Newbie- Mini DV help

[Nemesis635]

Hi,
I'm after some help. I have a Panasonic NV-DS11 Mini DV camcorder. I am having trouble downloading video to my PC (Win XP home). Windows Movie Maker does not identify the camera.

I have connected the two via a serial port. The cable came with the camera.

Do I need something called a 'video capture card'. If so what is it and what type do I require.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Nemesis635

[MarkE19]

Nemesis635, welcome to the forum

This is getting to be a real pain, all the camcorder makers seem to be supplying a USB cable with their cams and then just expect users to know that this can not be used for captureing the full quality footage to a PC. Its about time they started explaining a bit about this in their manuals, but they don't so I'll try and clear things up for you.

USB is for stills capture and web cam type use only.
Full quality video can only be transfered from a DV camcorder via firewire. You can add a firewire port on a PCI card from around £10 online, and this should include the relevant cable as well. Firewire can also be known as ieee1394, iLink or DV port - like its not confusing enough as it is
Once the cam is connected with the above you should be able to see it in Movie Maker and get started on makeing you master pieces.

Good luck,
Mark.

[Nemesis635]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry but this may be a dumb question but are there different types of firewire cable? Can I just source any firewire cable. The AV outputs on my camcorder are of a jack type.

I already have a firewire port on my laptop.

[MarkE19]

If useing a laptop then the chances are that you will need a 4 pin to 4 pin firewire cable as most firewire ports on a laptop are 4 pin, but on a PC will be 6 pin. The cam will have a 4 pin port.

www.ebuyer.co.uk

Belkin IEEE 1394 FireWire Cable (4-pin/4-pin) 1.8m
£10.57 inc VAT
Quickfind code: 57696

Sony i-Link Data Transfer Cable 2 Metres (4pin to 4pin)
£3.69 inc VAT
Quickfind code: 11464

Either will be fine, but the Sony being the cheaper of the 2 would be my choice.

Mark.

[Nemesis635]

THANK YOU very much Mark. I think I finally understand what's going on.

I agree with your sentiments on the manufacturer's manuals- they are utterly useless. No mention of firewire anywhere.

Thanks again
Nemesis

[MarkE19]

Tell me about it.
I was exactly where you are now a few years back. in those days editing on a PC would need a lot of dedicated and expensive hardware costing in the region of £10,000 . Not having that sort of money I have had a good few years to read up on firewire and PC editing, but I still find I'm hitting my head against a brick wall at times

Still, I'm glad I could help. Have fun with it and ask any questions you need answers to and I'll try and find an expert somewhere to help you out

Mark.

Sorry, but is the camcorder you are referring to the Panasonic nvgs11b. I am a complete novice and have not got a camcorder yet. What i want to be able to do is copy the film to my pc and edit it with windows moviemaker and then burn it to dvd.

I have just started looking at them, Comet said they are all dodgy when it comes to doing what i want, surely he is mistaken, your help would be much appreciated.

Rgds

Colin

[MarkE19]

Hi cjbtaylor. Welcome to the fun world of camcorders and PC editing Oh and the forums!

Basically any digital camcorder will be capable of copying the video to a PC via firewire. Stick to miniDV and you will have no problems with Movie Maker.
Just do a bit of reasurch and find a camcorder that is within your budget - and then enjoy!

Mark.

Thanks for your reply, my friend has got a panasonic nvgs11b which was how i started this thread as he has moved on to a more expensive one, he wants £100 for it and as it is only 6 months old and with all extra kit i wanted to know if this camera is ok for it, he only ever converted to video and so couldnt help me with the editing on a pc info.

Is it the dv out that it needs to do this?

Thanks again in advance

Colin

[Brian110507]

Yes all you need to get started is DV-out on your camcorder, a Firewire (aka DV, i-link, IEEE1394 ) port on your PC and a firewire cable like this :-
http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catal...roducts_id=224
and some editing software like Windows MovieMaker and away you go !

Thanks very much for that.

I look forward to entering this hobby.

Rgds

Colin

[Nemesis635]

Hi Colin,

Sorry to respond so late. The answer to your question - my camcorder is the Panasonic NV - DS11. It has a firewire connector port at the front of the camera under the lens.

Since the advice I received from Mark earlier in the thread, I have installed a firewire card on my PC (it's very simple - 20mins and that was the first time I've ever opened my PC) and connected to my camcorder with the correct cable.

Downloading was simple as Windows XP detects the camera and I have downloaded some video footage.

If you need further clarification on the camera pls do not hestite to ask.

Nemesis.

Thanks for that,

rgds

Colin

[Alias]

hi all - new to camcorder world myself, but reading up on various threads like this one to help educate myself. I was interested in this thread as of my requirments when I buy a cam myself is that I want to be able to transfer the video file to my PC, do a little editing titles etc and then burn to a dvd to play as a full screen movie. I had heard different friends say that when they transfered to the the PC they never got full screen and the quality was so so, with missed frames and poor resoultion. If I am understanding this thread correctly, if the video footage is transfered via firewire (which I already have on my PC) then I should not have this issue - is that correct?

the other main requirment I have is that I want a cam that will do 16:9 as I have a WS TV - would appreciate any recomendations - my price range is abut $1500 aussie dollars which is about 600 pound I think.

thanks

[MarkE19]

Firewire will give a full quality transfer to the PC, but it will never look that good on a PC monitor. The PC monitor is just not designed to display true colour, full motion video. Once output to a DVD and then played on a TV you should see very little drop in quality from the origional tape. Also due to lack of video memory you may not be able to get video to play full screen on your PC, but this will not affect the final DVD playback on a TV.
Dropped frames are a completely different story though. For video capture and editing the PC needs to be carefully set up to prevent dropped frames. There is a lot of information on this forum regarding this and many other issues with NLE that are too numerous to post here & now (well I am at work and should be making my boss money after all!) so a search for things such as 'dropped frames' etc should find a lot of reading material to keep you happy for a while.

Good luck,
Mark.