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Pinnacle DV300 Amazing DV editing for under $750!!!

Rather then write an article, I have decided to use several of my posts to rec.video.desktop and the DV-L list.

(Last updated June 12, 1998)

If you've been waiting for a complete, affordable FireWire solution for your DV camcorder, this is it. I tested it under Win95, but the DV300 comes with drivers for NT and Mac as well!!

I just finished playing with my pre-release DV300. WOW!! The capture and playback is perfect. I tested it using both an external CTI 9GB UW Cheetah and a 14 GB Medea VideoRAID. Both gave perfect results. The video was identical to the original footage from the vx700!!

The install was a snap. the plug & play did. the dv tools software is simply incredible. I'll be posting a complete first look on our website this weekend. We hope to get our first units in early next week. The folks at Pinnacle have really created the perfect DV editing system. Frame accurate batch capturing. Even better, the DV Tools will scan your entire DV tape and mark each new scene. SImply incredible. The first real full implementation of FireWire and all its glory. Full device control, awesome video quality, fantastic capture utilities and interface.

To summarize my first look -
EXCELLENT!! The DV Tools software is lightyears ahead of anything else on the market. It not only does batch capture, but scans the video for you and finds each scene. You then trim the scene before you capture anything, saving tons of disk space. Add to this the INSTANT Video timeline playback, and you have a MONSTER product.

DV300 is in stock and on sale for $749.95

Thanks Gary. I cought your first post a few weeks back and read the replies, but am awaiting some hard core details like: does time code transfer from the tape,
The DV300 device control is totally frame accurate. I grabbed the same sequence two different times, and the clips were identical. I think it uses the timecode built into the FireWire CODEC, not SMTPE.

How is the preview situation?
Good question. With the software CODEC, you are limited to less then full screen preview at full speed. I found that at 1/4 screen, clips play pretty smooth on the computer monitor, but not perfect. DV Tools does give you the ability to play clips you have made out to the DV device for preview.

Is there a marked difference using the SCSI interface?
NO! Performance is identical to a 2940UW. The key here is not for folks who could get a first generation Adaptec card (ie Spark) running, but for those who could not. In a working system there is no increased performance. What the SCSI on board does do is eliminate the agonizing PCI resource issues that would cause communication link failures. I got the same exact perfect capture and playback to both my Cheetah and Medea VideoRAID

Is there trully more than 2gig playback?
Yes, it is called Instant Video. This is a proven technology, being used by hundreds, perhaps thousands of DC30+ ( and now DC30) owners. Instant DV lets you play video directly from the Premiere timeline. Only effects/transitions are rendered. No new movie is made. The timeline can be up to 1 hour long.

The DV300 is the real deal. Adaptec solved the PCI compatability issues by putting the SCSI on board. Pinnacle engineering (mainly the old miro guys in Germany) get the credit for an interface (DV Tools) that is light years ahead of the competiton. And, my sources tell me even more cool features will be added in future driver releases.

What kind of connectors does the DV300 have?

The DV300 has 3 FireWire jacks, 2 external and one internal. The DV300 comes with a FireWire cable and an internal 68 pin SCSI cable. It has an internal 68 pin UltraWide SCSI connector. In order to fit 2 DV jacks and a 68 pin external SCSI connector on one board, an UltraHigh Density 68 pin connector is used. This means that in order to hook up external SCSI drives, you're going to need to buy a special cable. It took me a week to find them, but we now have them in stock.

#SCSI68UHD in stock! $79.95
FREE with the purchase of the DV300 and CTI external SCSI drive.

BTW, I have also found some internal 68 pin to 50 pin adapters. This way you can hook your Zip, Jaz or Ultra Narrow SCSI drive up to the DV300.

#SCSI68-50 in stock! $29.95
Internal 68 to 50 pin adapter for DV300

How many IRQs does the DV300 require?

The DV300 reuqires 2 IRQs. One for the 2940UW controller, and one for the IEEE1394 FireWire interface. When you install the DV300, the SCSI controller portion of the card will be installed first. Most users will find that Win95 will automatically detect and install the 2940UW portion of the card when they first boot up. The good news is that for most users, either of these IRQ can be easily shared with other PCI devices.

What kind of a PC should I get?

On the PC side, get a P200/233MMX or a Pentium II. If you are getting a new PII machine, get one with the new LX chipset. This is the chipset that supports the AGP graphic cards. (you do not need an AGP card, it is just a quick way to identify the LX chipset)

On the Mac side, the DV300 works only with a Power Mac 604 or better. If your getting a new Mac, go with an 8600, 9600 or a G3.

As for other specs here is the Videoguys' recommendation:

  1. 64 megs of RAM. DV software CODEC needs resources to crunch and render the video. RAM is still cheap, so if you can, get 96 megs or even 128!
  2. 4 meg 3D graphic card that supports direct draw overlay. NOTE: Overlay is an extra feature of direct draw, not all Direct Draw cards have Overlay. Our top recommendation is the Diamond Viper or Stealth 3D
  3. 4+GB hard drive for your OS and software
  4. An SCSI UltraWide drive for the video hooked directly to the DV300

DV300 tech note:

As you now know, the DV300 works on both PC and Mac. Although the same exact hardware is used for either platform, there is a jumper that tells the board if it is PC or Mac. This jumper is referred to as J10 in the DV300 manual. (If you hold the card with the internal SCSI connector up, the J10 jumper is in the upper-right-hand-corner just to the left of J-1)

If you are a PC user, and the DV300 SCSI controller isn't working and didn't load on boot, the J10 jumper is probably set for Mac (no jumper). J-10 MUST be jumped for the SCSI portion of the DV300 to work properly. Remove the card, set the jumper and everything should now work splendidly. Conversly, if you have a Mac and the DV300 SCSI is not functioning properly, make sure the J10 jumper is NOT jumped.

miroVIDEO DV300 patch

691K file fixes A/V sync for long playing files and better preview performance in Premiere.

New 1.5 driver coming soon!!

  1. bigger, full speed playback on your computer screen
  2. Faster Rendering
  3. One click quick capture

It sounds great, now lets see some specs!