Panasonic SDR-S15 camcorder Burning to DVD
Ralph Cullimore, January 2010

A. Introductory Notes

These instructions explain how to take videos from the SDR-S15 camcorder and put them on to DVD in a format that allows the DVD to be played in most DVD players. This makes use of the VideoCam Suite 2.0 software that came with the camcorders. The computer you are using needs to have a CD/DVD drive that can burn DVDs (most modern ones do). The software is for PC-type computers and not Apple Macs. The software requires Windows 2000, Vista, XP, or later. If you dont have the VideoCam Suite 2.0 software you can still copy video from the camcorder to the computer using eg My Computer in Windows, then burn it onto DVD (or CD) - but the resulting DVD will only play on a computer and not in normal DVD players. These instructions were written using the VideoCam Suite 2.0 software installed on one of the Camel laptops - an HP550 laptop with Windows Vista. But the software should work the same on most PC-type computers.
B. Before you begin, make sure:
You have a video on the camcorder! For instructions on using the camcorder, go to http://www.dacl.org and look in Equipment and related helpsheets The VideoCam Suite 2.0 software is installed on the computer you are using (see installation instructions at end of this document) The computer you are using has a CD/DVD drive that can burn DVDs (normal on most modern computers) You have a lead to connect the camcorder to a USB slot on the computer. There should be one in the camcorder box. If not, it is a standard type of lead so you may have one already or be able to borrow one from someone else. You have one or more blank DVDs
C. Starting VideoCam Suite 2.0 connecting up the camcorder
The software should start automatically when you follow the steps below: 1. Plug the camcorder AC adaptor into the camcorder and into the mains; turn on the mains; 2. Plug the USB lead into the camcorder then into a USB socket on the computer; 3. Open the LCD screen on the camcorder; 4. Rotate the dial to the first position (red movie camera symbol). You should see the Select USB Function list come up on the LCD; 5. Use the down button on the camcorder (from the left-right-up-down cluster) to select PC/Recorder; 6. Press the blue button (in the middle of the left-right-up-down cluster) 7. The VideoCam software on the computer should start up automatically at this point.
RCullimore - Panasonic SDR burnDVD instructions v4 - 24Dec09

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D. Once VideoCam Suite 2.0 has started selecting and burning 1. When the software starts, you should see the Simple Menu appear in the middle of the screen (If it does not appear, click Simple Menu at top right) 2. In the Simple Menu screen, click Create a DVD you should then see the Create DVD screen. After a few seconds, some thumbnail images should appear in the upper left half of the screen indicating the videos that have been found on the camcorder. The camcorder needs to be connected up, as per instructions in previous section, for this to happen. 3. To get an idea of what is in each video, double-click its thumbnail in the upper left half of the screen. This shows a few stills from the video to remind you of its contents. 4. In the upper left half of the screen, put a tick in each of the videos you want copied to DVD. 5. In the upper right half of the screen, check the size to make sure that the capacity figure does not exceed the size of your blank DVD (if it does, un-click one or more thumbnails). 6. Insert a blank DVD into the computers DVD read/write drive Wait whilst the software checks the DVD is OK etc 7. Once the checking is finished, click the Start writing button The writing process can take quite a while to complete so you may want to leave the computer working on it and find something else to do in the meantime. 8. Once the DVD has been written (burned) you will get a message to say so, in the middle of the screen. Click OK in this message box. You can now burn another DVD if you want, or close the Create DVD window (by clicking the X at top right). 9. When you have finished using the VideoCam software, close the any of its windows that are still open (eg by clicking the cross at top right) then close the VideoCam software itself (eg by clicking Exit at top right). 10. Click Safely Remove Hardware or similar icon on the computer (eg at bottom right of screen) and click to remove the camcorder. 11. Once safe to do so, unplug the USB lead from the camcorder and computer; 12. Turn the dial on the camcorder to OFF.

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E. Other things you can experiment with in the VideoCam software:

Viewing the videos on the computer screen (with the camcorder attached to the computer): Close the Simple Menu if this is onscreen then click the camcorder location on the left side (this may say F:\ for example). This should show thumbnails of the videos currently on the camcorder. Click the thumbnail you want then click the Play button at the very top. Uploading videos onto the hard drive so you can burn DVDs later when you no longer have the camcorder Editing, stitching together etc: For this you need to import the clips from the camera onto the computer (from within the VideoCam software) then carry out the various activities. However, these are beyond the scope of this document. Instructions are included within the software itself.
F. Installing the VideoCam Suite 2.0 software if not already done so
Note that you will need to have the correct permission to install software (admin rights). If you have the Camcorder operating instructions booklet available, see page 74-75. To install the software: 1. Insert the CD containing the software and wait for the Autoplay window to appear 2. Click Run setup.exe 3. If asked, click Continue to continue running the program 4. Keep clicking Yes, Next etc to progress through the installation (make sure the country setting is for the UK) 5. At one point you should see a serious-looking list of notes in a Readme file appear on your screen you can read through these if you wish or ignore them if you are not planning on doing anything complicated with the software. The information in the Readme file is also covered (in more depth) in the Operating Instructions once the program is installed. 6. Close the Readme window (eg by clicking the cross at top right). 7. Remove the installation CD (Important! otherwise you may forget until youve passed the camera or laptop on to someone else) 8. Accept the invitation to restart the computer once installation is complete 9. Once the computer has re-started, double-click the VideoCam Suite icon on the desktop (or go to Start, All Programs, Panasonic, VideoCam Suite) 10. Agree to the licensing terms and conditions 11. The software should then start up and display the Simple Menu window in the middle of your screen. 12. If you want to use the software, you can now do so (see instructions elsewhere in this document) otherwise click the button saying Close Simple Menu then click Exit and OK

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