unloading/storage options

[videojim]

I am reading in Digital Content Producer Magazine (August 2008) where there are portable hard drives that will allow me to dump the hard drive content of the camera to an outside storage facility, such as the portable HDD. Is there such a device on the market that could take the HDV feed from the camera (MP4)thru the USB port, and then feed it to the editor thru the firewire port, so I can cut it on the Renomee? Who out there knows what's out there for this? Camera (Sony HDR-SR11) does not have a firewire output, and the technology difference of firewire and USB does not allow for a converter/adaptor cable with a firewire in and a USB out, or the other way around.

[TimKennelly]

I have had external drives in the past that had both firewire and USB jacks and could use both and either.

So I think you could use something like this http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-FireWire-Ex ... 033&sr=1-8 to capture via USB to a PC (storing it on this drive) and then output it from this drive via firewire to your Ren.

I don't think you could do direct pass through though.

I think the bigger problem is the format that the video is created/stored in on that cam as firewire transfers to the Ren require the data to be formatted with very specific AVI parameters and HD data is even more up in the air.

[LouBruno]

Tim is correct. You can't pass through. I tried this with the same LaCie Tim has posted with a link. I have the firewire connected from my Sol. Plus into the LaCie. I have my "S" unit attached VIA USB. When both appliances are powered-up, neither will read the LaCie unless I power one of the editing appliances off.

[videojim]

Thanks, guys. What concerns me is what format the HDV has to be for the Ren to receive and read it as such. The camera saves it as Mpeg 2 in SD, and Mpeg 4 in HD. I don't need to go directly thru a drive to it. Just get it out of the camera's hard drive, so I can shoot more. I don't want to buy an external hard drive and then have the Ren unable to read what I've shot. To teach myself how to use the software, I am doing everything in SD, but there's going to come a day when I will step up and start working in HD. I want to have these problems solved as much as possible now. Thanks for all your help.