From Camcorder to Computer

[sbasak]

I like to buy a digital camcorder. I want to take the output as MPEG/AVI format thru desktop/laptop computer. What feature should the camcorder support to achive this? Is it sufficient only to have DV Output port in camcorder?

Does the computer need anything extra other than an USB port?

Thanks.

[Sastraxi]

Yeah, you need a DV port on the computer. However, you can get cheap PCI DV boards. Check your store, they should run around $40 canadian ($25 USD).

[sbasak]

I can't understand what is DV port in computer. In stores I've seen fireware port or USB port on computers. Are they same?

[Sastraxi]

Nope. Here's a breakdown of the connectors and speeds:


USB 1.1
Up to 127 devices, daisy-chained.
Max. speed 12mbits/s (1.5 mbytes/s)


USB 2.0
Up to 127 devices, daisy-chained.
Max. speed 480mbits/s (60 mbytes/s)


Firewire 1.0
Up to 63 devices on one bus.
Max. speed 400mbits/s (50 mbytes/s)


Firewire 2.0
Up to 63 (I think) devices on one bus.
Max. speed 3.2gbits/s (400 mbytes/s)

The 2.0 specs haven't really caught on yet so you're probably using USB 1.1. Therefore, you need a firewire port. Also, if you do have USB 2.0, you'll need a Firewire->USB connector, and I think those are pretty hard to come by.

[JoshT]

The actual protocol for FireWire is IEEE 1394 (IIRC) - the term "FireWire" was trademarked by Apple for a while, so Sony called the same thing i.Link or something like that. I believed Apple relaxed its trademark.

[Sastraxi]

Yeah, I know, but firewire's such a better name (probably the only good thing Apple's ever done )

[JoshT]

Yeah, I agree - FireWire's easy to say and easy to remember.

[MikeBAM]

i'm wondering what I have in each of my comps. How can I tell weather my USB ports are 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0 ?

[Sastraxi]

It's probably easiest to tell if you know what your motherboard is. If you don't, the year can probably tell. Do you have either pieces of info?

[MikeBAM]

Yes I know my motherboard(mobo) info, but I'd rather not check it that way. When did USB 2.0 come out? My USB I baught extra aside of the mobo, but I pluged it into a port on the mobo. (its a wire not a card)

[sbasak]

Well, after visiting some shops I find there are several ways to transfer movies from camcorder to computer.

If the camcorder has built in USB transfer device & software, then it is possible to transfer the movie to computer without any problem.

But my camcorder doesn't have such facility. It has only DV Out port.

Now there are separate devices available for transfering movie thru DV Out port.

1. Camcorder to USB video bus connector (like Belkin Videobus 2) costing £90) which transfers from DV Out port to computer's USB thru cable and software.

2. Dazzle has another device which takes input not thru DV out port but thru Audio/Video cable of camcorder. Thus this device can acutually transfer analog video! It costs £70.

Now my question is: which device should serve my purpose better? Or is there any other options? My main aim to transfer movie to computer so that I can create VCDs.

Thanks.

[Sastraxi]

You'd be best off getting a FireWire capture PCI board for around 30

[sbasak]

Yes, fireware card is cheaper but it needs to be installed inside PC.

But I can't open my laptop computer and I think there's also no space for additional card installation.

So, I like to have an external device.