You don't need to "capture" anything! Capturing is for converting old analog videotapes (meant for TV's, not computers) into a digital format. If you have 1080/60p source clips, all you need to do is import them into the Media Libray or even just drag them onto the timeline and start editing.

Just make sure the project's timeline frame rate is set to 60 FPS (NTSC) on the General tab of the Preferences (gear icon) menu.

Depending on your computer's hardware you may want to produce to H.264 (AVC) MP4, or H.265 (HEVC) MP4 to have the highest quality. There are lots of tutorials available to help you learn how to do all kinds of things with PD, and you've already found that the forum is a great place to find answers to other questions.

Welcome to the community!

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote You don't need to "capture" anything! Capturing is for converting old analog videotapes (meant for TV's, not computers) into a digital format. If you have 1080/60p source clips, all you need to do is import them into the Media Libray or even just drag them onto the timeline and start editing.

Just make sure the project's timeline frame rate is set to 60 FPS (NTSC) on the General tab of the Preferences (gear icon) menu.

Depending on your computer's hardware you may want to produce to H.264 (AVC) MP4, or H.265 (HEVC) MP4 to have the highest quality. There are lots of tutorials available to help you learn how to do all kinds of things with PD, and you've already found that the forum is a great place to find answers to other questions.

Welcome to the community!

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I will certainly hunt down the tutorials. I mentioned capture in regard to clips that will be on my camcorder and not yet on my computer.

Quote
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I will certainly hunt down the tutorials. I mentioned capture in regard to clips that will be on my camcorder and not yet on my computer.

I can see why "capture" is misleading. It might sound like that applies to getting any clips still in the camera onto your PC, but that's not actually what it means.

If the clips you're referring to are truly from the old days and your camcorder has actual videotape, then you definitely will need to capture the footage, which involves a video capture card/stick on your computer. The "capturing" process takes the audio/video signal from the camcorder that would be displayed on a TV, and then captures the A/V stream and converts it to digital format. Once that's done, you can edit the clips in PD.

Long-time expert BarryTheCrab has tons of experience with this, and you can search for his posts for recommended hardware and processing tips if that describes what you're trying to do.

On the other hand, if your camera records to flash memory of any kind (and if it's recording in 1080p/60, it definitely uses flash memory), you only need a compatible reader for your computer.

The clips are already in digital format and you can simply transfer them from the memory card to your computer's hard drive/internal SSD. Some camcorders can connect with a USB cable and transfer the files that way, but you're still only transferring the ready-to-edit digital files out of your camera and you won't ever need to use the Capture Room.

I hope this helps!

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote
I can see why "capture" is misleading. It might sound like that applies to getting any clips still in the camera onto your PC, but that's not actually what it means.

If the clips you're referring to are truly from the old days and your camcorder has actual videotape, then you definitely will need to capture the footage, which involves a video capture card/stick on your computer. The "capturing" process takes the audio/video signal from the camcorder that would be displayed on a TV, and then captures the A/V stream and converts it to digital format. Once that's done, you can edit the clips in PD.

Long-time expert BarryTheCrab has tons of experience with this, and you can search for his posts for recommended hardware and processing tips if that describes what you're trying to do.

On the other hand, if your camera records to flash memory of any kind (and if it's recording in 1080p/60, it definitely uses flash memory), you only need a compatible reader for your computer.

The clips are already in digital format and you can simply transfer them from the memory card to your computer's hard drive/internal SSD. Some camcorders can connect with a USB cable and transfer the files that way, but you're still only transferring the ready-to-edit digital files out of your camera and you won't ever need to use the Capture Room.

I hope this helps!

Certainly does. Thanks.

Capture: H.264

Edit: Grass Valley HQ/HQX (Transcode) for Performance/Minimal Generational Quality Loss

Render: H.264

Don't recommend capturing and editing H.265 (HEVC) if you can avoid it, especially if you have anything less than a fairly recent (i.e. 7th Gen or newer) HQ-Series or Desktop i7 CPU (4 Core/8 Thread Minimum). It bottlenecks CPUs when editing in an NLE.

DNxHR and ProRes will not work in PowerDirector. You need a Pro NLE to handle those, and QuickTime CODECs (i.e. Avid DNxHD) are no longer supported in PDR.

I am not sure if PDR handles 10-Bit footage well (if your camcorder can do that). Someone else will have to chime inform on this.

EDIT: If you record video with an iPhone, I recommend setting it to Most Compatible. That way, it will only record HEVC if you select a Video Mode that requires it (UHD 60 FPS, for example... but good luck editing that... especially in HEVC!). On a Samsung Galaxy S/Note device, make sure the HEVC video toggle is off (the default) in Camera settings.

The HEIF photos from iPhones also tend to look worse than JPEGs (they're definitely smaller, though!); moreso as you go into more low light situations.

Quote Capture: H.264

Edit: Grass Valley HQ/HQX (Transcode) for Performance/Minimal Generational Quality Loss

Render: H.264

Don't recommend capturing and editing H.265 (HEVC) if you can avoid it, especially if you have anything less than a fairly recent (i.e. 7th Gen or newer) HQ-Series or Desktop i7 CPU (4 Core/8 Thread Minimum). It bottlenecks CPUs when editing in an NLE.

DNxHR and ProRes will not work in PowerDirector. You need a Pro NLE to handle those, and QuickTime CODECs (i.e. Avid DNxHD) are no longer supported in PDR.

I am not sure if PDR handles 10-Bit footage well (if your camcorder can do that). Someone else will have to chime inform on this.

EDIT: If you record video with an iPhone, I recommend setting it to Most Compatible. That way, it will only record HEVC if you select a Video Mode that requires it (UHD 60 FPS, for example... but good luck editing that... especially in HEVC!). On a Samsung Galaxy S/Note device, make sure the HEVC video toggle is off (the default) in Camera settings.

The HEIF photos from iPhones also tend to look worse than JPEGs (they're definitely smaller, though!); moreso as you go into more low light situations.

I shoot HD 1080P at 30FPS on my camcorder, and then get that footage into PD17 by taking the SD card out of the camcorder and inserting it into my Laptop. Then I copy the media files to my PD17 folder on the Laptop, pull them into PD17, edit at 30FPS using shadow files, and then produce to H.264 1920X1080 at 30FPS. The end result is excellent.

I'm sorry if I butted in but I kind of have the same problem. I just purchased Power Director 17 and I can't find a Hd Camcorder that will work with it. I want to purchase a Prosumer Camcorder that can record in full HD with a AVCHD codec and SD memory cards but I'm not sure if it will be compatible with PD. There's not much advice on what Camcorders or DSLR'S work well with Power Director 17. Might there be any forums or topics on what camcorders or DSLR'S people are using to capture their video into Power Director?
Thank You.

Quote I'm sorry if I butted in but I kind of have the same problem. I just purchased Power Director 17 and I can't find a Hd Camcorder that will work with it. I want to purchase a Prosumer Camcorder that can record in full HD with a AVCHD codec and SD memory cards but I'm not sure if it will be compatible with PD. There's not much advice on what Camcorders or DSLR'S work well with Power Director 17. Might there be any forums or topics on what camcorders or DSLR'S people are using to capture their video into Power Director?
Thank You.

These links may help.
Formats supported:
https://www.cyberlink.com/support/product-faq-content.do?id=23373&prodId=4&prodVerId=1339&CategoryId=-1&keyword=

CL list of cameras supported.
https://www.cyberlink.com/support/product-faq-content.do?id=19355&prodId=4&prodVerId=-1&CategoryId=-1&keyword=

The camera link was PD15, but since you simply mention AVCHD consumer camera, probably nearly all compatible. What's not supported are more professional formats, i.e. ProRes, MXF....so on.

Jeff

In short, ANY AVCHD camcorder will work with PowerDirector. It's the standard format for consumer video at this point.