How to download videos from your digital camera

One of the coolest things about many of today's digital cameras is that you can use them to record short videos, just like you would with a video camera. These videos are easy to send in an e-mail message or post on a Web site, but first you need to download them from your digital camera to your computer.

Videos use a lot of memory, so you'll want to get into the habit of downloading them from your camera to your computer as soon as you arrive home. This will keep you from getting an out-of-memory message the next time you head out to shoot photos. Using Microsoft Windows XP, the process of downloading videos to your computer is quite simple.

1.	First, connect your digital camera to your computer. You can do this in two different ways: • Use a USB cable. Most digital cameras come with a cable that connects the camera to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port on your computer. The first time you connect your camera to your computer, the New Hardware Wizard will help you install the software needed to copy pictures and video from your camera. You may need to insert the CD-ROM that was included with your camera into your computer's CD drive or download software from your camera manufacturer's Web site. • Use memory card reader. A memory card reader is a piece of hardware that plugs into your computer. When you're ready to download video, you can remove the memory card from your camera and insert it into your memory card reader, similar to the way you might transfer a file between two computers using a floppy disk. Tip: It's usually faster to use a memory card reader to copy your pictures or video than to connect your camera to your computer with a cable. If you don't own a memory card reader, you might want to consider purchasing one. They are inexpensive and will save you time.
2.	Once you've connected your camera to your computer or inserted your memory card into your memory card reader, Windows XP will detect the connection to your memory card and ask what to do with your videos. Click Open folder to view files, and then click OK.
3.	Windows Explorer opens, showing your memory card. Your videos are contained within one of the subfolders of the memory card. Double-click each folder to locate your videos.
4.	Once you locate your videos, click the first video, and then, holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard, click the last video to select them all.
5.	On the Edit menu, click Copy To Folder.
6.	In the Copy Items dialog box, navigate to your My Videos folder (located within My Documents), and then click Copy.

Once your video files are copied to your My Videos folder, you can rename them one at a time, or you can use the batch-renaming technique for media files. You can also delete the files from your memory card at this time to save room for future videos and photos.

When you're ready to watch your videos, open your My Videos folder, and double-click the movie you want to see.

If you're interested in editing your videos, Windows Movie Maker 2 provides a variety of easy-to-use editing tools. You can also use it to import videos directly from your camera into Movie Maker so you can begin your editing process right away.

Tony Northrup is a writer, Internet engineer, and digital photography enthusiast. Tony has a decade of experience making networks and servers connected to the Internet run smoothly. He has authored and co-authored eight books about using Windows and has written dozens of articles about Internet technologies. When he's not on his deck writing, he toys with home-automation technologies and takes pictures for display in a Web photo album. He lives in the Boston area with his wife Erica and cat Sammy. You can learn more about Tony by visiting his Web site at http://www.northrup.org.

Top of page