slooooowwwww tranfers

[1930artdeco]

Hello all,

I just bought a WD 500 GB external HD so that I can store some digital video for the museum I work at. It looks like (with Mac that I am using) I can upload about 5 mins of video, stop and then transfer it to the HD. I don't like it, but that is all the computer seems to be able to handle. I am using a 'Blueberry' G-4 type Mac tower with 1.9GB HD and 500 MB of ram.

I am using firewire 400 cable and it take about 30 minutes to trans that 5 min. vieo segment. So I have two questions:

1) Is there a faster way to do this or am I stuck with the ram limitations?
2) Could I hook the camera straight into the ext. HD for the transfer? Or does it have to got through the computer and iMovie first?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Consultant]

They need a computer upgrade. Most G4 Mac are over 10 year old. Even a Mac Mini will be much faster. 500MB of RAM is tiny. Some PowerMac takes up to 1.5GB of RAM if they don't want to upgrade to something more modern, but older RAM might be hard to find.

However, on my PowerMac G4, it takes only about 2 to 3 minutes to transfer 2GB of files through firewire. However that's with a modern hard drive. If that computer has 512MB of RAM than it might have an ancient drive with very slow transfer speed in terms of today's standards.

Most video cameras require a computer to transfer footage.

 

[1930artdeco]

Thank you Consultant, I was affraid that was going to be the answer. My next question is this: Is there a way to direct the download through iMovie directly to the ext. harddrive? Barring this, I will have to do the downloads in 5 min. increments (that is going to suck).

I did this the first time and it saved it as "dv.01" and I transferred it to the harddrive. The second time I did this it would not let me transfer it as it had the same name. So, I moved it to the desk top and changed the name to "dv.02" but it would not let me transfer as it kept the "dv.01" Is there a way to save it as a different name so that the ext. HD will accept it? I just changed the name but for some reason it kept the "dv.01" name, even though it showed as "dv.02". The third time I have to go to 'save as' and change it to a quicktime movie as it ould not let me save it anyother way.

Sorry about the long post and the fact I am not near the computer but I am trying to get spun up as a computer guru here.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[aarond12]

A "blueberry" is not a G4 system (unless its CPU was manually updated). It is a PowerMac G3. Time for a serious upgrade.

 

[acearchie]

Thank you Consultant, I was affraid that was going to be the answer. My next question is this: Is there a way to direct the download through iMovie directly to the ext. harddrive? Barring this, I will have to do the downloads in 5 min. increments (that is going to suck).

No offence Mike but I think you will struggle to find help on here. I don't think many people either professionally editing video or dabbling are in the same situation as you of only having a 1.5GB internal HDD.

Since you found the budget for a external hard drive would there be any for an old computer?

I don't know what you intend to do but any intel mac should suffice with SD video and the core 2 duo's with HD.

If you give us a better indication of what you are attempting to achieve on a whole we could probably help you out with suggesting the cheapest and quickest option.

Not sure if you realise this but the current iPhone 4s is a more powerful computer than the one that you are working off!

 

[Consultant]

...

Hey Mike, Some cameras can let you copy the files off to external drive.

However, how are you going to work on it if you can't even load a few minutes of footage? And as someone else pointed out, you probably have a G3 iMac, which is an ancient computer.

Why not go to an Apple Store and transfer the file there? Why not have your work buy a more recent Mac?

 

[blueroom]

Is your computer one of the museum exhibits?

 

[ftaok]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Soinds like the OP is importing miniDV footage via iMovie ... Shouldn't the import happen in real time? Or is the camcorder an HDV cam?

If the camcorder is a miniDV, a B/W PowerMac G3 should be plenty fast.

Also the thing about having to stop every 5 minutes sounds like a FAT32 issue on the external drive. Please confirm the format on the external.

 

[1930artdeco]

sloow tranfers

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the help. I am apparently working with a G3 mac that should be in a museum now. Talking with one of the guys at the museum we came to the conclusion that we would have to upgrade the internal HD and RAM. He gave me a lead to get another HD and some larger ram chips. The computer has 1.5 GB in memory on the internal HD with 500 MB of RAM, I think the processor is a 1.3 Ghz(?). It would be neat if I can download it straight to the ext. HD and bypass the computer altogether.

The job that I am doing at the museum is I would interview a vet and then transfer the interview to the ext. HD, take it home adn burn it to a disk. Then the Library of Congress gets a copy along with the vet. That is all I want the computer to do. I have wiped out anything that is not absolutely essential to what I am doing. I am going through imovie on Mac OS X (10.3.8).

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[dasmb]

If what you are looking to do is transcode, and not edit, the video -- your best bet may be to use a piece of transcoding software, such as Handbrake or VLC. A piece of DVD mastering software with transcoding capabilities, such as Toast, is a good idea as well, but not free software.

These are not as easy to use as iMovie, but nothing will be that easy on the machine, camera and software combo you have available. And of course it's hard to find anything compatible with Power hardware.

Alternately, you could go use any computer built in the last 4 years and be done in no time flat.

 

[mBox]

Is your computer one of the museum exhibits?

you beat me to it
man now Im tempted to fire up my PowerMac 6100