Sorry for this newbie question. I don't have a camcorder myself. I promised
a friend that I would transfer video from his digital DV camcorder to PC,
and make a DVD.

I have a laptop with Firewire port. I believe I have heard that the Firewire
port on a DV camcorder is 4 pin, the same as my laptop. Correct? If so, I
would need a 4 pin to 4 pin cable to make the transfer. So--I connect the
Firewire ports with the cable, then what?? Will Windows XP Pro recognize the
camcorder, and be able to read from the digital tape in the camcorder? Or
would I need a driver for the particular camcorder, that came with it? (If
so, not much chance that my friend knows where the software CD is. He's not
a computer geek like me, and has never made such a transfer himself, but
only transferred to VHS through the analog outputs. I guess I could probably
find the driver to download online, if that's necessary.)

Once the camcorder is connected and recognized by the computer, how does one
make the transfer? Since the video is digital, is it stored as a digital
video file on the tape, that can be transferred as a file to the computer,
like one can transfer digital audio files between a computer and a digital
audio player? Or, even though digital, does one have to play the video in
real time to capture it, similar to how I would capture from an analog
source with an analog-digital video device I have, that can capture analog
TV broadcasts, VHS tapes, etc., to the computer?

If the latter, I guess one has to use video software for the capture. I have
a few different video programs, none too great. Would Ulead Video Studio 7
(one that I have) work OK for transferring the digital video from camcorder
to PC via Firewire?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Show quote Hide quote Almost certainly the camera will be automatically recognised by
Windows and by any program capable of capturing video.    If a driver
IS needed, it will have been provided.    If he's lost the cd, I'm
sure it is available for download at the camera maker's web site.

Windows Movie Maker will do the job.   As will any other video editor
currently available.

So, does it have to be captured in real time from the tape to the computer,
the same way I would capture an analog video played from my VCR through an
analog-digital capture device to my computer? Or, since it is digital, is
the video stored in a file on the tape, just as it would be on a hard drive?
(In that case, does Windows see the digicamcorder as a drive, and one can do
a normal copy operation from the camera to the computer, just as one would
do with a digital still camera?)

It could be said to be a file on the tape, I suppose.   But I can't
see any way to get hold of the file other than playing the tape :-)

Anyone played with one of the cameras that record direct to a DVD?
Is there a direct transfer facility?   Or is that a stupid idea, as
you'd just take the DVD out and play it on your computer drive?

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