How do I upload videos to my computer and edit it?

Question

okay so I'm trying to enter this contest...I have a digital camera and all but i dont know how to upload videos to youtube and etc. I have NO idea how people but special effect on home made videos...and scenes and etc.!!! CAN ANYONE PLEASSSSSSSSSE HELP?

Answer 1

What kind of camcorder?

==> MiniDV or Digital8 tape: ALL miniDV and Digital8 tape based camcorders transfer video using a firewire cable connecting the camcorder's DV port (not USB) to your computer's firewire port (not USB). A firewire cable was not included in the box with the camcorder.

Firewire, i.LINK, IEEE1394a and DV are all the same thing. If your computer does not have a firewire port, hopefully it has an expansion port so you can add one. All Macintoshes made in the last 10 years or so have a firewire 400 port as standard - the only exception is the new MacBook Air (no firewire port).

==> Hard disc drive (HDD) or Flash memory: Use the USB cable that cam in the box with the camcorder and copy the video data files. If the video is standard definition, very compressed MPEG2, a Macintosh will need to download, install and use StreamClip.

http://www.apple.com/search/downloads/?q...

If the video is AVCHD compressed high definition, you need to be using a video editor that can deal with that new format. If the video is in .mov format and you are in the Windows environment, you will need to download, install and use a converter to make that video file format into something MovieMaker can use - if that is what you are editing with). For Macintosh, only an Intel-Mac with the latest version of iMovieHD08 or FinalCut can do anything with AVCHD files. Windows MovieMaker cannot deal with AVCHD files. Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere and others can.

==> DVD based: If your computer has a drawer loading DVD drive, then download, install and use a DVD ripper like HandBrake.

http://handbrake.fr/

If your computer has only a CD drive or the DVD drive is a slot loader, use the "Analog" camcorder instrustions:

==> Analog camcorders (VHS, VHS-C, Beta, Hi8, etc). You will need the AV cables that cam with the camcorder and you will need to get an "analog/digital bridge":

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us...

or

http://desktop.thomsongrassvalley.com/pr...

==> If your camera ia actually a still camera that happens to take very highly compressed video, then get a memory card reader - take the card out of the camera and put it into the card reader to copy the files to the computer.

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Once the video is in the computer, then edit and add transitions - MovieMaker in Windows or iMovie in Macintosh. Save as or export the finished project to a video format the contest requirements specify. For YouTube, go to the Help area and locate the "File Formats" section to learn what they will accept.