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Here's how to ready your PC for digital video editing, including IEEE 1394 installation.

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If you'd like to turn your home videos into Fellini-like masterpieces (or try, anyway), the new generation of digital camcorders--working in tandem with a PC equipped with a special add-in card and editing software--can get you started.

Because digital camcorders, as their name implies, produce all-digital video, you can load the video footage directly into your PC, edit it, and rerecord the finished product back into the camcorder without any loss of quality. Conventional camcorders produce analog video that must be converted to digital for PC use (with the help of an analog capture card), then converted back to analog to produce a finished tape. Each conversion results in a slight loss of quality.

To load video from your digital camcorder into your PC, you need an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) capture card--an ultra-high-speed serial interface. These cards are widely available, both as stand-alones and bundled with video editing software.

Here's how to install an IEEE 1394 card in your PC, including instructions on how to configure your PC and hook up the parts of a digital editing setup.

For lots more information on PC-based video editing hardware and software, see "Move Over Spielberg."

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