hey guys, i hope this is the right place. My band is looking to make a makeshift music video and i was wondering what the best approach to this is. It doesnt need to be highly proffessional or anything.
If you culd help me out with the hardware and software i would need to put together a very basic video. We've got a camera that should be adequate.
I'm guessing i need a capture video card, software such as adobe premiere or sumfin, and sum other stuff. I'm on a very small budget so try to keep the prices low
i already hav the songs pre-recorded to overlap the video
thxs in advance

what is your exact budget?

uhhh, maybe up to about 500. It's not proffesional or anything, and we've got a good camera, we just basically need sum way of getting it onto the computer. i've also got the programs

Do you know if your camera is digital or analog? It is probably digital, so you will need firewire cable (which is about 30 bucks...because the end is gold-plated). If your camera if analog, you will indeed need a video capture box. I have one made by ADS Tech, and it works great. Click here to go to their site, where you can order one. This would be around 50-100 dollars depending on the model. Mine is the one in the top right corner, after you enter your country.

OR, if you want to use dvd's and transfer that way, you can get video cameras for as low as 300 dollars (that use dvd's). But I would not recomend this. Just get the hardare I suggested, and then use windows movie maker for the video....it is simple and a great program.


500 dollars, you will be glad to know, is way over what you need

I'm not fond of Movie Maker. But that's beside the point. I have a Sony Handycam Digital Hi-8. It's called digital, but it uses tapes (old-skool, yo). It also has a USB cable. I've tried installing the SOny software that came with it, but the damn thing wouldn't work. I couldn't record the video to my hard drive. Should I try getting a FireWire cable?

This camera was a bar mitzvah present, so I didn't choose it; if I could have chosen it, I'd have gotten one that records to an SD card.

its not the cheapest way but,


you can always call P. DIDDY. he makes great videos!!! good dancing too!








im sorry for the spam but couldnt resist. ha

I'm not fond of Movie Maker. But that's beside the point. I have a Sony Handycam Digital Hi-8. It's called digital, but it uses tapes (old-skool, yo). It also has a USB cable. I've tried installing the SOny software that came with it, but the damn thing wouldn't work. I couldn't record the video to my hard drive. Should I try getting a FireWire cable?

This camera was a bar mitzvah present, so I didn't choose it; if I could have chosen it, I'd have gotten one that records to an SD card.

Yes, you NEED a firewire (or s-video) for it to work. Record to a SD card....ROFL. Noobs.

SD is for pictures not the actual video ...video is still either on tapes or dvd.

Canon Optura 20
thats our camera, for now at least. How do we know whether its digital or analog?

Thanks for the info, I googled it....it is digital. Nice camera.

So, you need a firewire cable, which you can get at most electronics stores (ie: best buy). Just check the number of pins on your video cam before you go. I don't know how to explain how the port looks on the video cam, so if you do not know where the port is, bring the camcorder to the store with you. Also, make sure your pc has a firewire port (shaped like house). If it does not, look for a s-video port. If it only has s-video, you will need a s-video cord, not a firewire. But if you have A fairly new computer, it proabably has firewire. Good luck with the video!

I'm not fond of Movie Maker. But that's beside the point. I have a Sony Handycam Digital Hi-8. It's called digital, but it uses tapes (old-skool, yo). It also has a USB cable. I've tried installing the SOny software that came with it, but the damn thing wouldn't work. I couldn't record the video to my hard drive. Should I try getting a FireWire cable?

This camera was a bar mitzvah present, so I didn't choose it; if I could have chosen it, I'd have gotten one that records to an SD card.

I'm pretty certain all Hi-8 are analogue not digital and you need a converter box to transfer it to a computer. I just replaced a Hi-8 with a digital camcorder.

I'm not fond of Movie Maker. But that's beside the point. I have a Sony Handycam Digital Hi-8. It's called digital, but it uses tapes (old-skool, yo). It also has a USB cable. I've tried installing the SOny software that came with it, but the damn thing wouldn't work. I couldn't record the video to my hard drive. Should I try getting a FireWire cable?

This camera was a bar mitzvah present, so I didn't choose it; if I could have chosen it, I'd have gotten one that records to an SD card.

I'm pretty certain all Hi-8 are analogue not digital and you need a converter box to transfer it to a computer. I just replaced a Hi-8 with a digital camcorder.
oh yeah, you are right, I think....guess I was thinking that hi8 was DV, not sure why.

lol, wow, i'm such a noob :?
k, so, my comp does hav firewire so once i buy the firewire cable, just connect it and it should transfer what's recorded from the tape to the hard drive:S

It is not that simple, but it is simple. Just make sure you get the right number of pins on the cable so that it will fit the camera, or you will have to switch. Again, just bring it to the store...they will tell you.

To put video on your computer, go to windows movie maker and press file, capture video (with camera turned on). Follow instructions. It should automatically capture video after you press capture, but since it automatically rewinds too, make sure the video is not near the beginning when you press capture (otherwise it will try to rewind, and then won't work). One more recommendation, set the video to the second highest quality, when putting it on your computer.

k, thxs
so the firewire should recognize the camera, and then rewind the camera and play what's already been recorded on the camera tape?