is my harddrive reducing the isight quality?

future-ex-pc-userfuture-ex-pc-user
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Hi,

I've been using my isight for some time now. I'm using ugrabit to record video to disk, because Quicktime Broadcaster is really slow on my Powerbook 12".

I'm able to record Video in real Pal resolution, so I can work with it in iMovie later.

My question is if my Harddrive is fast enough (or if it has enough buffer), because I can get 25 or 30 fps at full resolution only for about 10-20 seconds. After that the video hangs for a moment, but continues recording normally after a moment.

I have the same problem if I play music with itunes and am surfing the Web while recording, not only if the only program that is running is ugrabit.

So, does anybody know if this problem is because of my Harddrive-speed or because of the software?

Which software do you use to record video to disc?

Will it help to add more ram (I only have the standard 256MB), or would this just let me record 40 seconds and Hang for a moment after that (I'm recording to DV, so 30 seconds have about 500 MB)?

thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 1
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Slowest link in the chain is the first place to look, in this case the 4200 rpm (it is, isn't it?) drive in that powerbook of yours. When dealing with video, you really need at least 7200 rpm with a decent buffer (== 8MB). So that'll have to be Firewire in your case. They're not that expensive these days, especially if you're content with 80 GB or so. LaCie gets my recommendation.



    Then of course, video applications (as OS X) love RAM, and 256 MB is, to be honest, too little to even use OS X with two or three apps open comfortably. Up that! 512 MB maybe, or even 640 MB. I forget how much comes soldered to the motherboard.



    In any case: first thing would be looking for a fast HD.
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