First, let me start with by saying that I am not that much of a computer savvy person, I just want to put videos of my daughter onto a DVD to always have, can some tell me in plain (Dummies guide to...) english, what I need and best place to get it. (sorry if I'm asking for too much)
1. I have a Panasonic Palmcorder, I obviously need a USB cord, which didn't come with the camcorder and I'd prefer not to pay $45 for it, any suggestions?
2. I've read other postings about a Firewire card. I've looked it up and is this a card that I will have to install in the back of my computer or is it the plug n' play card that I have also seen?
3. I have Nero (which came with the DVD burner I just bought) is this good enough?
I have a Panasonic Palmcorder GS9, it has both USB and DV output.
Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure how to answer the question about the capabilities of my PC, is there anything in particular I should look for?
I just looked at the back of my hardrive and it look like I have something that looks similar to the picture above, there's 3 of them back there and in the middle of the slot is a black piece with 3 strips of gold, would that be firewire?? Ok, I just looked in my Device Manager and it says this: IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller, and when you click the + next to it, it says: Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller. Does this mean, that I already have it??
You are ready for business. Now all you need is a decent Digital Video authoring program. A decent program is not cheap so this is one of those that "you get what you pay for" deal. Try out what Pinnacle and Ulead has to offer. Or if you have the cash and talent try Adobe Premiere
You are going to need one of these. A DV to firewire cable.