It Vids

Camcorder is a must-have digital equipment in the modern life. You could shoot splendid moments when attending to friends’ party, go out for a travel, or record kids’ fun activities when they are young, etc. AVCHD Video Converter is a perfect camcorder mate when you are in need of transferring video files from camcorder to computer. It can handle almost all High Definition videos files from camcorders like the JVC GZ-HD10U, the Sony HDR-SR1, the Canon HF S100 (SDHC) and the Panasonic HDC SD9, Flip video mino HD, etc.

AVCHD  Converter is a powerful program for Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Hitachi camcorder users to convert the video types: MTS and M2TS movie files. AVCHD Video Converter offers a brilliant solution to convert .mts, .m2ts file from Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC, Hitachi camcorders to Windows Media files, like avi, wmv, mpeg, asf, mp3, wma, and further import into Windows Movie Maker for editing.

Further more, the AVCHD  Converter allows you to convert MTS/M2TS files to various personal portable devices supported video types, like iPod MP4, iPhone MP4, Apple TV MP4, PSP MP4, Zune MP4, WMV, BlackBerry AVI, 3GP, WMV, MP4, Gphone MP4, Creative Zen AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, iRiver AVI, WMV, etc.

How to convert AVCHD(.mts, .m2ts) files to avi, wmv, mpeg, mp3 for Windows Movie Maker?

Free download and install AVCHD Converter

Step 1: Add AVCHD files
Click Add File(s) button on the toolbar, select video files you want to convert in the dialog box that opens, and add them to the file list.

Step 2: Select output format
Choose one or more files in the file list, and open Profile drop-down list, then select an output format that you want to convert to, AVI, WMV, ASF, MPEG-1 is supported by Windows Movie Maker.

Tip: To adjust the output settings, click Settings button next to Profile drop-down list, and set the parameters of output format in the Advanced Profile Settings dialog box that opens.

Step 3: Set output folder
Click Browse button in setting panel, select a destination folder in the dialog box that opens, and click OK.
Tip:Before start to convert video, you can clip video segment, crop area size, add effects, and create video watermark to colorize your output file.

Step 4: Convert AVCHD files
Click Convert Checked Item(s) button on the toolbar to convert AVCHD(.mts, .m2ts) to specific video that you set in Step 2. You can view the conversion progress from the progress bar at the bottom of the window on AVCHD Converter

Step 5: Import into WMM
After conversion, now you can import the new videos in .avi, .wmv, .mpg, .asf, .mp3 extension to Windows Movie Maker for editing

As technology continues to progress, newer and more complicated media equipment is available to the general public. Digital video cameras are no exception. Just as quickly as the film-use camera has been rendered obsolete for your average shutterbug, VHS camcorders also have gone the way of the dinosaur. Everything, it seems, has gone digital and convenience is only one of many reasons. Newer digital camcorders also offer compactness, better image quality and quicker viewing capabilities.

The same activities that were recorded with the bulky video cameras of the 1980s and early 1990s are still popular today. Children’s sporting events, awards ceremonies, family gatherings, performances and other special moments are memories people want to preserve. The difference now is the accessibility of the images and the ability to share them with people around the world in a matter of seconds. But how do digital video camcorders work?

For gearheads and technophiles, there’s no mystery to the workings of most digital gadgetry. But for the average consumer, even basic operation can be perplexing. Here’s a look at how a few different types of digital video camcorders work.

As with film cameras and analog camcorders, digital camcorders use a lens to see the images they record. These lenses transform the various elements of the image in front of the camera into information that can be processed and recorded. In a video recorder, these lenses focus the light-intensity colors onto a semiconductor image sensor. This sensor is called a charge-coupled device, or CCD. The more of these a camera has, the better the picture quality. The final step in digital video camera operation is what separates them from older camcorders. The information is turned into bytes of data. The contrast and colors become binary code (1s and 0s), and this data is stored as digital video.

Most digital camcorders on the market from major brands use a MiniDV tape, which processes and records information digitally. These tapes are a fraction of the size of old VHS cassettes. Digital video is the standard for home and semi-professional video production and is sometimes used by the news media. Beginning-level professional digital camcorders have three CCDs and record onto DV CAM or MiniDV tapes.

Digital camcorders have a FireWire port on the back of the camera that plugs directly into your computer. The data from the camera is sent to the computer’s hard drive. The video files can then be edited with the appropriate software, if desired.

There are extremely compact digital video camcorders with limited recording length (approximately 60 minutes) and lens capabilities. These are handy for quick and convenient video sharing and allow for very easy transport. They require no memory card and plug directly into your computer with a USB plug. For lengthier recording or better image quality, the MiniDV camcorders are a better choice.

Lower-end digital systems that don’t use tapes record in MPEG-4 format as digital memory. Some higher-end versions use hard disks or memory cards instead. This allows for more data to be stored, hence the better image quality.

Most digital video camera manufacturers focus on the most commonly used computer operating systems. Windows- and Mac-based computers are usually compatible with most cameras on the market. Beyond these, consumers may run into trouble. Some tape-less recording devices are not compatible with anything but Windows, so consumers should be sure to check the details before making a purchase.

When camcorders went from analog to digital a few years ago, the ability to capture and edit home movies leapt forward light years. With a digital video camcorder and computer, scenes can now be deleted or rearranged and graphics, special effects, and even sound tracks added. The ability to produce near professional quality film is now within the grasp of the average consumer. However, the proper equipment is necessary to perform these miraculous feats and an up-to-date computer is as critical to the process as the camcorder itself.

The Right Stuff

The ability of a computer to successfully work with the digital video from a camcorder depends primarily upon things such as having enough memory, processing power, and the right connections. Inadequate memory can limit the editing function and insufficient processing speed can slow the editing process to a crawl while limited disk space will be gobbled up at the rate of 215MB per minute of film.

How Much Is Enough?

When working with digital video from a camcorder, it’s important to realize that more is better! The suggestions offered here are certainly not maximums, but they are also not absolute minimums. They are merely general recommendations to assure that the task of video editing camcorder film is a creative, rather than painful, experience.

- 512MB of RAM is recommended. It’s possible to work with about half this amount of memory but editing such as adding special effects, titles, and graphics becomes difficult with less memory. The video card should also have at least 32MB RAM.

- 60GB hard drive is recommended but 100GB is better. Again, it is possible to work with digital video with as little as 30GB but disk space will disappear very quickly. Certainly, budget constraints can influence selection.

- 1GHz or higher processor to help assure that editing can be done without unreasonable delays.

- FireWire or USB 2.0 port for the fastest transfer from camcorder to computer.

Other Elements of Success

- Windows XP and Mac OS X are the applications of choice.

- Video editing software. Numerous products are on the market making it easy to select a program that is compatible for any computer model. It is important to investigate the minimum system requirements as stated in the literature of any software purchased.

- Higher resolution monitors can make editing easier and most editing software will dictate the minimum resolution.

- A DVD burner is not required for digital video editing but does allow the user to burn movies to disk and view them on a DVD player.

Although the list of requirements for a computer to handle digital video from a camcorder is somewhat lengthy, most up-to-date computers are certainly up to the task. Once all of the requirements are met, creating home movies that will win the “critical acclaim” of family and friends is just a few mouse clicks away.