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Help... what's a DV Cable


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Old 14-09-2008, 20:47
LivvyLou
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Hi,

My lovely hubby bought me a Samsung Mini DV camcorder today, but it doesn't appear to be able to download to the computer. Having trawled the net I have come across something called a DV Cable and the camcorder has a DV interface with a "hole" marked DV.

Am I right to assume that it is via a DV cable plugged into the DV hole and computer that allows for transfer from the camcorder to the PC?

The camcorder doesn't come with a DV cable so if my assumption is correct I will need to buy one. Can any one help by telling me how I know which type to buy?

Thanks,

Livvy
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Old 14-09-2008, 21:07
LivvyLou
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Ok I think I have worked out that I DO need a DV cable in order to transfer from camcorder to computer and looking at the user manual for the camcorder I have discovered the DV jack is 4 pin.

My laptop obviously has a USB port so do I just buy a DV Cable with a 4 pin jack and a USB? The manual seems to suggest I need a IEEE1394 card for my laptop - anyone know what the 'eck that is and why I would need it?
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Old 14-09-2008, 21:14
chrisjr
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DV, also known as Firewire or IEEE1394 is not directly compatible with USB. So you would need some form of converter between the two. As you have a laptop one solution if it has a card slot is a device such as this...

http://www.lindy.co.uk/firewire-card...bit/51332.html

with any of these leads

http://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-firewire/...-pin-to-6-pin/

No doubt other devices and leads are available if you do a bit of web searching.
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Old 14-09-2008, 21:31
ntlhellworld
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Most laptops have a DV (normally called firewire or 1394) port on them, Certainly all HPs and dells from the past 4 years do.

I have never seen a 1394 to USB converter, and I doubt it would be much use anyway because 1394 is much faster than USB is.

LivvyLou, what laptop do you have ?

-Chris
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Old 14-09-2008, 21:46
Orbitalzone
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You'll also need some software to edit the footage and to create a DVD....you can't 'drag and drop' with miniDV camcorders, you firstly have to transfer the video footage from the camcorder onto your PC, then edit the footage, then burn to DVD or convert for youtube etc.

assuming you're using XP or Vista, your laptop should at least have Windows Movie Maker, an editing program for the DV-avi (video) files from the camcorder.

You might want to try out using something like Corel video editing - here's a free trial http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...0&tabview=tab6
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Old 15-09-2008, 11:31
Nigel Goodwin
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I have never seen a 1394 to USB converter, and I doubt it would be much use anyway because 1394 is much faster than USB is.
I've never seen one either - but USB2.0 is actually faster than Firewire.

Not much help for a laptop, but I bought a PCI card for my PC, it gives two Firewire ports and two USB2.0 ports, and came with suitable software for editting video, plus a Firewire lead (which is quite expensive to buy).
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