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Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 Adapter

T

TitanVex

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 10, 2010
18
0
I would like to buy a recorder that records HDMI. However, the one I am looking out only has HDMI In, HDMI Out, and Thunderbolt. My Macbook Pro does not have a Thunderbolt port, so is there anyway to convert the Thunderbolt to a Firewire 800 port? I realize it would only work as fast as the Firewire. Any help is appreciated. Thanks a lot.
-TitanVex
 
No such adapters exist and quite frankly I don't expect them to ever make one either.
 
robbieduncan said:
Wrong way. That turns a Thunderbolt port into a Firewire port. It does not allow you to connect a Thunderbolt peripheral to a Firewire port. I have not heard of anything that will let you do that.
Click to expand...

your correct

seems like a goofy adapter, if you have a thunderbolt port than surely your mac has a firewire port, i guess some people want 2 firewire and dont need the thunderbolt
 
iisforiphone said:
your correct

seems like a goofy adapter, if you have a thunderbolt port than surely your mac has a firewire port, i guess some people want 2 firewire and dont need the thunderbolt
Click to expand...

Once PCs start shipping with Thunderbolt they might sell a few: some of those won't have Firewire. Also the Macbook Air...
 
iisforiphone said:
your correct

seems like a goofy adapter, if you have a thunderbolt port than surely your mac has a firewire port, i guess some people want 2 firewire and dont need the thunderbolt
Click to expand...

Couldn't you connect a Firewire Cable to that? Out from that and then into your computer? Or would that not work...?
-TitanVex
 
TitanVex said:
I would like to buy a recorder that records HDMI. However, the one I am looking out only has HDMI In, HDMI Out, and Thunderbolt. My Macbook Pro does not have a Thunderbolt port, so is there anyway to convert the Thunderbolt to a Firewire 800 port? I realize it would only work as fast as the Firewire. Any help is appreciated. Thanks a lot.
-TitanVex
Click to expand...

As has been mentioned, there is no such adapter and probably never will, but I may know just what you're looking for. Take a look: http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc-hd50

I visited a broadcast studio last year (they were giving students a free tour) and they had, among other cool stuff, a pair of these ADVC-HD50 units in use. Technically, since HDMI and HDV* are two separate standards and codecs, the converter you are looking for is not merely an adapter but an active unit with conversion chips that essentially translates the signal to something you can use. This is a one of a kind unit, so the premium you have to pay for it is well within reason (HDMI to HDV is an expensive conversion option anyway).

*HDV stands for High Definition Video. It is typically transported over DV cassette tape. Until 2009, before the advent of good quality AVCHD camcorders, high-end DV camcorders used HDV to compress a higher quality image in a MPEG-2 container to be stored on DV cassette. Since this was more of an afterthought with HD support not taken into consideration when the DV cassette format was developed, there are a few limitations to the ways an HD picture can be stored with HDV. In layman's terms, the maximum picture resolution for HDV video is 1080x1440 at 60 frames per second. You read that right, it is not 1080x1920. The Grass Valley converter takes this into consideration, so there will be some loss of visual quality, but it's currently the only way to record HDMI over FireWire in a standalone unit.

If you're interested in other options, I know plenty. Let me know.
~Yousif
 
Okay, so if there is nothing like that, can I get the lower end model that runs out of a USB 3.0 Port? I heard that the connection is the same as the USB 2.0 Port...so wouldn't that work on my Macbook Pro? It would just run as fast as the 2.0 could handle, right?
-TitanVex
 
TitanVex said:
Okay, so if there is nothing like that, can I get the lower end model that runs out of a USB 3.0 Port? I heard that the connection is the same as the USB 2.0 Port...so wouldn't that work on my Macbook Pro? It would just run as fast as the 2.0 could handle, right?
-TitanVex
Click to expand...

Only if the device itself is backwards compatible, which I suspect is NOT the case since recording a video fees via hdmi requires much more throughput than USB 2.0 can handle. Hence the steep requirements on computer connections usable.
 
Belkin Adapter Release Spring 2012

Looks like Belkin has an adapter from Thunderbolt to Firewire, USB3(USB2) and extra Thunderbolt port.
Looks promising.I think we should start seeing more companies jumping on the Thunderbolt band wagon as this technology is owned by Intel and not Apple.
Seagate has also said that they are close to releasing a new Thunderbolt adapter for GoFlex line of drives.

http://www.belkin.com/pressRoom/releases/uploads/Thunderbolt_092011.html

http://storageeffect.media.seagate....ex-to-adapt-to-apples-thunderbolt-technology/
 
kat777 said:
Looks like Belkin has an adapter from Thunderbolt to Firewire, USB3(USB2...
Click to expand...

Are you sure that it's USB3? It's just that I've been looking everywhere for more info on that device because it would be perfect for me if it were USB3 and not 2. I have to admit that a TB enabled USB2 hub would be quite stupid but then again, I assumed that they would want to boast about additional support if it was there.
 
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