Question about converting a video camera?

Question

Ok, I have a video camera with a tape in it. I was wondering if it is possible to connect the video camera to the computer, transfer the video, and then convert the video to DVD. If there is a software or anything to do this please let me know.

Also is there a software to do video editing? i am doing this for my school project

Answer 1

If the camcorder is a miniDV or digital8 tape based camcorder, the best way to transfer the video is to use a firewire cable (IEEE1394a, i.Link - all the same thing) to connect the DV port on the camcorder to a firewire400 port on your computer. If your computer does not have a firewire port, installing one is typically easy - and the firewire cards are cheap.

If the camcorder uses other kinds of tape - VHS, Compact VHS (also known as VHS-c), Hi8, BETA or any other analog format, you will need to use the AV cables that come in the box with the camcorder (or replacements) and connect to an "analog/digital bridge" like

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

or

http://canopus.com/products/videoconvers...

Then the A/D bridge connects to your computer...

If you are running Windows XP with SP1 or newer, MovieMaker is already installed. You will "Capture the video from the camcorder.

If you are running MacOSX, you probably have iMovie already installed. You will "Import" the video from the camcorder.

Each machine also has DVD rendering software installed...