I am looking to starting taking a laptop on my shoots and using it as my external monitor while running Adobe On Location. I will be doing all my post on my desk top and will only be using the laptop as a monitor/ On Location. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good laptop that would accomplish this. I do not want a Mac so please no Mac recommendations.
On Location Question? Help!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter jverbeke
- Start date
I am a little confused as to what you are gunning for here because I am missing some important data in your post.
I have linked my Canon GL2 (mini dv) using a firewire (IEEE 1394) connection from the camera to my laptop - an HP Pavillion dv6000 (which is now 3 years old) - when running Vegas Pro 9 (Video Capture) to use my laptop as an additional external monitor while I was on location. I was even able to extend the use of the laptop by capturing live/real-time data to the hard drive while also recording to the mini dv tape in the GL2 (a crude yet effective redundant system). This approach allowed me to capture full .avi files on the laptop without any dropped frames.
So it can be done, as you have demonstrated an understanding of in your post. But I suspect (and better, more experienced minds will set me straight on this if I'm off) the limitation may be the camera to laptop interface. I may not have been able to do this if...
a) I did not have a firewire port on my laptop (firewire because I was shooting with mini dv) AND
b) if I did not have an editing tool as the software interface that ran on my laptop.
You seem to be OK with b) as you will be using some form of Adobe (you were a bit vague on this) to address the needs on the laptop end of the equation. Thus leaving a) which explains my confusion. You did not mention how you intend to connect to the laptop - because once you know that then your decision of which laptop to buy comes down to the ports that are on it.
Are you connecting using firewire like I did? Then just buy a laptop that has a firewire port. Now USB is a different affair as I am not sure if the bit-rate transfer limitation that is associated with USB technology will support what you are trying to do here. This all comes down to the type of camera you are using and the format it uses to record data. Firewire can transfer large amounts of data which make it superior to USB technology. But you may be able to do this with USB - unfortunately, I do not have have the requisite field or technical experience to speak to this. Perhaps someone who has used USB for this type of effort can chime in here?
I hope this helped.
Sam
I have linked my Canon GL2 (mini dv) using a firewire (IEEE 1394) connection from the camera to my laptop - an HP Pavillion dv6000 (which is now 3 years old) - when running Vegas Pro 9 (Video Capture) to use my laptop as an additional external monitor while I was on location. I was even able to extend the use of the laptop by capturing live/real-time data to the hard drive while also recording to the mini dv tape in the GL2 (a crude yet effective redundant system). This approach allowed me to capture full .avi files on the laptop without any dropped frames.
So it can be done, as you have demonstrated an understanding of in your post. But I suspect (and better, more experienced minds will set me straight on this if I'm off) the limitation may be the camera to laptop interface. I may not have been able to do this if...
a) I did not have a firewire port on my laptop (firewire because I was shooting with mini dv) AND
b) if I did not have an editing tool as the software interface that ran on my laptop.
You seem to be OK with b) as you will be using some form of Adobe (you were a bit vague on this) to address the needs on the laptop end of the equation. Thus leaving a) which explains my confusion. You did not mention how you intend to connect to the laptop - because once you know that then your decision of which laptop to buy comes down to the ports that are on it.
Are you connecting using firewire like I did? Then just buy a laptop that has a firewire port. Now USB is a different affair as I am not sure if the bit-rate transfer limitation that is associated with USB technology will support what you are trying to do here. This all comes down to the type of camera you are using and the format it uses to record data. Firewire can transfer large amounts of data which make it superior to USB technology. But you may be able to do this with USB - unfortunately, I do not have have the requisite field or technical experience to speak to this. Perhaps someone who has used USB for this type of effort can chime in here?
I hope this helped.
Sam
Pretty expensive monitor when you can probably get a used HD monitor for less than a laptop would cost.
OR, if you have an HD camera you can just do what Gonzo said. I presumed that you were in the SD boat as I was, so that's why I went through the lecture. Good luck.
Sam