You should be able to connect any digital video camera to your computer.
Windows Movie Maker is a Microsoft movie editing application that is available for free download, making it Microsoft's equivalent to Apple's iMovie. One of Movie Maker's features is its ability to capture video and audio in real time from external sources, provided you can connect those sources to the computer. A digital video camera is one of the easiest devices to connect and use to capture video in Movie Maker.
Instructions
1. Connect the digital video camera to the computer. This can be done with a FireWire cable if the computer has an IEEE 1394 card, or with RCA composite cables if the computer has a video capture card.
2. Open the Windows Movie Maker program application on the computer. If the "Record" dialog box doesn't immediately open once you open the program, click on the Record icon in the program's toolbar.
3. Set the program's recording function through the "Record" drop-down box in the top left corner; this can be set to record video and audio, video only or audio only. Make sure the video and audio devices listed below the box are set to "DV Device," and use the "Change Device" button if needed.
4. Adjust the other controls in the dialog box as you see fit. The left side controls allow you to set and adjust a time limit for recording the video and create clips. The "Setting" drop-down box lets you select the picture quality of the recording.
5. Play the video image from the camera. Even if the camera has its own controls, Movie Maker's "Record" dialog box has a set of controls for the camera at the bottom of the box. Look for the video to appear on the screen in the top right corner.
6. Click on the "Record" button below the video screen to begin recording the camera's image into the Windows Movie Maker application. Click on the same button to stop the recording.
Tags: Movie Maker, Windows Movie, Windows Movie Maker, digital video, digital video camera
