[Kim Gwydir] "I can add a firewire port to my laptop"
If your laptop has an Express port you can get a firewire card for it.
[Kim Gwydir] " the 2 firewire connections both using video would not crush my CPU? "
It should be fine if they're DV going in to a 17" MacBookPro (only current Mac with Express port). HDV would stress any 2 core system. I would suggest at least i5 and really recommend i7 processor.
[Kim Gwydir] "And by budget i mean "as cheap as possible" - the tricaster is not the direction I want to go in at this point until we can find a way to make this profitable. "
That's why I used Gotham Girls Roller Derby as an example although they actually use a MacPro because they're using 4 cameras (internal plus 3 firewire cards).
This is their Scoreboard software. Rinxter
http://rinxter.com/www/home/home.jsp
It's free to all Roller Derby leagues but it looks like they'll customize for pay. They might be willing to do this for other sports.
