Quantcast
PCWorld.com is upgrading some back-end systems. Some site features, such as user registration, may be temporarily unavailable.
Subscribe to magazine

Upgrade Guide

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

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

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."

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Featured APC Accessories

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Deal Breakers

Special Offers for PC World Users

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

Sponsored Links