Downloading and editting video

[skippyroo]

We have a digital camcorder and would like to download the film onto our PC, edit it, and then save it onto a CD. How do we do this?  Do we need special software?  If so what cheap software should we get.

[Chillum]

Have a look at http://www.pinnaclesys.com/.  Be warned...video editing can be very heavy on memory, and processing, so a you need a decent spec'd PC to get up and running.

[Headtime]

You will also need a shed-load of free hard drive space. It's worth investing in an external firewire/usb 2.0 drive to store your video.

[LeMarchand]

The main thing you will need (apart from the memory/processing power) mentioned above is either an internal or external capture device like the Pinnacle ones Chillum has suggested. Apparently internal is generally better, but if you're not up to opening your PC, then a USB 2.0 device will get much better results than a standard USB device.

 

Most cards/devices will come with some basic editing software, and quite possibly something to allow you to burn your films to CD. If you want to be able to play the resulting CDs on your DVD player, you may also need to get a piece of software to enable this conversion. If you're just planning on viewing them on your PC, then you should be OK.

 

Simply put, get the capture card/device and see what software is provided, it may be all you need. (At least, to start with - if you get into the editing, you'll probably want to upgrade to a decent editing suite!)