Capturing mini DV video tutorial
2009
This video shows you how to capture video from a mini DV camcorder. My particular camcorder is a Sony DCR-HC62 but the process is pretty similar between different mini DV camcorders.
First you need a firewire cable (IEEE 1394 or i.LINK). My camera didnt come with one, it comes with a USB cable which is just for photos. You can get them from Best Buy, etc, but I recommend getting one online. Best Buy charges around $30, but on Amazon you can get them for as cheap as $0.65 plus shipping.
You need a 4-pin to 6-pin male to male firewire cable (4 pin side for cam, 6 for PC). You plug the cable into the computers firewire port. If you dont have a firewire port in your computer, you can buy a firewire card and install it. You can get them for anywhere from $5 to $35 or so.
Next, turn the camera on and set it to playback mode. You need some kind of video editing software to capture your video. I use Sony Vegas 6.0 but theres also Pinnacle, Nero, Adobe Premier, Ulead, and some others.
Youtube recommends using H.264 or MPG2 encoding for uploads to youtube. Vegas 6.0 is a bit old and doesnt compress in H.264 and you need an extra license to use MPG2 which I dont have. So I use WMV 3MBPS and it looks pretty good.
Render your video and upload it to youtube.
Duration : 0:2:40
[youtube N2VhFvhJhmU]
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
You just need a 4- …
You just need a 4-pin to 4-pin firewire cable.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Thank you so much …
Thank you so much for this footage…it helped me a lot…please, my computer has a firewire port, but with 4 pins…just like the camera has…If i buy a 4pin-to-4 pin firewire cable it will work? or i still need that capture card? than you
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Did you press play …
Did you press play on the camera? It pretty much is like an AV cable to your computer.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
man how am i gonna …
man how am i gonna afford this firewire card when i got a ticket to pay and in boards to buy mannn k
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
oh ya it works when …
oh ya it works when i transfer with usb but brings quality down
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
hey nice video but …
hey nice video but i installed i firewire cable and my computer recgonized it and all but when i plug it into my panasonic gs300 nothing happens. ive also tryed to capture with vegas and the software it comes with but both say there is no device connected. yes i have the camera on playback mode
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Hey i just bought a …
) to my computer. Thanks for the tutorial , P.s i use sony Vegas pro 9.0
Hey i just bought a Firewire Port and installed it on my PCI slot. And now im getting the vids from my camcorder (By the way i have a Dcr-Hc28
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
does every mini dv …
does every mini dv cameras have a firewire cable intachment on them????
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
If you have no open …
If you have no open spots on your motherboard to install a firewire card, then it is possible that you cannot upgrade to firewire. I have heard several people say there is a USB to firewire cable that you can use, but I’ve also heard that such a thing is impossible without a microprocessor to convert one signal type to the other. If you are able to capture video with your USB port, let me know how you did it.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Hewlett Packard …
Hewlett Packard online help told me that my computer cannot be upgraded to firewire but that a firewall cable from my camcorder can be inserted into an USB port with no loss of video quality. Is this true?
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Yep.
Yep.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
ok thank you.and i …
ok thank you.and i was just wondering is that u skating?
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Windows movie maker …
Windows movie maker can capture video but I’ve never used it. The capture interface probably looks a little different but it should work essentially the same.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
thank you your …
thank you your video was very helpful, but i was wondering if you could still use windows ,movie maker with a minidv camcorder and will it still work the same as it does with vegas?
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
This applies to …
This applies to mini DV camcorders. Are you talking about an 8mm or hi8 camera, or mini-VHS? Those are analog cameras and you have to capture the video another way.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
wat about corel …
wat about corel video studios
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
does this work even …
does this work even if the camcorder uses mini tapes to capture film
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Yes, you can use …
Yes, you can use Windows Movie Maker to capture video. I’ve never used it before myself.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
can you use wins= …
can you use wins=dows movie maker
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Yes, as far as I …
Yes, as far as I know that’s the only way to do it.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Yes it does record …
Yes it does record in a tape. So does this mean that i Will have to buy a firewire cable To upload the footage to my computer?
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Do you have a mini …
Do you have a mini DV camcorder that records video on a tape? If so, then you won’t be able to download your videos from the SD card. The SD card is probably just for photos. Windows Movie Maker probably won’t recognize your camera because it only detects cameras plugged in via firewire.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I filmed something …
I filmed something and I meant to say i tryed uploading the film onto my computer using My USB cable. Since that Didn’t work i tryed using my SD card to transfer the memory over to my computer. And when i whent onto Windows Movie Maker And clicked Import from Digital video camera it said it couldn’t find any.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
The USB cable is …
The USB cable is for downloading photos on my Sony camera. What do you mean you tried uploading onto WMV? Are you using a video capture program like Sony Vegas? Does the program recognize your camera? Do you get an error message?
July 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I have A USB Port …
I have A USB Port 2.0 cable. And the 2 ends hook up perfectly to my camera and computer. I try uploading it onto WMV but it won’t let me. Any tips?