Video to computer

[boustany]

Provided you don't end up with a 'lite' version of Studio, it should be ok. I bought a Firewire card plus my software for about the same price total. The software that came with the firewire card was garbage (not Studio), thats why I bought studio.

Make sure your version of Windows is ok: for studio Windows 98 won't do it has to be 98 SP (or something).

And you'll still need the horsepower & HDD space.

 

[chrisjbell]

<font color="blue"> True about video CDs, but most 'home movies' edit down to 15 to 20 minute shorts. I figure thats about as long as people can stand. </font>

I'm with you on that one /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif....

And about the CD burner thing, it is true that you'll get more out of a DVD burner, but they're kind of pricey. CD burners are cheap.

And as far as just firing it onto tape, that is probably the easiest thing to do, yeah, but ya know, the topic of the post is about doing it on computer. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[manganos]

I have an Apple Imac 17" widescreen with a DVD burner. Hook the camera up via firewire and pop out a DVD. It is that simple on the Mac. On my PC I don't have firewire so I use RCA cables to USB and that works.

 

[kofronj]

I vote for the Mac route too. I've got an older generation iMac (no DVD burner); so it's the firewire into iMovie, editing, and then dumped back to the DV camera. I can then dub that to a VCR tape, if needed.

It's a very easy, fast, elegant way to make movies. It also helps to learn how to shoot, in comparison to the old days where you couldn't (easily) edit your footage---now you can keep the tape rolling as much as possible, and then edit it up for content. I think it makes for better home movies, they're more focused and lively, with little dead time.

 

[techman]

Orb:

The simple answer that has seemed to been missed is how to hook it up. If you have a digital camcorder, it most likely has a Firewire (Ilink, IEEE 1394) output. If your PC does not have a Firewire jack, you can get a card (that you would have to install in a free slot in your PC) for about $ 40. BestBuy, computer shop or mailorder woul;d be a source. Then a variety of software packages are available to read/edit the video. As others have said, big files will be the result. Even if you burn it on a disk later, it still goes on the hard disk first.

If the camcorder does not have firewire, then a video capture card is needed. Again installed in a spare slot in your PC. It can be one of the TV cards. They all have video input as well. This would be the low end, starting at about $ 50~$60. The high end is the Pinacle cards, up to $ 300. Difference is quality of the captured video, how many pixels, etc.

paul