Most editing programs come loaded with easy to apply effects. In many ways this is excellent, but with great power comes great responsibility! Sometimes using an effect will create an undesired result.
This post is now featured on Metacafe. Head over there to read about “using effects wisely“.
Dalas’ Window Movie Maker tutorial didn’t cover capturing video to your computer, so I’m going to go over that right now. This article assumes you’re using a miniDV camera and capturing video using a firewire connection.
1. Start by plugging your video camera into your computer using the firewire cable.
2. Turn your camera on to VCR mode.
3. A dialog box may pop up that looks like the image below. If you choose OK, Windows Movie Maker will open. If the box doesn’t come up you can open Windows Movie Maker by going to your start menu, choosing All Programs, Accessories, Windows Movie Maker.
4. On the top left you’ll see text that says “Capture from video device”. Click on that text.
5. A box will come up asking you to name your video, and to choose a folder to save it in. I named my file Flowers and saved it in a new folder called Flowers on the hard drive I use for video. Give your video an appropriate name and save location, then click next.
6. Choose your capture settings. This option has a direct impact on the quality of the video you capture. I always edit using full quality, DV-AVI video. It takes up the most storage space on your harddrive, but it provides the best picture and sound. Depending on what you plan to do with your videos, maybe you don’t want to capture at full size. Keep in mind that once you’re done editing, you can always compress the video to make the file size smaller. However, if you edit with low quality video, you can’t convert it to higher quality after.
7. The next option is the capture method. I’m going to capture manually, because I only want to capture about 30 seconds of video that I just shot for this tutorial. If you want to capture your whole tape, choose that option instead. I’m also leaving video preview on, since my computer is good enough to handle it. If you think your computer might be too slow, uncheck the preview box.
8. Before starting this tutorial I queued my tape up to the point where I wanted to begin capturing. If you’re tape isn’t at the point where you want to start capturing, set it there now. You can do this using the controls on your camera, or the DV Camera Controls on the screen. Once you’re at the right point, hit Start Capture to begin capturing. Stop the capture when you are done, or if you want to skip ahead to other points on the tape before you resume capturing. When you’re done hit Finish.
9. That’s it! Your clip should now show up in your collection.
It’s time to make your first video! If you’re not sure if you’re ready, then check out getting started with digital video editing for more help.
If you’ve got your video source on your computer, you’re ready to edit. Of course, you’ll need video editing software as well. Since this is your first video, I’m going to assume that you’re using either Windows Movie Maker for PC, or iMovie for Mac since both programs are free.
Dalas, community director at Vimeo.com, has put together some nice tutorials for basic editing for both of those programs, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, I’m going to link to those:
Vimeo is an excellent video sharing site with a great community! You might want to get an account for yourself and upload you video when it’s done. You can check out my videos there as well. Good luck on your first editing adventure with Dalas!
Before you can start editing your videos you need to cross an important barrier: getting the video from your camera onto your computer (commonly referred to as capturing video or video capture). Capture is the fancy term for copy. We’re really just going to copy the digital information from the video storage device onto your computer’s hard drive.
How exactly you capture the video will depend on the type of connection you have between your video camera and the computer, and the video capture software you are using (if necessary). If your video is recorded on a memory card (common if you used the video mode on a digital still camera) then you’ll send the information through a USB connection. If your video is stored on a miniDV tape then you’ll want to use a firewire connection (IEEE 1394) to transfer the video. This will take up approximately 13GB of storage space.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to give directions for every possible camera and software combination. We’re going to give a general overview. You will be able to find more help in your camera’s manual, in the help section of your software, and possibly in other more specific articles from around the site.
USB Video Capture
If you’ve recorded video on your digital still camera then chances are the video is already stored in a playable format on your memory card. This means that you don’t need any special software or capture cards to get the video on to your computer.
1. Plug your use cable into your camera and into a usb port on your computer.
2. Turn your camera on to the proper setting. It will differ depending on what
type of camera you have. It will likely be called “Memory” or might even be the usb symbol, which looks like this:
3. You should be alerted that a removable storage device is now connected to the computer. In the list of drives on your computer there should be a new one. Open it up.
4. A removable storage device contains folders and files just like the hard drive on your computer, so all you have to do is copy the file from the device on to your hard drive by copy and pasting it. Look through the folders for any video files, then copy them over.
Bonus Tip: You can also copy your pictures over using this method. It’s not necessary to use any software that came with your camera.
Firewire Video Capture
1. Connect your video camera to your computer’s firewire port using a firewire cable.
2. Turn your video camera on to the proper setting.
3. Open up your video capture software. Windows comes equipped with Windows Movie Maker which can capture video. Apple computers come with iMovie. If you have another program you want to use, open that instead.
4. Depending on what program you use, there will be several options. Setup your capture options as
needed, then proceed to capture your video.
Free Up Resources!
Video capture can take up a lot of system resources. Close all other programs to help ensure that there are no system slow downs resulting in dropped frames.
Digital video editing has come a long way in a short period of time. It’s now easier than ever to start editing videos at home on your computer! This first step is to make sure you have everything you need to start editing.
To edit a video there are three absolute essentials:
If you’ve got these three things, then you’re ready for your first edit!
Hi, and welcome to the site! This is the official first post on learndigitalvideoediting.com. My name is Cameron Bailey. I’m a 22 year old male from Ontario, Canada. I’ve been editing video using computers for over 7 years, and now consider myself to have enough skills to teach others how to do the same. Although I can put together a decent video, I know I still have a lot to learn myself. I figured the best way to do it would be to create an online community where I can share my ideas with others, and hopefully get some great ideas and help back in exchange.
Since you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in digital video editing as well, so I invite you to take the first step in becoming a part of this community by bookmarking the site, or by subscribing to our RSS feed (What is RSS?). There will be plenty of updates in the future, and you’re sure to learn at least a few little tricks along the way. I look forward to meeting you through the blog comments, or via email!
