Need to copy camcorder video to PC

[tripleione]

I'm wondering how I would go about transferring video from my friend's Sony camcorder to his PC. He has an Audigy 2 Platinum which has the bay with the firewire port, and although I don't know what specific model camcorder he has, I'm pretty sure it has a firewire port as well.

However, I'm clueless as what other hardware or software I need to transfer this video to his PC. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[StormBringer]

if the cam has firewire or USB, and you have the proper ports, you'll need video capture/editing software(Windows Movie Maker will work if you have nothing else). If using Windows XP, just connect it up and it should be detected(may be detected as some generic name) and you can then capture the video with the software you choose to use for capture and editing.

 

[LNCPapa]

If you're pulling it from a DV Camcorder make sure you have plenty of room - uncompressed DV is 13 Gig per hour of video.

 

[tripleione]

I really have no idea if it is DV or not. Chances are it is not, because the camcorder is fairly old (not too old but not brand new).

Thanks for the advice Storm. His computer has Windows 2000 on it, not WindowsXP. Will this present a problem or will Windows still recognize it? Also, could you recommend a fairly decent video editing program? Adobe Premiere looks to be the best program out there, but it is far out of either of our budgets at the moment.

 

[StormBringer]

2K shouldn't pose a problem. I'd recommend going over to download.com and look through what they have there, you can prolly find a decent freeware tool. Windows Movie Maker is sufficient if you can find nothing else, though I'm not fond of it. I use Premiere myself, though its not exactly to my liking either, its a bit too complex for the average user and has more features than most of us will ever need as well.

 

[Masque]

Ulead Video Studio 6 is pretty decent (though somewhat costly). If it's not a digital camcorder (8mm or HI-8), you'll need a video card with VIVO (video-in, video-out) or a good MPEG card.

 

[tripleione]

How do I find out if it is a digital camcorder?

I know it has an IEEE 1394 port thing on the side of it, though. Couldn't I just plug that into the Audigy 2 bay?

 

[lclevenger]

Yes, you can! I have the same sound card and I plugged my Sony VX-2000 into it. I use Premiere Pro and I had no problem capturing video and audio. I usually use the port on my ATI AIW 8500DV card. I had never tried the sound card port. Ulead is a cheap and resonable option for video software.