Create Portable and DVD-ready Video - Blazingly Fast!

FireCoder is as versatile, as it is speedy! Use FireCoder to:

• Capture video from DV and HDV cameras
• Edit MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, including native HDV
• Author and burn DVDs
• Convert video into files compatible with Apple iPod® and Sony PSP™
• Export video projects from Grass Valley EDIUS and Adobe® Premiere® Pro 1.x NLE software

The hardware-software combination featured in the FireCoder package provides a variety of ways to help you reduce the time it takes you to prepare your video.

Powered by Hardware, Driven by Software
Even with today's high-speed PCs, the time you spend waiting for your video projects to encode to MPEG format for DVDs or portable media devices can still stretch out to unbearable lengths. Instead of relying solely on the PC's CPU (as do software-only video editing, DVD authoring and format conversion products), the onboard MPEG encoding chip engineered into the FireCoder PCI Express board handles the tough encoding tasks.

The advantages of FireCoder are two-fold:

• Speed - Create MPEG-2 files for DVDs and MPEG-4 files for portable media devices much faster - often more than twice the speed of realtime in most cases
• Productivity - Free up your CPU for other work, while your video is being encoded.

FireCoder: Key Features

• MPEG-2/MPEG-4 encoding hardware technology, incorporated into a high-speed PCI Express design
• Faster-than-realtime MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video file creation
• IEEE 1394 OHCI FireWire input for DV and HDV capture
• Cut, stitch and trim MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and HDV video
• Video format conversion software, supporting Windows Media®, DivX®, DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and more
• DVD authoring, "Watch" folder and batch conversion support
• Timeline export plug-ins for Grass Valley EDIUS, Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.x

FireCoder: Specifications

Package Contents:

• FireCoder PCI Express bus card
• Installation CD-ROM (Device drivers, MPEG applications)
• User Manuals

Technical Specifications (Hardware):

Video Input

• 1 x 6-pin IEEE 1394 FireWire
• 2 x 4-pin IEEE 1394 FireWire (for internal connection)

Video Resolutions

• MPEG-2: 720x480, 720x576, 704x480, 640x480, 480x480, 352x480, 352x576, 352x240, 352x288, 320x480, 320x240, 176x120
• MPEG-4: 720x480, 720x576, 704x480, 640x480, 480x480, 352x480, 352x576, 352x240, 320x240, 176x120

Video Frame Rate

• MPEG-2: 29.97fps (NTSC), 25fps (PAL)
• MPEG-4: 15fps (NTSC), 30fps (NTSC), 25fps (PAL)

Video Compression

• MPEG-2: (ISO/IEC 13818-2) Main Profile @ Main Level (I, B, P frames) I-frame support only
• MPEG-4: (ISO/IEC 14496-14)

Video Bitrate

• MPEG-2: 128kbps - 15Mbps
• MPEG-4: 32kbps - 8Mbps
• Variable (one-pass) and Constant Bitrate support

Audio Sampling Rates

• MPEG-2: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz
• MPEG-4: 24kHz, 48kHz

Audio Compression

• MPEG-2: MPEG-1 Layer 2
• MPEG-4: AAC

Audio Bitrates

• MPEG-2: 96 to 384kbps
• MPEG-4: 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 144, 182, 224, 256, 288kbps

Minimum System Requirements:

• Intel® Pentium® 4, Intel Pentium D, Intel Pentium M, Intel Celeron® D, AMD Athlon™ XP Processor or AMD Athlon MP Processor CPU
• 256MB RAM or more (512 recommended)
• 200MB free hard disk space for the applications
• DirectX 9.0c or later
• Windows® XP Home (Service Pack 2 or later), Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2 or later), or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
• One free PCI Express x1 slot

Service and Support:

• Limited warranty
• Access to the Canopus Registered Users Web site at www.canopus.com when you register your product in an active Canopus User Account

Enjoy Feature-packed Versatility
The FireCoder package includes software applications and plug-ins specifically designed to harness the FireCoder board’s MPEG encoding hardware technology, dramatically reducing the time it takes to prepare your video.

Handle Multi-format Video Encoding with UltraCoder
UltraCoder software lets you convert MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX®, XviD, and Windows Media® video to MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 at high speed, via the FireCoder board. But the conversion capabilities don’t end there - UltraCoder supports software-based encoding between any of these formats, as well.

UltraCoder Software


Queue up multiple encoding jobs and, in one step, batch convert them at a later time. Trim out unwanted sections of your video; create “watch folders” to automatically process any video files copied to them; and convert to file formats that are ready for DVD, Apple iPod® and Sony PSP™. UltraCoder even supports encoding of Windows Media HD and DivX HD.

UltraCoder Trimming
 


Cut, Stitch and Burn MPEG Video with MPEGCraft 3 DVD
The latest version of this easy-to-use MPEG editing software from Canopus can trim, cut, stitch, and re-encode MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, even without requiring any encoding at all, in some cases. MPEGCraft 3 DVD also provides DVD import, chapter and menu creation for DVD export, and of course, it fully supports the FireCoder hardware’s MPEG-2 encoding capabilities.

MPEGCraft 3 DVD


New to MPEGCraft 3 DVD is the ability to work with native HDV MPEG-2* footage, and use segment HDV encoding. With MPEGCraft 3 DVD, you can capture directly from your HDV camera, easily trim and remove sections of HDV content without having to wait hours and hours for a new HDV file to be created, and then export back to tape. You can also use MPEGCraft 3 DVD to turn your HDV footage into a DVD for others to enjoy.

*MPEGCraft 3 DVD only supports encoding and export of 1080i HDV

You can export your MPEGCraft 3 DVD projects via the UltraCoder option, facilitating more export format possibilities.

Timeline Export Plug-ins
If you prefer to edit your video content within a true NLE software package, FireCoder features plug-ins that enable the hardware to be used to export your Grass Valley EDIUS or Adobe® Premiere® Pro v1.x timeline to MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video at high speeds.

Canopus Digital Video Converters and Bridges

Digital Video Capture & Graphics Cards Index Page