Temaru Report post Posted January 3, 2006 Hiya everyone, I got a Panasonic NV-GS15 Camcorder for xmas last year. I have loads of film on digi tape I'd like to download onto my computer in order to edit or save onto cd (I know how to save onto video tape). Do I need a firewire, can I do it via USB, do I need a specific programme, basically - what do I need. Anyone else got one, anyone know how to do it (bog standard simple)? I don't have any problem with photos, just downloading the film. Any advice appreciated Cheers, TEMARU Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted January 3, 2006 You may have (or can get) a TV card with av plugs on, connect it via them to the pc and go from there. What options are there on the camera? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted January 3, 2006 Hi temaru - The connection you need PC end depends on the camcorder... If the camcorder is Mini DV, the easiest and quickest way is firewire... You can buy a video editing suite complete with firewire card quite cheaply now, or buy seperately... A PCI firewire card would cost around ?20.00 at somewhere like PC world, but you could probably halve that buying online... For video editing, Adobe Premier elements (around ?60.00) gets brilliant reviews, but the latest release of Sony Vegas Platinum (around a ton) is supposedly even better. Personally, I've been stuck with Pinnacle studio 8 as i'm still running windows 98se (both of the above need XP), and Magix Movie Studio. the former is a bit 'buggy' and crashes if you're not careful, while the latter has a funny audio glitch that makes sound playback on SOME players break up. i prefer magix, but use pinnacle if the finished article is not for my 'home' machine... Hope that's helpful... BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UltraMum Report post Posted January 3, 2006 There's some info on cables etc here - very understandable IYSWIM! An alternative is to transfer it to a DVD, if you have a recordable DVD player, and then use the DVD in the computer ... or is that too simple? Probably - but it's lateral thinking! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mossgrove Report post Posted January 3, 2006 (edited) If your Camcorder has firewire connectors it's the way top go. If you hunt around you should be able to get a firewire card + bundled software for around the ?25 mark. It will probably be a cut-down software version but it will be fine until you have got your bearings. Loads of free hard disk space helps too! I have checked, your CanCorder does have a firewire connection. See http://audiovisual.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_12284709/123501.html Simon Edited January 3, 2006 by mossgrove Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted January 3, 2006 An alternative is to transfer it to a DVD, if you have a recordable DVD player, and then use the DVD in the computer ... or is that too simple? Probably - but it's lateral thinking! A lovely idea, but unfortunately a bit more complicated, as a 'finished' CD is made up of 'VOB' files, (rather than AVI) which have to be 'ripped' back into audio/video streams. i think some of the newer software does this, but it is still more complicated than just capturing directly via firewire. If you just want raw footage, it wouldn't be a problem, but if you want crossfades, SFX, music etc you'll really need to do some on disc editing... L&P BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UltraMum Report post Posted January 4, 2006 A lovely idea, but unfortunately a bit more complicated, as a 'finished' CD is made up of 'VOB' files, BD Knew it'd be too simple a solution! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
