Video onto computer

What you need to do is "capture" the footage with your computer. This is largely done in an editng utility or a uiltity that is specifically made to capture. Essentially, after you hook up your camera (presumably in firewire), you open up your editing software and press the "capture" button. Then you press "play" on your camcorder (in VCR mode). The computer will then capture every frame of your video clip and save it as a video file (probably AVI).

Any editor can capture. If you have a MAC, you can't do better than iMovie. Shamefully easy. If a PC, Windows Movie Maker is adequate to the task.


The best utility I have found for capturing is WinDV. It's free. And not only can you capture with it without dropping a frame, but thanks to the firewire interface, you can control your camcorder directly! That's the way I would do it. Then import it into your editor.

For more information on how to do this, you may want to spend some time at videohelp.com. You'll learn everything you need there and a whole lot more.