Cameras & Video: April 2009 Archives

Submitted Question:

My computer won't recognize both cameras (I have them
connected with firewire).  What do I need to do to get VC to recognize
both cameras?  We want to start using VC for our daily news
broadcasts instead of Windows Media Encoder.

First question--do you have each camera connected to it's own separate firewire card?   This is a common issue that some don't know is a requirement.  Explanation--your PC needs to see each camera separately, thus each camera needs to be plugged into separate firewire cards.  On a desktop PC, these are known as PCI firewire cards and are under $20 each.  Add additional cards when adding cameras.  On latops, the firewire card fits into a slot on the laptop, but be aware that there are two types of slots (older PCMCIA and newer Expresscard slots).  See my firewire card recommendations here.

In summary, just because you might see multiple ports on a firewire card does NOT mean it's ok to connect multiple cameras to it.  Each firewire card represents a "firewire channel" to your computer.  To avoid stuttering video, avoid plugging in multiple cams into one firewire card.

Hope that helps!  Learn more about this in chapter 4 cameras of my Training DVD Volume 1.  Let us know below by leaving comments...

As of April 2009, I'd recommend the best camera (and most affordable) for Adobe Visual Communicator as the Canon ZR960 firewire MiniDV camcorder.  See more camera details and advice on my website HERE.

This camera has the required specs for Visual Communicator users, such as firewire output, mic input, and ability to set manual controls like white balance, exposure, and focus.  These are important things to control manually if you want to get the best possible key when using the green screen feature of Visual Communicator.  More details regarding camera settings are covered in chapter 4 of my Training DVD Volume 1.

Questions or comments please submit below, thanks!