Hi PopFiddle - can't speak for Pierre of course - but I finally "cracked" my own problem for posting vids - I use a simple laptop (well, it's not "simple" at all - it's quite up-market for other things I need to do - but that's beside the point) - I had real strange issues with the inbuilt camera - when I recorded from it (just using supplied software - it's a Micorsoft OS here) - the WEIRDEST things happen - the audio is FINE - it never loses the place - but the video - man - it slowly drifts in and out of synch with the audio - I have NEVER found an answer to that - until - I got myself a Logitech webcam - aha - that is (almost) perfect....  the trouble is there is so much software behind all these things and different "plug-ins" and so on...   what are you using to record (or try to record) - I know a lot of folks are happy to do quick takes with smart-phones etc... ?

Using the kit I have here (which is NOTHING special), earlier today I slung out a quick audio track for @DanielB 's holiday track - took me no more than ten mins to find the cables and get the stuff connected - it was just audio - but - had it been video - that was just another USB cable to plug in... (oh, and OK - a few mins to convert to a you-tube compatible format)

What are you trying to use?  Let us know, I'm sure others are in the same situation... and maybe we can get you off the ground...

Cheers,

   Bill

Hia PopFiddle - are you talking about a camera with tape?   I wasn't sure - so excuse me if I went off-topic...   I used to have a Sony camcorder that recorded to tape (small - I forget the actual type or style of the tape cassette) - but all I could do with that was ( and I'm talking about 8 years ago ) was to play the camcorder back to my TV  / DVD combo and record to a DVD/RW  (in real time - so a 30 min vid took another 30 mins to record)  THEN - take the recorded DVD to the PC and extract the audio and video, convert it to a "useful" format - and post it- it took forever to do....

These days - it is so much easier and faster with a web-cam, or inbuilt camera in your lap-top

But -

If you want to continue to use a camera/camcorder with SD card instead of tape - then yes - you will have made the transition from recording in analog to digital - a good first step! ( LOL )  And you would then have an actual digital file ( like an .avi file or .mp4 or .mov or whatever the cam can do ) and yes - then that can be loaded onto your PC directly, from the SD card, and reformatted for posting on say youtube or whatever....

Hope I have got closer to your original question...   if you need more info just ask...

Bill

PopFiddle said
So I guess you are using your laptop to record directly to the laptop.  What kind of file do you get with the laptop?.....

I guess what I'm looking for is what the latest SD camcorders are.  I can see that nobody uses tape anymore.  I'd like to be making video files with as little technical effort as possible.  And also there must be software that goes with that.  What's that like?

  The machine I use for this happens to run a Microsoft OS.  There is a lot of software out there, some free, some relatively cheap and of course some very expensive.  The freebie that comes with Windows is Movie Maker - it is a bit limited but it can be used at a push.  I use the NCH "VideoPad" editor (a relatively cheap video capture and editing tool).  The file type you choose to save the captured video in, can be virtually any format you like - from .avi (uncompressed, raw data, very large files) to .mp4, shockwave-flash, and "pre-formatted" types for loading directly to you-tube - for instance -

  I can appreciate the choice to have a "separate" camcorder - so you can record stuff "away from desk" so to speak and aren't tied down to a web-cam.

 All digital camcorders these days will also have a USB connection - so you can stream / record directly to you video capture / editing software - i.e turning the camcorder effectively into a web-cam, and bypassing the need to swap the SD card around.

A lot of folks also just record small / test pieces directly to a smartphone and then upload to youtube directly, or haul the video into a PC for editing before posting to the web.

Cheers

Bill