop.

    I would prefer to use a laptop because they have screens, keyboards, etc built in and are ready to go on battery power. The question is,

    Can a laptop handle multiple video capture through USB 2.0 or firewire?
    If I use a PCMCIA card with 2 firewire ports, is there going to be a bandwidth issue? How about USB 2.0?

    If I go with the mini-itx system, I can use a pci card. I know there are many that handle up to 4 inputs. Can they do dvd quality(720x48?) at 30fps on all four at the same time?

    Is this possible with external devices too, so I can accomplish that on a laptop with 4 devices?

    I'm new to video capturing and don't really know what's needed in terms of performance/bandwith, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2006
    knubile, Feb 27, 2006
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  2. Minion

    Minion Senior member

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    I don"t think you will be able to Capture 2 Uncompressed Video Streams at the same Time....Even if you could get 2 Seperate Capture devices to work at the Same Time there are No LapTop Hard Drives that are Fast enough to Write that Much Data to a Hard Drive at the Same Time....

    Two Full Resolution Uncompressed Video Streams will suck up about 2.5 to 3.0 GB of Space Per Minute and there are no LapTop Hard drives that are That Fast.....

    Even Multi-Input Survailance systems have to use Hardware Compression because of the Bandwidth it takes up which is Probably the Type of Capture setup I would suggest if trying to capture multiple streams at once but they are all PCI Cards from what I know.....

    Cheers
     
    Minion, Feb 27, 2006
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  3. knubile

    knubile Member

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    hmm. Okay. I guess hard drives are an issue. :)
    What if they are external USB 2.0 or firewire drives?

    The end result is going to be on a DVD.
    What is the best way to capture for that? I will be processing the video in Adobe Premiere and After Effects, which apparently don't like mpeg2 encoded video for input.

    Basically, I just want to capture 2 or 3 inputs to edit with Adobe products and burn to DVD.
    Can this be done straight to a laptop with external capture hardware or firewire ports?
    Can this be done with a pc that has a PCI slot?
    Am I stuck trying to record the footage to tape, then capturing it to a PC after?
     
    knubile, Feb 27, 2006
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