Live camera feed on PC

[Mark M]

Looking to use Screen Monkey if possible but could always do it through a windows application and full screen it if possible too? Looking on the SM website it states that you need a direct x compatible camera or a video camera with firewire.

 

My video camera has firewire so does this mean you can just connect it up to the computer and it will display on the screen via the software? If so how can I get a firewire signal 20m's from the stage to the computer?

 

Or would a video capture card be a better option? Or is there somehing I havent thought of?

 

Thanks

[Nick S]

My video camera has firewire so does this mean you can just connect it up to the computer and it will display on the screen via the software?

 

Yes, pretty much. I use Macs for my video work, but should be the same for PCs. There will be some latency, it will vary depending on your hardware, etc. This latency may or may not be acceptable, depending on what you're planning to do with the video.

 

If so how can I get a firewire signal 20m's from the stage to the computer?

Depends on the camera, cable, etc. Officially I think the maximum single run of Firewire 400 you can do is 4.7m, but you can buy 20m cables. Firewire 800 has a much greater length (100m max, I believe). You can buy repeaters and the like, or look at ways of reducing the distance.

 

Alternatively, you can buy a dedicated DV/FireWire converter box, and run over analog until then. Canopus make a couple of reasonably priced dedicated DV encoders. This may be the better option, I'm sure somebody will come along with more promising suggestions.