What does a firewire cable do with a video camera and windows movie maker?

Question

I got this video camera that has its own software for dvd making but its hard to navigate and I would like to use windows movie maker because its less complex to work but when I pull up the moviemaker screen and go to capture from video device or whatever it shows a box that says that there is no video camera to capture from even though it is plugged into the pc the camera IS compatible with XP. my techie frends tell me to get a firewire cable but I dont know where to get one or how they work or even what they do. Could you help me out please?

Answer 1

I had the same problem. You camera probably came with a USB connection and cable. However those will only work for photos or for using your camera as a webcam. What you will need, as your friends said, is a firewire connection to transfer your video.

First, check your computer to see if you have a "firewire" port. It's about the size of a USB port, but it will have a pointed end at one end of it. Some PC's have them, but most do not. If you don't have one you will need to install one.

To get one look on Amazon.com and search "firewire". It will bring up a bunch of cables and boards. There is a board on Amazon for about $21 that comes with a cable. Once you have a working firewire port on your PC then hook it up to the camera and moviemaker will recognize your camera and download your video.

But one more thing here. MovieMaker will not burn DVD's. You can make a video file and copy it to a data CD or date DVD, but these don't usually work in your typical DVD players. But they will work on another PC and can run on Windows Media player.

It's possible that once you have your firewire the software that came with your camera can create the DVD for you without you purchasing anything else.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

First check wether you have a firewire socket on your PC,- they are just a better means of transfering video to the PC

Answer 3

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.

You can get the firewire card and cord at any computer store, ie Bestbuy or Fryes.