seagate fw hdd help quick

[Jett]

can't get a new seagate 160 external fw installed on my ibook G3, 10.2.8. using "disk utility" like they recommend, but after erasing the drive (i guess to format it?) it doesn't show up on the desktop like they say it should. might just take it back and get a OWC 250 for same price!
also- want this for video editing. does this mean I have to import the video through firewire from my camera to my internal hd and then connect my external hd and export it to that to edit from? new at this- thanks for the help

 

[iShater]

Not sure about external FW drives and if they come with drivers that support drives > 120GB on a G3 iBook. When I built my own (200GB HD with a FW external case) it didn't recognize it and it didn't work.

As for video editing, in iMovie you can tell it to use the FW drive as a scratch disk to work and import to. That is how you will do it to take advantage of the FW drive's enhanced performance compared to your internal HD.

 

[crazzyeddie]

If youre on an iBook, you cannot import video directly to the external drive because you dont have 2 firewire busses. Even if you loop it thru the firewire ports on the hard drive, its too slow and your video will be choppy.

 

[Jett]

eddie- any suggestions on the right way to use my ibook for v editing, or am i going to have to break down and go for the G5?

 

[iShater]

Originally posted by crazzyeddie
If youre on an iBook, you cannot import video directly to the external drive because you dont have 2 firewire busses. Even if you loop it thru the firewire ports on the hard drive, its too slow and your video will be choppy.

I have an 800Mhz G3, I have been able to import fine. Editing takes longer as I get the beachball when doing any special effects, but its working.

 

[Jett]

iShater, could you please be more specific about how you go about importing your video and what you do with it afterwards. Are you coming off the camera only and then working with small amounts of video , or do you dump it into an external hard drive?

 

[iShater]

Originally posted by Jett
iShater, could you please be more specific about how you go about importing your video and what you do with it afterwards. Are you coming off the camera only and then working with small amounts of video , or do you dump it into an external hard drive?

I didn't get my FW drive too long ago, so I don't have too much to share. I am hoping crazyeddie can give in more info.

I imported the miniDV movie into iMovie on the local HD, and didn't have problems. Then I did the editing on the local drive before I got my FW drive, and the editing was slow.

My understanding is that editing on the FW drive as a scratch disk boosts performance and helps the process. I haven't done that, but that is my understanding. Do a search on iMovie on the forums, this discussion took place around a year ago or so. Hope this helps.