Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- Audio Video connection cables (component, SVHS, Firewire)
- Video bridge device (if your computer and recorder aren't compatible)
- Video capture software
Step1
Connect your camcorder or video deck to your computer. Digital camcorders will use a Firewire connector. Older devices with component or S-Video and audio cables will need to be connected to a video bridge device with a USB or Firewire output.
Step2
Open your video importing software. Select your video and audio import settings. Make sure the software recognizes your video device. The software should walk you through the setup process.
Step3
Capture the video. Most software will take control of your recorder and allow you to play, pause, fast forward and rewind. If it doesn't, manually start the video playback a few seconds before the scene you want to capture to give you time to start the capture on your software.
Step4
Stop the recording process when the footage you want to capture completes. Make sure to save the raw video immediately. You may have to record several segments if the video you want wasn't recorded in a single sequence.
Step5
Edit the video. Trim the extra frames at the beginning and end of the clip.
Step6
Export the edited video file. The export dialogue will allow you to customize the audio and video compression settings. The higher the sound and video quality, the larger the file. The most common formats are MOV (Apple QuickTime) and WMV (Windows Media Player.)
Step7
Play back your exported file. Make sure the sound and video quality satisfy you. If not, export your file again with higher quality settings.
