Connecting DV Camcorders to Your PC

Digital video ( DV ) camcorders connect to a PC through the IEEE-1394a (FireWire, i.Link) port for video transfer. Some DV camcorders also include Flash memory capability for use in still image capture, and these models use the USB port, just as normal digital cameras do.

If you don't have Windows Me or Windows XP, you need both an IEEE-1394a port and a third-party digital video capture/editing software to work with digital video. Many IEEE-1394a cards include software for capturing digital video. However, if you use Windows Me or Windows XP, you can use the built-in Scanner and Camera Wizard and Microsoft Movie Maker to capture and edit digital video.

Follow this procedure to connect a typical DV camcorder to your computer through the IEEE-1394a port.

1. Install an IEEE-1394a card if your system doesn't have an IEEE-1394a port. (See Chapter 8 for details.)

2. Turn on the system. Install the drivers for the card and restart the system if necessary.

3. Install the software provided with the camera; with Windows XP or Me, you might be able to use the Camera and Scanner Wizard to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer as an alternative to the software provided with the camera.

4. Connect the appropriate type of IEEE-1394a cable to the camera. Cameras use the four-wire connector shown in Chapter 8. Most computers with built-in IEEE-1394a ports and all IEEE-1394a cards use the six-wire connector shown in Chapter 8, except for Sony's computers with i.Link: The i.Link port uses the same four-wire connector as a DV camcorder.

5. Connect the other end of the IEEE-1394a cable to the IEEE-1394a/FireWire/i.Link port on the computer.

6. If the DV camcorder also captures still images to Flash memory and you prefer to connect the camcorder directly to the PC instead of using a card reader, connect the USB cable provided with the camcorder to the camcorder's USB port.

7. Plug the Type A (flat) end of the USB cable from the camera into a USB port on the computer or a USB hub attached to the computer.

8. Turn on the camcorder and follow the prompts from the camera's own software or Windows Scanner and Camera Wizard to capture your footage.

9. Follow the camcorder's instructions for transferring still images from the camcorder's Flash memory card.

It's imperative that you verify that a particular IEEE-1394a card is compatible with Windows XP. For some reason, Windows XP seems to be fussier than other versions (98, 2000, and Me) about IEEE-1394a support. I recommend you make sure that the card you want to buy has a Windows XP driver included in the package or is listed on the Microsoft Windows Catalog (www.microsoft.com/windows/catalog) Web site.

Keep in mind that if you can't locate a Windows XP driver for your card, you might be able to use a Windows XP driver from a vendor whose card uses the same IEEE-1394a chipset.