FireWire Disk Drives
Although not recommended for all systems, FireWire disk drives can be effectively used
to capture and edit projects using low data rate video clips, such as those captured
using the DV codec. However, most FireWire disk drives lack the performance of
internal Ultra ATA disk drives or of internal or external SCSI disk drives. For example, a
FireWire disk drive may not be able to support real-time playback with as many
simultaneous audio and video tracks as an internal Ultra ATA disk drive can. This can
also affect the number of simultaneous real-time effects that can be played back.
Keep the following points about FireWire drives in mind:
 FireWire disk drives are not recommended for capturing high data rate material such
as uncompressed SD or HD video.
 Certain DV camcorders cannot be connected to a computer while a FireWire disk
drive is connected simultaneously. In many cases, you can improve performance by
installing a separate FireWire PCI card to connect your FireWire drive.
 You may be able to improve performance by reducing the real-time video playback
data rate and the number of real-time audio tracks in the General tab of the User
Preferences window.
 You should never disconnect a FireWire disk drive prior to unmounting it from
the desktop.
Chapter 13
Determining Your Hard Disk Storage Options
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