Question about my video camera?Video editing too!?

Question

Basically i have a skate team and we have a video camera ..its has a memory card and a little tape...but we dont film from the memory card cause it makes it look wierd...anyway basically i want to get the footage from the tape to the computer in files or something..i plugged in the camera to the usb port but only the little file for the memory card opens...not the footage from the tape...so yeah i need to get that footage on my computer...how can you do that?

also does anybody know any good film editing programs besides windows moive make that free

Answer 1

If you have a mini dv (cassette) camcorder….

Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your PC probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder. Make sure your camera is in playback mode.

WMM is free, I use pinacle studio 11, not free.

Answer 2

You did not provide manufacturer or model number information on the camcorder.

Since is has a USB port and has a "little tape", I will assume it is a miniDV tape based camcorder.

MiniDV tape based video will only transfer by connecting the camcorder's DV port to your computer's firewire (IEEE1394a, i.Link - all the same thing) port using a firewire cable. USB will not work. If your computer does not have a firewire400 port, add one - they are cheap. You will also need a firewire cable - typically a 4-pin (camcorder's DV port) to 6-pin (computer's firewire port. It is possible the computer's firewire port is a 4-pin too, but you have not provided any details there, either. Firewire cables are cheap, too.

Once you get the firewire port working and the camcorder connected with the firewire cable, you'll be ready to look for video editing applications. Hint: you get what you pay for.