Shoul i use firewire cord?

Question

I bought a canon camcorder a couple of years ago before I used computers often. It was made with a memory card and dv tape slots. I recorded everything on the tapes and Im wondering if i could transfer them to memory card so that i can put my videos on the computer. If not, is there some way to directly transfer what is on the tapes to the computer? Ive heard something about firewire?

Answer 1

You can't transfer the video to the memory card - you have to transfer from the tape via firewire.  Firewire is similar to USB, but has important differences which make it more suitable for video transfers.  If your PC hasn't already got one you'll need to install a firewire card.  They're cheap, easy to install and readily available.  You'll also need a firewire cable.

With the camcorder plugged in and switched to play you can capture your video with an editor such as Windows Movie Makers, which should already be installed on your PC/

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

does your computer and camcorder have a firewire port.

here are some pictures of what to look for.

http://www.smelectronics.com/images2/FIR...

http://www.hardware-one.com/reviews/Yama...

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/instr...