If your movie is already on your hard drive, you simply have to open it from Photoshop Elements. You don’t actually need to capture it "live" from the camera.
Ray
I have no way right now to get MY video’s into my computer. That is the info I am looking for. What hardware and software do I need to have this capability.
T MAC
Oops, there I go not reading carefully again. I had to erase my first post, so if anybody saw it – IGNORE!!! 🙂
The manual for your camera should have the information you need about the proper cable and software for downloading, but if you need more specific help this isn’t a good place for it. Maybe someone can point you toward a forum where video is the main topic.
I do think the specs for your computer are pretty modest if you’re going to be editing video. You might want to also get some information about the minimum system requirements.
TMAC, I am just now going through about the same thing. I have been reading and posting at the Adobe Primier forum. I need to start getting my camcorder tapes converted to digital and on DVDs. I think I started with ‘search’ "Adobe Movie Software". So far the forum people have been a big help.
Marty
Here is my story…
The way I did it is that my camcorder (Sony DCRTRV18) has a firewire connector. My sound card has one as well. This is a MiniDV camera. It comes with a software (Pixela) that captures the movies and turn them into Mpeg. So I simply connected the camera to the soundcard and uploaded the video, using the FireWire connector. I have a Pentium II 4 1.5Ghz.
My camcorder also has a USB 1.1 connector, but it will not let me upload movie with this port (the bandwidth is too narrow with USB 1.1 for that task).
The download is done in real time. To avoid any problems, I turned off the anti-virus, the firewall (and, of course, disconnected the network cable so that my computer wouldn’t be left unprotected against Internet attackers). Also, some software will do it, some won’t, so… Make sure to disengage any screen saver you might have. Put it to none. If not possible, set it up so that it starts 4 hours after no activity. Screen saver can consume lots of computer processing power. In return, this will force the computer to drop frames in the movie. Also, try to shutdown as many programs as you can (those little icons sitting next to the clock, under Windows).
If you don’t have a FireWire connection, check to see that both your camcorder and computer are at least USB 2.0 compliant. I don’t see this being done with USB 1.0 (but I could be wrong). If you don’t have either USB 2.0 or FireWire, consider buying an inexpensive FireWire expansion card (a PCI card) that will add 2 to 4 FireWire ports. There are combo cards (2 USB 2.0 and 2 FireWire ports). There is also a new standard for FireWire, FireWire 800. On the Mac, at least, the connector are retro-compatible with regular FireWire. My guess is that it’s the same thing is true for PCs as well. If you have USB 2.0 on your computer and the camcorder, you’ll need a special USB 2.0 cable. Regular USB 1.0 cables will work, but you’ll not be able to gain the extra speed USB 2.0 offers, consequently, the movie you download on your computer will be missing several frames.
If you don’t have the software for your camcorder (say you bought it used, no box, no cables), and if running Windows, use Windows Movie Maker. If running Mac, then use iMovie. They will both let you capture the movies straight out of your camcorder, in real time. Meaning, you get to watch your movies as the computer records them on the hard drive. Several software will also cut the movies in scenes. One scene for each time you pressed Stop and / or Pause will recording the movie.
One last word (before this turns out to be an essay on video capture!), hard drive space: One hour of MiniDV movie will consume about 10Gb of hard drive. That’s for the movie alone. If you plan on later editing that movie, depending on the software you’ll use, that space requirement may double or even triple as you edit, and then convert for burning on a disc (in VideoCD, Super VideoCD or DVD format). Check to make sure you have at least 15Gb of free space, right now, before proceeding.
Ray
Ray, You sure are filled with ‘know how’ and I can’t pass up the oportunity to cash in. My searching for a good software to edit camcorder movies so far has come up with this one: Movie Edit Pro 2004 (by Magix Entertainment)
Have you heard of it? For a little less than $100 it seems to fit the bill. Marty
Marty, thanks 🙂
I don’t know this one software. The ones I tried :
Ulead Media Studio Pro – way too complicated (I think it was version 6 or
5). It was like, too many windows, and they were all separate programs.
Ulead Video Studio Pro – the interface wasn’t inspiring (to be polite), and it crashed a number of times. Lucky me, it was a demo version. Out in the trash can, it went.
Nova Development Video Explosion : That’s the one I used. 2 video tracks and 2 or 3 audio tracks. Enough transitions to have fun. Easy to work with. It can also read GIF, so it lets add funny things in a movie! Makes VCD + DVD, though for the DVD, you need to download and register a copy of Sonic MyDVD (free for Nova users). Never crashed. Saves edition file of clips, instead of rewriting the clips themselves (save space on hard drive).
Pinnacle Studio DV (the basic version) : Crashed beyond my worst nightmares. I couldn’t do anything with it. Same thing was reported by my friends.
Ray
Ray, I haven’t come across the Nova one but will check it out. All that you said about the others has been written in lots of reviews.
"Everthing" I get is over my head so I don’t worry about that. Thing is, if I get just what I can manage I use only a small portion of the item but end up wanting more. I dread things that say "automatic" but still use them occationally.
Marty
Ray, Phew…made my decisions. I ordered the Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 and also will have the service man put in the AVerMedia PCI card to help make the movies run good. This forum is such a great place to ease the stress and YOU are a big part of it. Thanks!
Marty
Glad it helped Marty!
Funny thing this thread should pop up just now, as I just burned my first movie using iMovie / iDVD (with my Mac). It was very easy!
Remember, Marty, to shutdown as many programs as you can, including the anti-virus & firewall (if you have one). If your Internet access is cable-modem or DSL based, I’d suggest you disconnect the network cable while the anti-virus and firewall are down, this to prevent unauthorized use (hacking) of your PC.
Defrag your system before you download your movies onto your hard drive. The computer will be less likely to skip frames if it can find contiguous space on the hard drive. Turn off the screen saver as well, while working and downloading your movies.
I don’t recall how much RAM your computer has. If your system is low on RAM (like Win XP + 128 MB, and even 256 MB), you might benefit from boosting it to 512 MB, if you’re into movie editing a lot. Both movie editing and image editing will benefit from extra RAM (like having more «undos» in PSE)
Try to burn your first movies (like the first two or three) on CD-RW or DVD-RW. This because often details are overlooked (music in menus, wrong background, etc.) during the first attemps. Burning on a RW disk is slower, indeed, but if you make a mistake, in the end, you’ll save money, because you simply erase them and start over again.
Save your projects often, more often than in any other software. Several movie editing software seems to be crash prone. Saving might take a few seconds to a few minutes, but could save you a several hours if things go south.
Don’t hesitate to post back, or to write to me personally. I’m always glad to help. Here’s my address :
Ray
Ray, I will have your post at my finger tips when I start. I have more than enough memory and can still add more if needed down the line.
Sara has done as she said and made this GroundUp class more basic. A lot I have learned from the forum but plenty is still to learn and it’s nice being forced to experiment and practice.
Marty
Marty,
Practice is sometimes the best way to learn. I can read an entire book, memorize everything it contains, and still be left mute in front of the keyboard… But, as soon as I start practicing, it becomes easier, and at times, I discover a few tricks along the way. And the exercises in the class (or, for that matter, in any book), are there to help us master the tools. And I think it’s a great way to learn!
Ray
