Do I have what I need to copy from digital camera to dvd?

[sherrylj]

Hi, I'm new and I have a digital video camera that writes little cassette tapes. I want to copy one of those to a dvd. I can play the tapes on my camera but the PC doesn't have the right ports so I can't play it there. I got a Pinnacle Moviebox DV Studio 9 and that has the right ports, but I don't think the PC has a graphics card or sound card - how can I tell? I can play games with sound on the PC but is the built-in system provided graphics good enough (I know the recommended graphics card, etc. would be better, but would this work?). It's a Compaq Presario with a DVD Writer / CD Writer combo. I was going to install the Pinnacle software but I'm afraid it won't work with the basic system. Thanks in advance, Sherry

[redwudz]

You may need a FireWire/1394 card and cable. Does your Camcorder have a FireWire output? FireWire cards are fairly inexpensive, about $20US and up. Some cameras just use USB 2.0. Can you post your camera model? Then we may be able to give more specific suggestions.

Just for tranferring the DV with FireWire, the video and audio cards don't matter. They are just for playback or viewing.

Once you have transfered the video, then you can edit, encode and author or convert it to DVD format and burn to disc.

And welcome to our forums.

[sherrylj]

Thanks! That's super to get such a fast response, and I'm glad to have joined the forum! I do have a firewire and the moviebox has 2. Do I need to use the moviebox or can I just use the firewire to transfer from the camera? (The camera says it only transfers still images, but that's using the USB cable I think.) It sounds like I might be able to plug the firewire in and transfer from the camera to the PC - is that right? I really got the moviebox for transferring VHS tapes but right now all I want to do is copy the digital tape to a DVD. If I can just transfer directly without the moviebox, how do I do that - are there instructions somewhere that I can refer to?

[edDV]

Is your camcorder a MiniDV format or something else? DV camcorders connect directly to a IEEE-1394 port on the computer.

The Pinnacle Moviebox DV Studio 9 would also connect to the computer through an IEEE-1394 port but is not needed for a DV format camcorder. It is for capturing analog sources.

A good program to transfer DV video to the hard disk is WinDV. A DVDR will hold about 20min of DV video unless you compress it further.

[sherrylj]

It is a miniDV camcorder, but it didn't come with a firewire and the booklet doesn't have any instructions. It does have a place to plug in a USB cable and I have a firewire cable with that kind of connector on one end so I think I can plug that cable into both the camera and the PC. I have Sonic Record Now! and Microsoft Movie Maker but that's the only software I have. Would one of those work? I'm trying to get one done tonight with what I already have if possible.

[JohnnyMalaria]

It does have a place to plug in a USB cable and I have a firewire cable with that kind of connector on one end

CAREFUL!!! The mini USB connectors on some camcorders look devilishly like 4-pin Firewire. And, sometimes, the 6-pin Firewire connection gets confused with full-size USB. Lots of damage can occur if the wrong things get connected!

What model/brand is your camcorder?

Do you really have a Firewire-to-USB cable? They do exist but that have a bunch of electronics built in to them. What they do is convert DV to (low quality) MPEG1.

[edDV]

All MiniDV camcorders have a firewire port hidden somewhere. The manual should point it out. Do not use USB. Connect the Firewire cable to the computer with the camcorder in "VCR" mode and the computer should detect it. If you use movie maker, be sure to capture to DV-AVI.

I'd recommend WinDV instead for capture.

If all you intend to do is copy the video to a DVD as data, transfer in less than 20 minute segments.

If you want a playable DVD you will need to get a DVD authoring program like Premiere Elements or ULead Movie Factory.

[sherrylj]

I guess I'm wrong - I must have a firewire cable instead of USB. The MovieBox came with a 4-pin to 6-pin cable. The little end has the squashed-in-the-middle plug that usually goes into a camera and plugs into this one at the DV port. The other end is the 6-pin end and I think that's the 1394 Firewire plug, so I guess this is strictly a firewire cable. The camera is a JVC model GR-DVL520. I'm trying to be careful - so please let me know before I do something stupid! I haven't tried plugging anything in yet. I'm confused on the software too - can I get a playable DVD using the Movie Maker program? I do want a playable DVD copy of the file on the cassette tape - not just a data backup on DVD. It sounds like I can plug this cable into the 4-pin plug on the camera and the 1394 port on the PC - and it should be automatically detected. Then I can use the Microsoft Movie Maker to copy the video to a DVD. Is that right?

[redwudz]

The problem with Movie Maker is that it doesn't output MPEG-2. It's OK for editing, but that's about it. If you want quick and easy DV to DVD conversion, try ConvertXToDVD. It doesn't do much for editing, though. You can output with WMM to DV, then convert that to MPEG-2.

Or use VirtualDub Mod to edit with. You need a DV codec installed. I use the Panasonic DV codec. Then you will need a MPEG-2 encoder. I use TMPGEnc encoder, but there are a lot others available.

Here's a pic of the end of a mini-DV cable, such as what plugs into a DV camera. The other end is usually a full-size, six pin FireWire plug.

If everything is working properly, your computer should detect when a FireWire device is plugged in and should recognize it as a DV camera. I would use WinDV or similar, though for DV transfers to the computer.

[edDV]

Camcorder jack will look like this

[sherrylj]

Thanks for the pictures - those are exactly what I've got. If I use WinDV do I need the VirtualDub Mod also? The links are super - and I see that if I knew what to search for I could find a lot of this myself so I thank you all very much for your patience and assistance! When you know as little as I do it's hard to know where to start. It really helps to know what you use that works well for you instead of a huge list of options that I don't know how to choose between.

[edDV]

WinDv by itself will create a DV-AVI file on your hard drive. That file can be imported into various editors, MPeg2 encoders and/or authoring programs that include MPeg2 encoders.

This guide explains the use of WinDV and goes on to show MPeg2 encoding with the TMPGEnc encoder and then on to the TMPGEnc DVD Author program.

https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=566#566

Many other ways to encode and author a DVD.

[redwudz]

I don't mean to confuse you. I use VD Mod, but there are plenty of other editing programs out there. VDM is free.

WinDV (Or similar) will get the DV into your computer hard drive. From there, you can use most any AVI type editor. If you have a all-in-one program that can edit, convert and format to DVD, so much the better (Or easier.) Or, with a little experience, you can use individual programs to filter, edit, encode and author to DVD format. Start with the easy methods and adjust as your experience grows. I sometimes use ConvertXToDVD to convert DV directly to DVD format if I don't need edits or I'm in a hurry.

Lots of ways, just keep reading and learning.

[JohnnyMalaria]

If all you want to do is strictly make a copy of the tape on DVD without adding any titles, making cuts etc, there is an alternative and much less headache-inducing option:

You can get very inexpensive ($99) standalone DVD recorders, often with Firewire input, that you could use. No software to learn. No DV to capture. Just plop in a blank recordable DVD, connect the camcorder and start recording!