Final Cut Express Camcorders
What is the difference between firewire and firewire basic?
I have a firewire port installed in my mac. I am trying to find a camcorder that is compatible with both Final Cut Express HD and iMovie HD. It seems that some camcorders require Firewire, and some require Firewire Basic. What is the difference?
To be honest, I’ve never heard of “firewire basic”.
So I looked around for it. Let me tell you, I *worked* for this answer (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)..
Turns out to be an Apple thing. Bear with me here, because even Apple-type folk are confused by the terms, and there are no definitions per se on the Apple site.
But I found it!!
So here’s the story:
First, it should be known that Apple was the outfit that actually INVENTED the IEEE1394 protocol and trademarked it as “FireWire”.
Well, it turns out that 1394 was so efficient that many manufacturers nudged its capabilities into the gray areas of the specifications. And if a “gray area” use had merit, then major manufacturers started copying the fudges. This resulted in a large popular base for these “pushed” capabilities.
All the while, though, Apple held their own hardware & software products using firewire to the strictest definitions of IEEE1394.
Such is the case of Final Cut Pro.
But it turns out that FCP and many recording devices couldn’t quite talk to each other, because of the extremely tight 1394 adherence programmed into FCP.
Now Apple couldn’t just snub all those cameras and decks “out there” that use marketplace versions of firewire. There’s just too damned many, and many of them are high-end products. And, suffice to say, Apple really doesn’t want to lose customers who buy high end products. 
So Apple created a kind of “relaxed” firewire spec that more closely adheres to the public marketplace version of firewire.
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So here’s your answer:
The tightly regulated IEEE1394 spec is called “Apple FireWire”.
The “relaxed” version is called “Apple FireWire Basic”.
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Now here’s an odd addendum: Apple type folk, INCLUDING Apple Corporation Folk, acknowledge that the 2 are virtually identical. This is backed up by oft stated standard procedure when using FCP, “Try the FireWire setting first. If that doesn’t work, try the FireWire Basic setting”.
Okay. Yeah. Well, no offense intended, people, but I think I’ll stick with my wintel stuff…But hey, I’m the guy that routinely embarrasses my hosts or my guests at fine restaurants by declining the wine list and ordering a Mich…
Anyway, hope this helps you out!
Oh, and PS: “Apple FireWire” & “Apple FireWire Basic” have nothing to do with the latest 1394b spec which raises firewire throughput from 400Mbs (Now called 1394a) to 800Mbs (Called 1394b). Both “Apple FireWire” and “Apple FireWire Basic” apparently has (or will soon have) a & b versions.
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