Computer DV FAQ:
(for the sake of simplicity, digital video=DV=miniDV=Digital8. Much of this may not apply to camcorders that write directly to DVD in MPEG2 format)

1. What kind of computer do I need to capture and edit my digital video ?

a. A quick and dirty answer is most modern PCs purchased today will be able to handle editing DV video as long as you have a firewire (IEEE 1394) port (see next question). But a better answer to the question is which parts of the computer are the most important for the process.

i. Capturing: again, need a firewire card (see question 2). Also need to make sure you have enough space on your hard drive to hold all the video. DV video is big, an hour of footage takes up about 13G of space- you’ll probably want at least double that in order to edit and render finished videos for production (either back to tape or CD/DVD/Tape). You also need to make sure your setup is fast enough to capture video without dropping frames- most of the newer hard drives should have no problem with this- but if you’re on an older system with an older hard drive you may have problems.

ii. Editing: as long as you’re working with the original raw DV information, this part should be pretty easy for your PC.

iii. Rendering: here’s where the rubber meets the road, this is the most intense work in the process for your PC. Quite simply, get the faster the processor the better. A 750mhz Pentium III will work, but it may take a whole day to do it. Especially if you are planning on making DVDs which require condensing your 13G DV video down to 4.7G or even 2.3G. The faster the chip the less time it will take. Don’t be surprised if rendering an hour of DVD footage takes 6 hours or more. Some people will just leave the computer to do this at night while they are sleeping.

iv. Less important parts: RAM- if you have enough RAM for your operating system then you have enough for video editing (Most WindowsXP systems come with 128MB) but as cheap as memory is, you can boost your entire system in general moving up to 256MB. Video cards are not that important either. Serious gamers can easily spend $300-$500 on a video card, but that’s not necessary for video editing, so if you’re trying to keep costs down, the basic card that comes with your PC should work fine.

2. How can I get the video from my camera to my computer?

a. You will need a firewire card to do this (also known as IEEE 1394, Sony calls it i.Link). USB and USB 2.0 just aren’t used for the data transfer rates needed with DV video. Technically speaking USB 2.0 has the capacity but it's just not used that way. If you don’t know if your PC has a firewire port or not, then it probably doesn’t. It’s not a standard port for PCs (not sure why) but if you’re getting a computer from a major manufacturer then you will need to ask for it up front. The good news is some laptops now come with it standard, so if you have a newer laptop you may be lucky. You can check by right clicking on “My Computer” selecting properties, then the hardware tab and then device manager (in WinXP). You should see a IEEE 1394 port listed there somewhere if you have a firewire card installed. Some camcorders will even come with a USB cable for transferring photos, but this is not adequate for full DV transfer. You can look around online, some cards are as cheap as $15 and the stores in your area may charge up to $40-50. Some cards even come with basic video editing software but it’s usually not great- it may be enough to tinker around with until you get your own software package.

3. Okay, so now I have my new computer, I have a firewire card installed, my camera is connected, and I still can’t get video to transfer. What gives?

a. To solve this, we need to figure out if it’s a problem with the software, with the firewire card, with the firewire cable, or with the camera. Let’s assume you’ve read the camera manual and done everything it says in there and it’s still not working.

i. Reboot: when in doubt reboot. Shut down the PC completely, turn the camera off, connect the firewire to the PC, connect the other end to camera, boot up PC, wait until it finishes, turn on camera, try to capture with software.

ii. Software: Try capturing video with a different program. If you have WinXP it comes with Windows Movie Maker and you can try to capture with it. Many software bundles have online demo versions you can try out as well. Try Ulead, Pinnacle, or Adobe. check common FAQ’s with your video software vendor online to see if there are any common problems. If you still can’t capture with multiple programs the problem may be somewhere else.

iii. Firewire port: use the device manager to make sure your card is installed and the drivers are loaded properly. Is there a yellow or red flag next to is? When you select it does Windows tell you it’s working properly? Do you need drivers from the card manufacturer? If you are fortunate enough to have another firewire device try it to see if the card works with another device. You can do the same to make sure your cable works.

iv. Camera: sometimes the camera doesn’t want to work. It it’s new and never worked before try returning it as defective and try a different unit. Maybe you can try it on a different computer. Do you need specific drivers from the manufacturer of your camera?

v. If you still can’t get it to work, post your question in this forum on a new thread, please be VERY specific. What OS are you using, what camera, what software, what have you tried, what happens exactly when you connect the camera…


This is the first installment of the FAQ. More to come on VCD/SVCD/DVD production. The hope here is to answer common questions, not be an exhaustive reference. Please feel free to add any helpful ideas to this thread, but try to keep them conscise on on-topic.

Please do not post questions about your own difficulties on this thread, but instead start a new thread. Thanks.