How do you upload a video on to your computer?

How do you upload a video onto your computer from a video camera using a usb port?

• I have a handycam video camera and apperantly, you are supposed to connect it to your computer using a usb cable. I did that, but I dont know how to get it on my computer! Ive tried Movie Maker, and it didnt work. I am trying to get a video on youtube, and i know how to put one on there, but I need a website to put a video on to my computer!!! Help me out here!!!

• Answer:

  Which video camera? Which computer? MiniDV or Digital8 tape based camcorders: You need a firewire cable to connect the DV port on the camcorder to the firewire port on the computer. Since you did not tell us which computer, we can't know what recommendations to make. The camcorder needs to be in Play or VCR mode. Sometimes MovieMaker just does not work and cannot capture the video - but WinDV may have better success. USB won't work - USB-Firewire converter/adapters won't work, either. MovieMaker can't deal directly with HDV, but can handle DV. Flash Memory or Hard Disk Drive based camcorders transfer using USB. Sometimes you need to take the memory card out of the camera and use a card reader. You may need to convert the highly compressed MPEG2 (or AVCHD) files. MovieMaker can't deal with AVCHD directly. Analog camcorders (VHS, VHS-C, Beta, Hi8, etc.) need an "analog/digital bridge". This can be a new camcorder with AV-passthrough or an external box ("analog/digital bridge") from Canopus or Pinnacle (Dazzle). DVD based camcorders require you to finalize the disc (if needed) and use a drawer-loading DVD drive (I like those from LaCie). NEVER put a small or odd-sized disc in a slot loading optical drive. Then you need to rip the video using HandBrake http://handbrake.fr/ Or you can use the analog steps and grab analog video from the DVD camcorder.