newbie camcorder connect help!!

[ianbu]

hi all, can someone please explain to someone new to all this what i need to get to enable me to connect my sony analogue camcorder to my pc and transfer to DVD, have read some of the how to sections but as new to it all, do not understand. Can you explain what drivers, leads, capturing programmes are needed and where i can get them.
I,ve seen something mentioned about an IE ????? driver, can i buy this and what do i look for.
Any help will be breatly appreciated
This is one great site and have gained a lot of info from here[/b]

[macleod]

I am assuming that the sony analogue camcorder doesnt allow you to do USB or firewire transfers to your PC?

If this is the case, you need to have a way to transfer the stuff into your PC. I am guessing that you geoforce card as video/audio in, so you'll need capture software. There is a lot out there. There is a guide written by a poster, lordsmurf that goes over how to capture. Actually, there is a lot od tuff in the capture section on the left.

For quick starters and to jump right in, see if your software that came with your burner allows you to capture. freevcr is a good freeware tool for capturing.

This is and can be an overwhelming thing and you'll probably get info overload. Here are the basics:

1. Capture the video into your PC (either AVI or MPEG)
2. If it is AVI, you will need to convert it to MPEG2 for conversion to DVD. That involves an Encoder, like TMPGENC
3. After encoding, you have to author it so that your DVD player can read it, you can use another tool called DVD TMPGENC DVD Author for that


There are a number of software packages and a number of opinons on "best of".

What does your budget look like? If you are looking at freeware tools "A" (not "the") solution would be:

1. freevcr to capture in raw AVI
2. Quenc encoder to convert to MPEG2
3. Ifoedit to author
4. Nero (not free, however, should have come with your dvd burner)

More than likely, your dvd burner came with capture/authoring/burning software.

[thecoalman]

to connect my sony analogue camcorder to my pc and transfer to DVD,

If it's a Hi-8, VHS or VHS-C see #1. https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=253102

If it's a Digital 8 or Mini-DV you only need a firewire card and some simple software to get it to your computer.

[ianbu]

thanks for the tips guys, will try them to see whats best. As im new to this i take it firewire is a cable connection from cam to pc?