How to capture DV or Digital8 video on Windows 7 and 8 computers using Windows Live Movie Maker

 Important notes

1. Windows Movie Maker isn't included in Windows 7, but you can download it for free from the Windows Live Essentials website.
2. Video can not be imported directly from an analog camcorder (such as Video8 / Hi8) to your computer when using Windows Live Photo Gallery. To do this, you need to have an analog capture device installed on your computer. An analog capture device is hardware that converts analog audio and video content from an external source to a digital format that can be imported by a computer. Please note that Sony does not offer this kind of analog capture board, so please check availability from third parties manufacturer.

What you will need

• A computer running Windows 7 or Windows Vista
• Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker
• Windows Live Movie Maker and Windows Live Photo Gallery are part of Windows Live Essentials, which you can download for free from the Windows Live Essentials website.
• A DV or D8 camcorder.
• A FireWire cable (FireWire is also called IEEE 1394 or i.LINK).
• A FireWire port on your computer.
  
  In case computer is not originally equipped with an IEEE 1394 port, several solutions are available on the market to add a port to the computer in the form of add-on PCI cards (in case of desktop computer) or PCMCIA cards (for portable PCs equipped with PCMCIA extension slot).
  

Step 1: Connect the DV/D8 camcorder to your computer

1. Turn off your DV/D8 camcorder.
2. Plug the FireWire connector on one end of the FireWire cable into the corresponding port on your DV/D8 camcorder.
3. Plug the FireWire connector on the other end into the FireWire port on your computer.

Step 2: IEEE 1394 (FireWire) Driver switching

1. Click Start
2. Then click on Control Panel
3. Click on Device Manager
   NOTE: If you do not see Device Manager listed, click on View By: Category on the top right side of the Control Panel Window. Then click on Large Icons. You should now have a list of items in the Control Panel and click on Device Manager.
4. Under the Device Manager, look down the list for IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers and double click it.
   It should display something like 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
   NOTE: If it has the word (Legacy) behind it, you are already set up and you can just exit.
5. Next, double click the 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
   A window will pop up saying 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller Properties
6. Click on the Driver Tab and look down in the window and click on Update Driver
7. Select Browse my computer for driver software and then select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer, it will bring up a list of drivers.
8. Click on 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy) then click Next
   NOTE: It is important that you select the one with (Legacy) after it !
   Once it installs the 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy), it will say Windows has successfully updated your driver software.
9. Click on the Close button and close all other open windows.
10. Reboot your computer.

Step 3: Import the video to your computer

1. Turn ON the camcorder and insert the videotape that you want to record.
2. Select playback mode on your camcorder.
3. Do one of the following:
   
   • If the Autoplay dialog box appears after you turn on the camcorder, click Import video using Windows Live Photo Gallery.
   • If Import video opens instead, go to the next step.
4. On the Import video page, do the following, and then click Next:
   • In the Name box, type a name for the new video file.
   • Click Choose the parts of the video to import.
5. Use the controls on camcorder (or the remote control for it) to cue the tape to the part where you want to start importing video, and then press PLAY to begin playing the tape.
6. On the Use the camcorder controls to find the scene you want, and click Import page, click Import.
7. When you want to stop importing video, click Stop.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for each part of the videotape that you want to import.
9. When you are done importing video, click Finish.
   The imported video is saved as one video file on your computer and appears in Windows Live Photo Gallery.
10. To add the video into Windows Live Movie Maker so you can start editing it, click the video file in Windows Live Photo Gallery, click Make, and then click Make a movie.