Mini DV tape

Lord_Gardener

Looking to transfer mini DV tape recording to DVD via PC. Do I need any special software/ leads etc. Any guidance will be gratefully appreciated. Thanks.

fwor

You'll probably get a better quality of response if you say what make and model of camcorder you have, and whether it's fitted with a mini-USB or Firewire port.

If it does it will probably be easy, you just need to look in the user manual. If not, I suspect you'll need to do it via some horrible analogue method with a video capture card...

msun

Or you may like to consider getting/using a DVD recorder with or without a hard disc - it could well be more expedient.

OK_Sauce

Yes, you need a firewire connection between your camcorder and your pc. You may already have one built in to your computer. If not they are very cheap and easy to fit. This one has a lead and 'Ulead' software which is a simple editing program.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Firewire-iLink-IEEE1394-Videostudio-Software/dp/B000ML3UMM/ref=pd_sbs_ce?ie=UTF8&qid=1205853756&sr=8-2

Lord_Gardener

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll check out what I've got then post again!

Lord_Gardener

The camcorder is a Sharp VL-Z1H. It has DV and AV terminals? Is it easy to determine if the PC has firewire? Have since discovered that the DV terminal is IEEE1394-1995 which I think matches the firewire card/cable mention by OK sauce! NB the manual that came with this camcorder mentions virtually nothing about connecting to a PC!

Marty999

Yes your camcorder does have a Firewire output then, so you just need a Firewire cable to connect it to your PC (hopefully your PC should already have a Firewire socket).

As for software, Windows XP comes with its own Movie Maker built in, which is a good place to start. It's reasonably simple to use and of course it's free with XP (and probably Vista too?).

Lord_Gardener

Can't see any sign of a firewire socket on PC - just loads of usb and ethernet and AV socket?. I'm running XP but doesn't see camcorder if connected via av sockets?

Is this the sort of thing I need? - cheaper than amazon!

http://www.usbnow.co.uk/p391/4_Port_Firewire_PCI_Card_(NEC_Chipset)/product_info.html

DKLS

Its unlikely you will have a firewire card, on your PC, you can get one for around £10-15 and be fitted in two mins.

Just to mention software, You can get a full working download of Sony Vegas editing software for 30 days free, Its not as sophisticated as Premier, but doesnt have the steep learning curve that Premier has.

weegie.geek

A firewire card will be less than a tenner from ebuyer or the like.

I wouldn't capture video from a DV cam using anything other than firewire (no dvd recorders or anything else that will capture from analogue or re-encode the video as it's capturing) because it'll degrade the quality and make it a pain to edit.

fwor

You may not know that there are two main types of firewire plug - 6 and 4 pin. You'll ~probably~ need a cable with a 4-pin plug at one end and a 6-pin at the other, but visually the shapes are so different it will be obvious when you look at the sockets what you will need.

On the PC, the firewire socket - if you have one - will look rather like a USB socket but with the corners at one end chamfered off. They are normally labelled either with "1394" or a circular symbol with three radiating arms.