sony dcr-dvd650

[videovillageidiot]

someone i know has a sony dcr-dvd650 camcorder. she would like to edit the video she gets from it. she doesn't have any kind of editing program.

is anyone familiar with this camera and how she would get the video to her computer so it can be edited.? i downloaded the camera's manual and see that the recording format when using a memory stick is mpeg-2-ps (whatever that is), but i'm fairly certain she records onto dvd's. there is a program that comes with the camcorder with some functionality for copying a disk to the computer, but i'm not really sure if doing that will yield an editable file.

once she gets the video to her computer, she will need an editing program...i'm not sure of the specs for her laptop - but i'm pretty certain she doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, so i'm guessing elements is out of the question. i was thinking maybe a magix program?

any help would be appreciated...THANKS!

[Paul LS]

This camcorder records standard definition video to a DVD. The video format will be MPEG2, as you say she can use the software that comes with the camcorder to get the video off the disc or the video editing program should be able to do the same.

Her laptop not having a graphics card does exclude the use of Premiere Elements... however, as the format of the video is MPEG2 a Magix editor option or Sony Vegas Studio could well be a better solution as they handle standard definition MPEG2 better than Premiere Elements.