how do i connect my new camcorder to my pc?

[newmummy]

hello there! my name is andrea - i am a new mummy, so have today bought a camcorder to capture my little one before he gets too old...
i bought this today

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...Camcorders.htm

(the hitachi DZMV500) - not fantastic but itl do for what i need it for..i got it for £170 and its pretty good..however -
how do i transfer the video clips from my video camcorder to my pc? no cable was supplied - only one where u can watch on the TV -

wil an ordinary USB cable do?

thanks to anyone who answers this

[Barry Colgan]

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to the AVForums.
Couldn't find the manual for your specific camera but if you go to this link http://www.hitachiserviceeu.com/supp...userguides.htm you can search DV-MZ550 which looks similar to yours.
It says you can connect via USB cable to the pc and get the movies form there. Failing that, just put the disc you recorded onto in to the DVD drive of your pc and capture it from that to edit it.
There appears to be a few video editing software products on the discs that came with your camcorder so you'll have to install one of them. Otherwise you can use MovieMaker in Windows XP which is very good if you haven't done any video editing before.

Enjoy.
Barry.

[newmummy]

thanks very much - you all certainly know your stuff on here!!

i didnt even think about video editing, never done it before and wouldnt have a clue to be honest - it didnt come with a cd..unfortunately..

so if i put the finalised dvd into the pc - then would i be able to save it -? and send on (like as links to friends, etc?>)

thanks again
x

[jetinder]

You should have firewire socket on the camcorder.

If you have a new PC with built in firewire get a firewire lead from PC World or Argos, apart from that Barrys covered most of it

To your PC your finalised DVD looks like any other DVD, to make copies of it
:-
1) Make a new folder on Windows Desktop.

2) Put the DVD in your DVD drive

3) Open Windows Explorer

4) Find out which drive your DVD is in.

5) Click on that drive so you can see your DVD

6) High light the entire contents of the DVD and move this over to the folder on your desktop.

7) The PC will copy the contents of the DVD in to that folder

I use Nero 7 as my DVD copier.
:-
http://snut.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1

In Nero 7 goto
:-

1) Make Data DVD

2) High light the entire contents of the DVD folder and move this over to Nero 7s screen

3) Follow on screen instructions on how to burn a DVD.

Nero 7 is better than Windows own DVD Burner, but it takes time to learn it.

You can get Nero 6 on e-bay as well
:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nero-6-Suite-1...QQcmdZViewItem

For DVD copying that works just as well as Nero 7

I know the above sounds complex but once you do it a few times its a piece of cake.

[newmummy]

thanks jetinder - that was VERY useful and helpful, its good to have the information there for me to follow step by step - thanks again!

[jetinder]

Glad to be of help

If your not going to edit the DVD, there is another much easier way to copy your DVD.

If you have a DVD recorder connected to your tv
:-
1) Put a blank DVD in to your DVD recorder

2) Connect the DVD camcorder to the DVD recorder via those red, white and yellow leads

3) Follow the instructions on your DVD camcorder and DVD recorder on how to record from DVD camcorder to DVD recorder.

That is simpler but will work just as well as doing it via your PC.