Before DV camcorders were widely manufactured, most people used camcorders that recorded analog video onto VHS or 8-mm tapes, or other analog tape formats. To use video from analog sources in your Adobe Premiere Elements project, you must first convert (digitize) the footage to digital data, because Adobe Premiere Elements only accepts direct input from digital sources. To digitize your footage, you can use either your digital camcorder or a stand-alone device that performs analog-to-digital (AV DV) conversion.

Analog jacks and plugs

A.

RCA analog video and audio plugs for video (yellow), left audio (white), and right audio (red).

B.

Stereo mini-plug, typically used with stereo audio devices

You can perform a successful conversion using the following methods:

• Use your digital camcorder to output a digital signal from an analog input. Connect the analog source to input jacks on your digital camcorder and connect the digital camcorder to the computer. Not all digital camcorders support this method. See your camcorder documentation for more information.

• Use your digital camcorder to record footage from your analog source. Connect your analog source’s output to the analog inputs on your digital camcorder. Then, record your analog footage to digital tape. When you are finished recording, Adobe Premiere Elements can then capture the footage from the digital camcorder. This is a very common procedure. See your camcorder documentation for more details on recording from analog sources.

• Use your computer’s sound card, if it has a microphone input, to capture sound from a microphone.

• Use an AV DV converter to bridge the connection between your analog source and the computer. Connect the analog source to the converter and connect the converter to your computer. Adobe Premiere Elements then captures the digitized footage. AV DV converters are available in many larger consumer electronics stores.

  Note: If you capture using an AV DV converter, you might need to capture without using device control.