Cameras & Camcorders

[tiffntony2008]

I have a JVC GR-DA30U minidvc camcorder.  I would like to burn the tapes I have recorded to a dvd.  What cable would I need to connect this to my computer and was is a reasonable priced and easy to work with app for a windows XP operating system?

[BBY-Gurl-1989]

What you need to do is you need to buy a firewire cable [this is usually found in the computer department].

Firewires come 3 ways for cameras,

6 pin-6 pin

6 pin-4 pin

4 pin-4 pin

Your JVC camcorder will be the 4 pin side. Now you need to find out if your computer has the port. If you have a laptop- it may or it may not. If it does on a laptop, chances are you have a 4 pin port on your laptop. [therefore you need a 4-4 firewire cable]  IF you have a tower and it does have a port, chances are it's a 6 pin..[therefore you need a 6-4 firewire cable.] If your tower does not, you can buy an adapter to install into your tower [by removing the side of the tower [the cover] and knocking out one of those metal plates at the bottom and attaching it] this will create a 6 pin firewire port. 

As far as the laptop not having the port, I have no idea how that would work. 

Firewire Cost= Avg. about 30.00

Firewire adapter for tower [if needed]= Avg. about 30.00

Once you get that set up, you will need to use some sort of burning software to burn it to a DVD. I would suggest Windows Movie Maker but on Windows XP, you can't burn DVDs on windows movie maker. 

I hope this helps!

[inutel]

This is what I do:

Transfer DV file to pc using firewire (as posted above)

Edit/ encode DV file to mpeg2 (DVD compatible file) using Sony Vegas

Author mpeg file using DVD Architect

Burn to disk using DVD Architect or Nero.

You can use easy all in one program (like Ulead, etc) to encode/ author and burn your DV files to a DVD. 

. 

[Pretty_William]

Okay this thread has helped me a lot because I have a similar problem but I still have one question. I have bought and installed a firewire card and have the correct cable. But I don't know how to transfir the video file from the camcorder to my PC, Is there a software I should have to get it from the camcorder or is this a common problem with the GR-DA30U model of JVC camcorders?

[Entropy]

Most video editing programs that support DV video can capture over Firewire from a MiniDV camcorder.  Windows Movie Maker includes this capability I think.  Many camcorders don't come with any MiniDV capture software, I know my old GR-DVL530U didn't.

You typically won't see a device detected by Windows itself when you plug in the camcorder, that's just how the Firewire camcorder interface works.

Once you've got capture/editing software (such as possibly WMM), you will need to start capturing with the software and then hit play on the camcorder.  The capture software might be able to start playback automatically.  You will need to rewind the tape first, of course.

[MJBose]

I have been searching all over the internet for this information. Not even JVC will give you good instructions on how to transfer your video from the camera to your PC. Thanks for the info here. You seem to be the only ones with the answer!

[BBY-Gurl-1989]

Not a problem at all Just doing my job.