Build the perfect baby video

This part tends to be the big roadblock for many home videographers, either because they don't know how to start or because they don't realize that they lack the proper cable. So here's a step-by-step guide within a step-by-step guide.


Step 1: Install your video-editing software.

Step 2: Get your camcorder and FireWire cable. Note that this is not the cable that shipped with your camcorder. If you're not sure what the right cable looks like, check out the photos here.

Step 3: Plug one end of the cable into your camcorder (the connector cover and connector are usually marked "DV") and the other end into your PC's FireWire port.

Step 4: Put the first tape into the camcorder and turn it on in VCR (playback) mode. When you turn it on, Windows XP should pop up the New Hardware Found balloon and automatically install the camcorder as an AVC device. If you get a message that Windows can't find the driver, choose to select a driver from a list, then manually select the AVC device driver. You'll likely get an error message (We don't recommend...), but continue through the process. After you click Finish, it might say "This device will not work properly," but Windows will most likely identify your camcorder correctly.

Step 5: A pop-up dialog should then ask you which application you would like to start. Choose your video-editing application.

Step 6: In most video editors, you can choose Capture from the menus. The software should indicate that it sees your camcorder and give you onscreen VCR controls to control the tape.

Step 7: Check the settings to make sure that the software is capturing in DV format (the highest quality possible) and that it's capturing both audio and video.

Step 8: Simply play the tape, clicking the Capture (or Record) button when you reach the portion you want to download, and clicking Pause or Stop when the segment you want ends. You are better off capturing a lot of little clips rather than digitizing the whole tape as a humongous file. Many video editors can automatically split the tape up into separate clips, a feature known as Scene Detection.

Repeat steps 4 through 8 until you've downloaded all the video you want to work with.