Capturing mini DV video tutorial

This video shows you how to capture video from a mini DV camcorder. My particular camcorder is a Sony DCR-HC62 but the process is pretty similar between different mini DV camcorders.

First you need a firewire cable (IEEE 1394 or i.LINK). My camera didnt come with one, it comes with a USB cable which is just for photos. You can get them from Best Buy, etc, but I recommend getting one online. Best Buy charges around $30, but on Amazon you can get them for as cheap as $0.65 plus shipping.

You need a 4-pin to 6-pin male to male firewire cable (4 pin side for cam, 6 for PC). You plug the cable into the computers firewire port. If you dont have a firewire port in your computer, you can buy a firewire card and install it. You can get them for anywhere from $5 to $35 or so.

Next, turn the camera on and set it to playback mode. You need some kind of video editing software to capture your video. I use Sony Vegas 6.0 but theres also Pinnacle, Nero, Adobe Premier, Ulead, and some others.

Youtube recommends using H.264 or MPG2 encoding for uploads to youtube. Vegas 6.0 is a bit old and doesnt compress in H.264 and you need an extra license to use MPG2 which I dont have. So I use WMV 3MBPS and it looks pretty good.

Render your video and upload it to youtube.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• record
• video
• camera
• computer
• PC

[cindylee279]

hi i have a Toshiba H30 but it doesnt have a firewwire port.. so how would i do it now?? please help!!!

[Psarrianos]

You can transfer video via USB cable (USB streaming). You just need to have the usb drivers.

[GR8GUY54]

Nice and simple video to follow. I have just one problem - I think...when I capture the video, there are green horizontal line going through both the camera preview and the capture video with Vegas. Can that be fixed?

[TheAgeOfBikin]

that was so much help, thank you

[TheKffb]

nice west bloomfield skatepark haha

[VectanProduction2]

@NiggaHProduction Use freeware to transfert ;-)

[NiggaHProduction]

I got windows vista and Firewire to USB 2.0

then I stick it to my computer nothing happens :(

please can someone help me :(

[EdgarRodriguez97]

Since my computer doesn't have a firewire port I just ordered a hub with a firewire port. Will the hub be able to capture and upload the footage from my camera to my laptop?

[chula603]

do you have to use the firewire that is in the computer... minds thas nt have it,, just the usb

[superjini777]

@jaworskij Hi, did u get any answer for you question "720p from sony Mini Dv"? bcz ,what the hell, i am trying same thing from a month and came to a conclusion that still youtube and google fails to help...mlmao... do reply