User's Manual

Apple FireWire Card
The optional Apple FireWire Card is designed to work with digital video camcorders and decks
that use the DV format and have a FireWire port (sometimes marked IEEE 1394 or DV IN/OUT).
The included hardware and software, together with a non-linear editing application, allow you
to capture DV movie clips to your hard disk. You can view the clips in MoviePlayer or other
QuickTime 3.0 applications, and edit and render the DV movies. If you are using a video
editing application with an export function, you can send (print or record) movies back to the
tape in your camcorder or deck. The software also allows the FireWire device to be controlled
from the computer.
The FireWire Bus
FireWire is a serial bus that can support high-performance devices, such as DV cameras and
printers. Devices can be connected in any combination of branching and chaining, as long as
no loops are formed. A FireWire bus can support up to 16 consecutive cable hops of 4.5 meters
each. There are no SCSI-style ID numbers to set and no termination requirements.
The Apple FireWire Card is designed to keep the network alive even if the Macintosh is shut
down. Loss of power to the Macintosh will not affect the operation of a FireWire card as long as
it can draw power from other cards on the bus.
Each card provides power which is available to other devices on the network. This means that
a system shutdown will not result in interrupted transmission over a FireWire network.
Important For more information about cable management and power issues, please refer to
the FireWire ReadMe file on the FireWire CD.
Apple FireWire Hardware
If you ordered the Apple FireWire Card with your computer, you have received the following
items:
m the Apple FireWire Card, installed in one of your computer’s PCI slots
m a FireWire cable, 4-pin to 6-pin, 2 meters long
m a FireWire software installation CD
Your Apple FireWire Card has three FireWire ports, as shown in the following illustration.
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