adapter or new dvr card

[ginogag 0]

hi got a question ,im new to forum........i have a dell dimension i do not use anymore 4 gigs ram.3.2mhz, plenty space on harddrive . a few years ago i installed firewire 1394 card just to convert my mini dv camcorder to dvds. firewire card i installed has the 3 dv ports I THINK THEY ARE DV . anyway i have 2 cc camera outside my house connected to my flat screen tv.i want to connect them to my pc CAN I DO THAT AND IF SO DO I NEED SOFTWARE ...i have plenty of usb ports and i think i have a factory radeon video card also. i was going to buy another video card that accepts the bnc connecters from my cameras but i have no room to install anymore cards ...is there an adapter or something from bnc to firewire i know there is one from bnc to rca but i need to know what i need exactly .i saw a dvr card that had bnc and dv inputs . im an electrician and i have done some security work at my job so i know a little. looking for the least expensive way ... i also have a router and i want to be able to view it from my laptop if possible ... i think ihave a static ip address ... i might add another camera or 2 and id like to see 2 or 4 cams in real time and record the outside of my house I KNOW ITS A LONG QUESTION HELP

[Soundy 1]

hi got a question ,im new to forum........i have a dell dimension i do not use anymore 4 gigs ram.3.2mhz, plenty space on harddrive . a few years ago i installed firewire 1394 card just to convert my mini dv camcorder to dvds. firewire card i installed has the 3 dv ports I THINK THEY ARE DV .

 

"DV" is "Digital Video", and as the name suggests, it's a standard for high-quality digital video recording. "MiniDV" is based on that same video format but simply uses smaller tapes and different compression.

 

The three ports on your firewire card are - ta da! - firewire ports. The actual technical spec for the interface is IEEE-1394; "Firewire" and "iLink" are two common marketing terms for the same thing. Firewire isn't specific to video; like USB, it's a type of data interface used for a wide variety of devices - video cameras and adapters, external storage like hard drives, etc.

 

anyway i have 2 cc camera outside my house connected to my flat screen tv.i want to connect them to my pc CAN I DO THAT AND IF SO DO I NEED SOFTWARE ...i have plenty of usb ports and i think i have a factory radeon video card also.

 

None of those will work for your CCTV cameras, at least not directly. The cameras output composite analog video; the first thing you need is a capture device that will accept that. *IF* your Radeon card is an "All-in-Wonder" model, it will accpet at least one composite video input. You can probably also connect your camcorder to a firewire port, then feed one of the CCTV cameras into the camcorder's A/V-in jack.

 

i was going to buy another video card that accepts the bnc connecters from my cameras but i have no room to install anymore cards ...is there an adapter or something from bnc to firewire

 

I'm not aware of any *multi-input* cards that use a firewire interface. There are several four-input boxes that connect via USB.

 

i know there is one from bnc to rca but i need to know what i need exactly

 

That won't help you - those just adapt two different connectors for the same type of analog video signal.

 

Here's the thing: if you're building a surveillance video system for security purposes, you really want it to have its own dedicated system. In this case, you're probably best off to remove the firewire card and install a DVR card with the appropriate BNC inputs. If this is a "spare" computer, you presumably have something better that you use for daily work... if it doesn't already have a firewire port or two, you can put the firewire card in that. It will make your capturing go that much smoother, and your editing that much faster.