What if my camcorder software isnt compatible with my pc?

Question

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Answer 1

You didn't explain just what isn't working, so I'll cover a few things.

Camcorders are nearly all based on standards: DV, HDV, AVCHD, MPEG-2, etc. Similarly, the transfer mechanisms are as well, Firewire for tape-based digital camcorders, usually USB or media transfer for the others (HDD, DVD, memory).

If the software that came with your camcorder is incompatible with your specific PC, you can very likely find video editing and capture software that'll work fine. You'll have to learn more about the specifics of your camera, or ask around here in more detail.

You may very well have to buy a better program... but check first. Windows comes with the fairly crappy Windows Movie Maker, but it is easy to use. Macs come with the somewhat better iMovie. If you're running Linux, there are some excellent free apps like Cinerela, but they're not exactly beginner level.

There are a few cameras out there with just plain odd formats. Some of these are variations of MPEG-4, and may work fine on your PC with the addition of a big CODEC pack for Windows or Linux, or an update of Quicktime on the Mac. If all else fails, you may have to contact the manufacturer of that camcoder... perhaps they have a utility that can at least translate their video format into something "normal".

If it's a hardware issue, you can add Firewire to most computers that don't have it, or USB, if that's what you need.

If you're trying to do video work on a computer that's really old, you just aren't likely to have much luck. USB didn't work very well on Windows before Windows98SE or later; Firewire had huge problems until Windows 2000. So if you're running an older version of Windows, you may need to upgrade, or buy a new computer... a really old computer will be in your way if you're doing common things like editing or rendering DVDs.