firewire to USB port?

[Dell-Boy]

My parents have a camcorder with a 4-pin DV out (firewire) port.

Their PC has USB 2.0 ports, but no firewire port.

They don't have a cable.

Question 1: Can I buy a cable that goes from the 4-pin firewire to a USB port?

If not, I guess I have to buy a firewire card and install it on the PC.

Question 2: If I can buy this cable, or the card for that matter, will I also need to buy video editing/capturing software?

Thanks for any info, and for any tips on what are good cables/cards/software.

Cheers,
DB

 

[redsox_mark]

Firewire and USB are different protocols, not just different connectors. So no, you can't buy a cable, you need to add a Firewire card to the PC.

Depending on our operating system, there may be some basic editing software already there. For editing, look at threads on DV editing... my personal favourite for a starting package is Sony Vegas Movie Studio.

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=977

Mark

 

[Dell-Boy]

Thanks Mark, that settles it.

They have a new PC, windows xp is the o/s.
I don't know if it has any basic software, I'll have to check.
That sony package looks good.

Next step: I will have to buy and install a firewire card then.
Should cost about £40 I expect.

Cheers,
DB

 

[senu]

Even if you could use usb, firewire is the best way to transfer video to a PC.

There are breakout boxes Moviebox and the costlier Pro version by Pinnacle which work with Studio and Liquid ( Edition) which use USB2 . I mention them only for the sake of completeness.

A Firewire card and cable should cost you next to nothing. I was offered one last week for £12!
Most makes should be ok as the IEEE1394 protocol ( aka firewire, i-link) is now well established and most standard hardware would conform
to the OHCI standard.
Windows movie maker ( built into windows) and Nero Vision( fairly ubiquitous) will allow you to capture video and WMM allow some rudimentary editing .
What you want to do with ( and to) the captured video will determine if you need any additional software. Be aware too that captured video gobbles up HDD space fairly quickly ( One hour of DV avi=13G)
As Mark suggests the forum has various threads devoted to suggestions regarding software.

PS:You may look for a "bundle" where the software is bundled with a firewire card and cable as a way of getting it all in one package.
The potential downside is that sometimes thse bundles are used to get rid of older software so buy with care.
Good Luck

 

[redsox_mark]

With a Firewire card, it should be OHCI compliant (check this when buying).

XP has Windows "Movie Maker" built in. You can capture and edit with this, but not create DVDs. With something like the Sony Vegas package you have more advanced editing and DVD authoring.

Mark

 

[senu]

Thanks Mark, that settles it.

They have a new PC, windows xp is the o/s.
I don't know if it has any basic software, I'll have to check.
That sony package looks good.

Next step: I will have to buy and install a firewire card then.
Should cost about £40 I expect.

Cheers,
DB

Im just a bit suprised a new PC doesnt have an on board firewire port,
Some come with an easily missed mini port .
Obviously It may be yours is a customised motherboard for that particular PC manufacturer but most motherboards in the last 18 months seem to come with onboard firewire/ network interface.

 

[Dell-Boy]

Thanks guys.

My parents bought it from a guy who builds them himself. They forgot about mentioning their camcorder to him, so I guess he didn't put in a firewire port. Maybe he should have asked them ... but anyway, I've checked and it's not there.

I'll look out for a bundle, card+software+cable.

They have some version of Nero which I think burns DVDs. So maybe they can start with WMM for editing and Nero for burning. I'll look on those threads for software.

Thanks again for the tips,
DB

 

[shoehorn]

Don't forget to look here:
http://www.papajohn.org/
for the best tips and tricks for WMM

 

[AFC]

Thanks guys.

My parents bought it from a guy who builds them himself. They forgot about mentioning their camcorder to him, so I guess he didn't put in a firewire port. Maybe he should have asked them ... but anyway, I've checked and it's not there.

I'll look out for a bundle, card+software+cable.

They have some version of Nero which I think burns DVDs. So maybe they can start with WMM for editing and Nero for burning. I'll look on those threads for software.

Thanks again for the tips,
DB

If you're on the look out for a firewire card I can recommend the following:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=78455

Very good value and a breeze to install on a machine with XP. It recognises it straight away and there's no drivers to install. It also comes with a firewire lead.

It's got 3 firewires ports on it so if you need to attach an external hard drive to store old films then there's room to plug that in too....

 

[Dell-Boy]

Thanks for that link - it's a "bundle" with card+cable+software (ulead)

all at a pretty handy price.

 

[Snubtray]

And here's another one - http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_61

I bought the card + cable + software option and have had no problems. The software is Ulead VideoStudio 8, which is quite easy to use.