Jamesomg

So here is the thing: you have taken all of this great camcorder footage of your kids, your dogs and your Harley Davidson. Now you want to somehow get this footage on to your PC or even convert camcorder video to DVD. This article not only shows you how to transfer camcorder video to computer, but also tells you a great way to convert camcorder video to DVD.

1. Connecting Camcorder To Mac
2. Import Videos From Camera
3. Software To Import Video From Camcorder Macbook Pro

How to Transfer Video from Camcorder to PC

Yes, it is possible for Mac users to connect their camcorder to Mac. Connecting your camcorder to Mac for importing Video from Camcorder to Mac or photos to Mac might be a piece of cake if your camcorder is compatible with Mac. I mean, as long as your Mac can recognize your camcorder. Check Out All Our Amazing Video Software For Windows Edit Video VideoPad is a feature packed video editor that lets you import directly from your camcorder, trim, add effects, add music then burn to DVD.

1 Install a video capture device

Once you have your device installed, you will be informed what cables to hook up from your camcorder or VHS to the device before transferring the camcorder videos.

Connecting Camcorder To Mac

If you failed to import your camcorder video for playing or editing on Mac, ensure it's supported by your video player or editor software. If not, convert camcorder video to Mac supported format with a camcorder video converter. Now with UniConverter, you can easily convert camcorder video to Mac compatible formats within 3 steps.

2 Run video capture software

Now that you have your capture equipment installed, and connected your camcorder or video source to the capture device. Your device should have come with video capturing software. So run this software. Once inside you might have to tell it what device you are going to use for the video source. If all went well during the installation of the hardware then in the setup properties for the software you should be able to locate the source capture device. Select it and then continue.

Import Videos From Camera

3 Transfer camcorder video to computer

Now most of these software packages once connected to the capture device have a capture page this is where you are going to, YEP you guessed it CAPTURE the video. You can normally leave the rest of the capture settings default unless you have some special needs on the format you wish to save the video as. Click on the capture option of your software and press the play button if necessary on your camcorder or video source. The software will now begin to capture your video and save it to your computer.

How to Transfer Video from Camcorder to Mac

Connecting a camcorder to a Mac is not very complicated and is not so different than connecting it to a PC, but you must make sure to be informed on how it connection works and how to follow the right steps before actually connecting them.

1 Make sure your camcorder is set to the correct mode for importing photos and videos

2Locate the four-pin FireWire port on your video camcorder.

On most video camcorders, you'll find it located under a plastic or rubber boot. Leave the video camcorder powered off and simply lift up the boot from the camcorder and insert the smaller four-pin end of the FireWire cable into the FireWire port of the camcorder

3Insert the other end of the FireWire cable to Mac.

Software To Import Video From Camcorder Macbook Pro

Insert the other end of the FireWire cable, the larger six pin end, into the FireWire port of your Mac. When both of the cables are connected, you can turn on the power to your video camcorder.

4Transfer video from camcorder to Mac

Your Mac should automatically launch iMovie in a few seconds. Follow the on-screen instructions on your Mac and begin the video transfer from your video camcorder to your Mac.

Now I believe you can transfer video from you camcorder easily to both your PC and Mac. But if would like to edit and convert camcorder videos to DVD for better saving, please keep reading:

What you need is a DVD burner. Here I strongly recommend Aimersoft DVD burner, which can not only support burning various camcorders like Sony, JVC, etc video to DVD, but also allow you make editing, like cropping, trimming, customizing DVD menu, adjusting video and transition effects to your camcorder videos.

What's more, it has also both Windows and Mac version for this DVD Creator. So if you are a Mac user, and had just transferred your camcorder video to your Mac, you can download Aimersoft Mac DVD creator software and to burn your camcorder videos to DVD on Mac.

More Reading:

Convert VLC to DVD: The article teaches you how to convert VLC media files to DVD easily and quickly.

Music Video to DVD: How to burn music videos to DVD without any hassle? This article shows you the easiest steps.

Convert BIN to ISO: Want to convert BIN image files to ISO files? Follow the article to learn the simple steps.

Burn Podcast to DVD: The tutorial gives you an instruction on how to burn iTunes podcasts to DVD with ease.

Burn Keynote to DVD: Having encountered problems when burn Keynote videos to DVD? Click here to solve your problem.

Burn VEVO to DVD: If you have some Vevo videos and want to burn them to DVD? You can follow the article to finish your task.

Burn Sony Vegas to DVD: Want to burn Sony Vegas projects to DVD to share with family and friends? Follow the steps here.

Burn FCP to DVD: If you'd like to burn projects created in Final Cut Pro to a DVD, you can follow the tutorial to finish the task without hassle.

Burn iMovie to DVD: This article recommends you the fastest way to burn iMovie projects to DVD.

Burn DAT to DVD: How to burn DAT videos to DVD easily and quickly? Find the best solution here.

Your MacBook is already equipped with the large drive you need for editing digital video. In fact, because your MacBook has a FaceTime HD camera on-board, you’re a self-contained movie studio! Of course, you can also use clips filmed with a camcorder — depending on the MacBook model and camcorder you’re using, you may be using either a FireWire or a USB connection.

Note that MacBook Pro Retina and MacBook Air models do not have a FireWire port, and the FireWire 800 port on the MacBook Pro requires a special cable to connect to older FireWire 400 camcorders.

Here’s the drill if your clips are on your FireWire mini-DV camcorder or a mass-storage USB camcorder:

1. Plug the proper cable into your laptop.

2. Set the camcorder to VTR (or VCR) mode.

   Some camcorders call this Play mode.

3. Click the Camera Import button.

   iMovie opens a new window.

4. Click the Camera pop-up menu (at the bottom of the Import window) and select your DV camcorder, iSight camera (on older MacBooks), or FaceTime camera.

   If you’re using a tape-based camcorder, playback controls appear under the Camera Import window, mirroring the controls on your DV camcorder. This setup allows you to control the unit from iMovie. Keen! If you’re using a mass-storage camcorder connected by USB, you instead get Import All and Import Checked buttons below the thumbnails of available clips.

   To capture video from your iSight or FaceTime HD camera, open the Video Size pop-up menu to choose the dimensions of the clip; then click Capture. On the sheet that appears, choose the location where the video will be saved and also whether to add this video to an existing event or create a new event. Click Capture to start recording, and click Stop when your video is complete.

   iMovie can analyze your incoming video for one of three post-recording procedures. Select the After Import Analyze For check box, and then choose Stabilization, People or Stabilization and People. The Stabilization option is especially good if your camcorder doesn’t have a built-in stabilization function (and you weren’t shooting with a tripod), but beware: Any of these settings will add significant time to the import process!

5. To import selected clips from your DV camcorder, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual and advance the video to a couple of seconds before the point where you want to start your capture, and then click Import.

   To import all clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Automatic and then click Import.

6. (Optional) If you’re using a mass-storage USB camcorder, clear the check boxes next to the clips that you don’t want to import (to deselect them) and then click the Import Checked button.

7. From the Save To pop-up menu, choose the drive that should store your clips.

   You can choose to add the new clips to an existing event or create a new event. Heck, if the event spanned more than one day, you can create a new event for each day. (How do they think up these things?)

8. Click OK and admire your handiwork.

   iMovie begins transferring the footage to your MacBook and automatically adds the imported clips to your Event Library.

If your clips are already on your drive, rest assured that iMovie can import them, including those in high-definition video (HDV) format. iMovie also recognizes a number of other video formats.

It’s easy to get lost in the morass of video formats and assorted standards in use today. Check out VideoHelp, which offers comprehensive information on video recording, optical hardware, and format-conversion software.

To import a movie file, follow this bouncing ball:

1. Choose File→Import and then choose Movies from the submenu.

2. Open the Optimize Video pop-up menu. If you’re importing 1080i video clips, choose the Full quality setting. Otherwise, use the default Large setting.

   The Large setting saves you a significant amount of drive space, but the Full setting preserves the original resolution and detail. (The Full setting demands a significant chunk of the CPU and RAM resources your MacBook can offer, so expect slower multitasking while importing.)

3. Click OK.

4. Click the drive that should store your clips in the File Open sheet sidebar, and then navigate to the desired location.

5. Specify whether you want to add the imported video to an existing event or create a new event.

   If you choose to add the video to an existing event, click the pop-up menu and select an event.

6. Specify whether you want to copy the video (leaving the original movie intact) or whether the original movie should be moved (the original deleted after a successful import).

7. Click Import.

   Alternatively, you can also drag a video clip from a Finder window and drop it in the Project pane.