(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/navlogo NULL.jpg) I was just asked tonight by a friend, “I have camcorder movies, how do I get them on the computer/DVD”. Well I figured this would be a good post as this isn’t the 1st time I’ve been asked that question.
For those of us who still have and use either a VCR (yes that thing that was known as video tape for us old folks) or a camcorder that uses a tape (VHS,VHS-c,Super-8 to name a few) there are a few options to get our videos to digital. They range from $29 to a couple of hundred dollars depending on how fancy you want to get. The rule here is “you get what you pay for”. If you buy something cheap, your digital copy will look really cheap and it wont be worth the time and effort you will put in. If you buy top of the line, it will be super fancy and complicated and you will probably give up before you get your project done (unless your a super geek). For the average user you have a couple of middle of the road options (between 80 and 110 dollars), of which I recommend (as I have used it), the Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Plus (which has a suggested retail price of $89.99 but I found it online for $79 on sale.
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Dazzle video creator has a hardware and software portion to it. The hardware allows you to connect your camcorder or VCR to the unit and then connect the unit to your computer via USB. The unit is very simple to use, once you connect your VCR or camcorder to it and connect the unit to your computer, windows will recognize the unit as new hardware. After that you can use the software that comes with Dazzle (which is the Pinnacle studio) to copy the video to your pc.
Once downloaded on your pc, the same Pinnacle studio software can be used to add titles, montages, graphics or titles and to edit what you have downloaded (No one needs to see the 5 min footage of the floor as you were walking around Disney). Once you have your video completed to your liking, then the Pinnacle studio software can be used to save the file to DVD (A DVD recorder is needed on the pc to save to DVD, not that you wouldn’t already know that but you cant tell me I didn’t tell you).
You can find more information on the Pinnacle Dazzle at (LINK) http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Dazzle/Dazzle+Video+Archiving/Dazzle+Video+Creator+Plus+HD.htm (http://www NULL.pinnaclesys NULL.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Dazzle/Dazzle+Video+Archiving/Dazzle+Video+Creator+Plus+HD NULL.htm)
1) When doing any video processing (saving from tape, editing, saving to DVD), do not do anything else on the pc, the more you do, the more resources on the pc will be used for something other than your video and the more you risk having the video not look as good as it should. (So no watching YouTube or playing online games while working on this).
2) Dazzle Video Creator Plus has a function that they say will let you take the video directly from the tape to a DVD without saving on pc. This is the only feature that I haven’t gotten to work right, the movies just don’t look good that way. You can try it, but I suggest just download to pc and then burn, its a little longer process but I think (my opinion) its better.
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