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Archos Dvr And Helmet Camera?


harley45

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I'm thinking about buying a setup like this for the next season and was wondering if anyone knows of any compatibility issues that might crop up woth osx 10? I have been using a samsung sports camcorder with my old IBM system but it is incompatible with MAc so far with out some special conversion software.

Thanks in advance!!

Edited by harley45
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Archos makes their own helmet camera that at $149.95 seems like it would work ok for home use. They say the files are recorded in mpeg 4 and I just need to make sure that will work with Imovie or if I will have to get quicktime pro?

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As long as it has a FireWire port it will talk to iMovie. The Archos DVR and Helmet Cam only support USB 2.0 so they will NOT work directly with iMovie, or QT Pro, or even Final Cut Pro.

Here is the overall Apple iMovie tech info page.

http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/import/

Here is the tech page that states FireWire only for iMovie.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=165336

DV editing on the Apple platform does not support USB I/O directly into the editing programs. You have to pull the video off the DVR via drag-n-drop if you use USB, then drop it into iMovie. Not the best way to do this :-(

I would NOT recommend the Archos system. Find something with FireWire ports.

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The downside to drag and dropping clips is that you don't get to pull excerpts from the tape in like you can with FW. FireWire gives you machine control of the DVR from inside iMovie. This allows you to scan the footage and mark in/out points. Then you tell it to capture just the selected sections and BAM, you get only the chunks of video into iMovie that you actually want to use in the final product.

This is a great feature when you are dealing with endless amounts of video footage and you only want to use specific portions. It also saves on HD space when you only need portions of the raw source video for your editing. Camcorder video takes a couple hundred MB of HD space per minute of footage at low resolution, lots more at full broadcast resolution.

This is a moot point if all you want to do is take entire tapes into iMovie intact and just bang them out onto DVD for archival viewing, but if you have many, many hours of footage to pull from and are doing a whole lot of editing down with it, then this feature is really, really big.

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George let me be sure I understand please.

If I record a match onto the Archos I will have to drag the whole thing into I-movie and then I will be able to cut parts out, for example the dead time from when I activate the camera till the ro says "shooter ready" is that correct? Since I'm only going to record Match footage this still seems doable because even a big match seldom has more than an hour total on my samsung unit, and as long as I-movie will read mpeg4 as I understand it will. Am I on the right path to understanding?

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As long as it has a FireWire port it will talk to iMovie. The Archos DVR and Helmet Cam only support USB 2.0 so they will NOT work directly with iMovie, or QT Pro, or even Final Cut Pro.

Geoffrey, do you have any recommendations for a DVR or portable hard drive to use in combination with a helmet cam and a Mac?

-Chet

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  • 3 weeks later...

George did you ever find anything for Chet? I've been looking and I'm not having much luck. My Archos is being used by my wife more and more and I need a small simple recorder for this as I can use my ipod for my music and firewire outout would be handy the more I think about it.

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I just got off the phone with Matt Burkett and he doesn't feel that there currenly is an affordable solution which retains any useable (read: commercial) quality.

Now, keep in mind that his (and my) expectations are going to be higher than the hobbyist who just wants to make fun videos to view at home.

What I'm looking for is some portable, battery-operated hard drive or flash card solution that can take the analog signal from a Sony ExView bullet camera and record it to DV format. There also must be some way to preview the image to ensure the camera is aligned correctly.

Then, it must be FireWire compatible to the Mac for input to Final Cut Pro.

Someday...

-Chet

Edited by DJPoLo
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I think I may just try a dv consumer camcorder and one of the bullet cameras the mini dvs are small enough and light enough that the weight shouldn't be a problem and the quality should be ok for my home use. I just wish there was a way to affordably out put hddvd but that is comming soon I guess I really like the look of the Canon hv10

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Looks like the Fast Forward Video NDT 200 will do the trick if you are doing QuickTime based DV editing (Can you say Final Cut/iMovie?):

http://www.ffv.com/products/ndt200.htm

Looks to do NTSC DV resolution in standard QT DV Codec that is better than MiniDV and just about as good as real DVCAM for field capture.

It captures in 720x486 (NTSC DV) and delivers 550 true TV lines via 4:2:2 Y,Pb,Pr processing in the A/D conversion at 13mhz YUV bandwidth. This IS broadcast quality in every sense of the word! We have professional flypack systems for rent that use a similar codec and we produce real TV through these systems:

http://www.conceptorg.com/vps-300_specs.html

Matt is wrong Chet, it's here, it's just $1495.00 and still only has USB 2.0. This limits capture options, but does allow importing the clips then letting them do a little rendering and you are there. That is good enough to use for money jobs!

BTW, $1495.00 is nothing compared to what a high end MiniDV, or even DVCAM VTR will cost

At my rental company, we will be sticking with tape based field acquisition for now because we can deal with a larger than "pro-sumer" camcorder system for our applications (Sony D-30/D-30 3/4" CCD head with DSR-1 DVCAM dockable back is our typical EFP rig). Besides, we HAVE the tape based systems in stock already ;-)

BTW, the Archos DVR 700 delivers 720x486 NTSC DV resolution in a 5:1 compression Codec that looks to be "Almost" real quality. At $500 bux this may meet some folks needs for near Broadcast Quality work. Still only USB 2.0, but drag-n-drop import with a little rendering will get ya' going editing in any system.

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  • 2 months later...
BTW, the Archos DVR 700 delivers 720x486 NTSC DV resolution in a 5:1 compression Codec that looks to be "Almost" real quality. At $500 bux this may meet some folks needs for near Broadcast Quality work. Still only USB 2.0, but drag-n-drop import with a little rendering will get ya' going editing in any system.

I find the Archos website very confusing and can't find the 700 unit there at all. Is it still being produced?

-Chet

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Archos makes their own helmet camera that at $149.95 seems like it would work ok for home use. They say the files are recorded in mpeg 4 and I just need to make sure that will work with Imovie or if I will have to get quicktime pro?

If you froogle it, (Google's search engine for products) I have seen this camera, new in unopened box for 109.XX...I just ordered it for $110 and the Archos 404 30GB for $229, with shipping $359.91.

I am still waiting on it to come in so cant post any vid's, but the single wire with controller, intregal mike, and camera powered by the DVR unit so no 8 AA battery pack like most bullet cams I saw made it worth it for personal use for me.

Edited to add, I plan (hope) to use it with a G4 Mac...we'll see

Edited by CDRODA396
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Well, (almost) everything has arrived but I can't attach the VioSport camera to the Archos 404. <_<

When I ordered the VioSport there was an accessory video cable to use with Archos PVRs so I ordered it. Well, it turns out that the cable is not compatible with fourth generation Archos products. :angry:

So, back I head to the Archos website to buy their ($70) attachment to allow video connections into the 404 unit. :wacko:

As soon as that arrives I will report back. :mellow:

-Chet

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Well, (almost) everything has arrived but I can't attach the VioSport camera to the Archos 404. <_<

When I ordered the VioSport there was an accessory video cable to use with Archos PVRs so I ordered it. Well, it turns out that the cable is not compatible with fourth generation Archos products. :angry:

So, back I head to the Archos website to buy their ($70) attachment to allow video connections into the 404 unit. :wacko:

As soon as that arrives I will report back. :mellow:

-Chet

Thats why I went with the AV500 ;)

Flyin40

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The Archos DVR Travel Adapter arrived via FedEx this afternoon. I hooked it up and it works like a charm. I've got the VioSport camera mounted to a headband.

Using an airsoft 2011 and running around the back yard the results are not bad. I'll have to mess with the Archos' white balance and exposure a little bit. It will be interesting to see how this stuff looks in FinalCut Pro. I'm a bit concerned about the video compression, but it's still pretty cool for such a small package (and a hell of a lot more portable that Shooting USA's Sony DSR-PDX 10! Where did they hide that monster on Miculek?).

I won't be able to live-fire test it until my weekly practice session on Thursday.

'Til then...

-Chet

Edited to add some "reloading" footage with my daughter, Brook. The VioSport is strapped to my wrist. B)

Spoon Cam

Edited by DJPoLo
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