Transferring vids from a camcorder to computer or DVD

[LUDELVR]

Just wondering how to go about transferring a video from a camcorder to a computer or making a dvd out of it.

It's an older Canon mini DV but I can't find the usb cable. All I have is the av cable. Also, I'm wondering, what do I need software wise to put this all onto a DVD. I'm a bit old school with this stuff!

Cheers fellas.

[eblend]

if your canon camera allows you to export the videos via the usb cable, I recommend you find the cable, as this would be by far your easiest way.

If not, you would need a capture card and capture the content via your analogue AV cables, losing quality of your recordings.

Check out monoprice as they would have most likely the cable you need for cheap.

[urrforce]

the usb cable is probably pretty standard you might have one kicking around for another device that will most likely work you shouldn't need the "canon" one for it

[LUDELVR]

Thanks lads! I'll have a look for it. Also, would I need a special program to save the files or can I just copy directly onto disc using my laptop?

[eblend]

Originally posted by LUDELVR
Thanks lads! I'll have a look for it. Also, would I need a special program to save the files or can I just copy directly onto disc using my laptop?

That depends on hoe the camera is detected after it is plugged in via USB. It may be detected as an external USB drive in which case you should be able to just copy and paste, but if not usually you can get the software that would have come with the camera from the manufacturers site as a free download.

[lilmira]

Yeah, find the cable and look up the software from Canon. The version that came with the camcorder is probably way out of date anyway. I did it with a Sony one a few months back, got the cable, found the updated software from Sony, boom, got the video converted to a movie file in no time. Good luck.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Also keep in mind if the material is historical, the DVD medium does deteriorate as well. So if the video is important, do some research into what type of DVD is best. From what I recall it has something to do with the gold ones being best, certain brands, etc.

[Penis McNickels]

I have a Panasonic camcorder that uses miniDVs as well. The USB cable never worked for me, instead I had to buy a firewire card and cable.

As for a program. I would use WinDV to transfer the raw footage over to the computer (1hour = 13 gigs) and then use TMPGEnc to create a DVD. I tried a few other DVD creating software and found this to be the best one. But was time consuming.