Live Video Feed...USB 2.0?

[jaredcoe]

We are looking into putting up a live video feed in our foyer during the services and every camera I have seen has USB out but none of the new, HD, cameras have firewire. Does anyone know if this will be a problem or if it will work just like firewire?

thanks

[greg]

USB inputs will work in ProPresenter, as long as they are recognized by Quicktime.

[chriswheat]

I would be careful and make sure that the camera you select actually outputs live video over the USB connection. A lot of webcams do that, but your typical consumer video camera does not, it only uses the USB connection for the transfer of files from the cameras hard drive, tape or memory card.

For example, I have a Canon HF10, which is an HD camera. It does not have a firewire output, but it does have a USB output. I just tried it to confirm that it wouldn't work, and it definitely doesn't. That's not to say that another brand or model won't work, but I haven't come across a camera other than a "webcam" that will do that.

[jaredcoe]

@Chris. Thanks for your input. Unfortunately I didn't see this before we ordered a camera. Looks like we'll be sending it back. Do you have any recommendations for cameras (less than $500) that would work well?

[knewhart]

Jared... If you can't get a camcorder with FireWire on your budget, you'll need to consider going the analog route (composite, s-video) to get the video from your camcorder to your Mac and then using a USB capture device like the one suggested in this thread.

In either of these cases, you'll be limited to SD quality video. FireWire would be the most flexible choice in the long run. There are solutions that use Cat-5 cable to move FireWire signals over distances of 60+ meters. There is also the possibility of having multiple cams available at full SD resolution with a FireWire solution. You can have multiple USB capture devices hooked up to your Mac, but most Macs would be limited to a single full-resolution SD signal because they only have one USB bus. Mac Pros would be the exception.