Fair comment but I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible for David by sticking to software he already has, I don’t think he needs to learn new stuff while also finding his way around the camera.
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That’s very weird… maybe the instructions I found relate to a different version.
@David_Spardo can you tell me what version of Movavi you have? It should say under “About” on the Help menu.
Then I can look up the version-specific manual for you.
12.5.1, although when I switch on it tries to get me to upgrade from 15.
OK let me have a look. I just had a play with the Mac version of Movavi Video Converter and I may have a method for you.
PS regarding your screaming noise, I wonder if the camcorder was in video mode when you opened that “record video” dialog in Movavi?
It’s possible it was trying to record live video into the computer from the camera, and you were getting feedback (aka “howlround” from the camera mics picking up the sound from the your speakers.
Here is a link to download the manual for Movavi version 12:
On page 20 it describes importing media from your hard drive.
So first copy the entire contents of the SD card into a folder on your hard drive.
Then launch Movavi and start a new Project (or open an existing one).
Then follow this procedure:
Step 1: Open the Import tab
The Import tab is the first one you see when you start a new project. To open the Import tab, click the very first button in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
Step 2: Go to the My files section
In the left part of the Import tab, you can switch between adding your own media files or using built-in clips. Click on My files to show file import options.
Step 3: Open files
- Click Add Media Files.
- A Windows Explorer dialog box will open. Locate your files or folders and click Open.
If you want to add the entire contents of one or several folders, click Add Folder, select the folder(s) you want to use and then click Select Folder to add the files.
(By selecting the folder in which you saved the contents of the SD card, hopefully Movavi will dig inside this and find all the video clips and bring them into your project.)
See if that works for you.
OK slightly amended version of the instructions above, based on my experiments with a Mac version of Movavi of similar vintage.
Definitely copy the contents of the SD card to a folder on your hard drive first.
Step 1: Open the Import tab
The Import tab is the first one you see when you start a new project. To open the Import tab, click the very first button in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
Step 2: Go to the My files section
In the left part of the Import tab, you can switch between adding your own media files or using built-in clips. Click on My files to show file import options.
Step 3: Add a folder
Click on “Add a folder” and navigate to the folder that contains the clips from the SD card, select it and click “Open”.
The video clips should appear in order on the timeline.
You should then be able to carry on as you did before with video from your old camera.
Chance’ll be a fine thing. it thinks that all there is on that card are the 2 stills I took by accident at the start.
At the moment I am stuck with a panel from bloody MS urging me to sign up to Edge, so I can’t even get to Step 1.
It’s probably just me, all this stuff is double Dutch to me. I’ll take Eddy up on his offer to come up and read through this thread to see if it really is just me.
Thanks for all the help Chris, but I have had it up to here for today.
OK rested, breakfasted, dog walked, (twice) but can’t jump into the pond because Eddie will be here soon to read through this thread and follow the instructions/suggestions within and see if he, with his techie brain, has a better outcome than I have.
I am almost sure it must be me, as I can’t believe anything on sale for general use can be this complicated, can it? Watch this space a bit later on for an update hopefully containing at least one 
Don’t worry David, it’s an unfamiliar bit of kit at this stage - when I was checking it out before sending it I was pushing the wrong buttons too as it had been so long since I had used it!
I suspect that you only captured some stills and not video when you tested it before, that’s why there wasn’t any video to download.
Check that the little slider switch is in the video position, press the button with the red dot on the back of the camcorder to record (it will tell you it’s recording on the screen). Press the same button again to stop.
Then move the little slider to the “play” position and you should see thumbnails of the clips you have recorded - tap on one of these to play back (the monitor is a touch-screen).
BTW the camera clock will be on UK time but that’s no big deal for the moment…
Not sure where to start. I was videoing ok, we found the videos. But when I tried to use Movavi and got that tremendous scream it was not the camcorder connection but Movavi had detected my screen cam, perched on top. That is always there and switched on ready for when my son and others call me, and unplugging it is not an option because it involves moving stuff on the surface containing my screen and pulling the whole lot out from the wall.
He did manage to get my trial videos onto my screen but only via several other stages ending up with One Drive. The very thing which has been pestering me for ages and I was trying to avoid.
He tried to download the updated version of what was on the disc, but Panasonic refused to accept the serial number it was demanding, not enough digits.
So using Movavi is out of the question if taking the videos directly to it, and the only other option to view them is so complicated as to be unusable, mainly because I can’t remember every step and in any case it uses something I have been fighting to avoid. One-Drive.
I am so sorry @ChrisMann if this seems to be critical of you, it isn’t, and I still appreciate the generosity of your action, but it is simply something that I can’t use.
So what would you have me do with it? If you want I will send it back to you or I will gift it to someone else locally who might appreciate it. Up to you, I will comply with whatever you say. 
Sorry to hear it’s turned out to be so difficult - but I don’t think we should give up yet!!
I really don’t see why using One Drive should be necessary, that doesn’t make sense to me.
For some reason Panasonic don;t have an updated version of their software that will accept the serial number - I spoke to them on Tuesday about it.
Let me have a think - somebody suggested using Handbrake or VLC (both free programs) - it should be possible to get this to work.
If all else fails then yes pass it on to someone else but I am not willing to admit defeat yet!
ETA: what version of Windows is your computer running?
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It sounds as if Movavj is expecting to import the footage from a live source. You should be able to tell Movavi to ignore the screen cam input and import from the files or folders you have copied across.
Alternatively, you can tell Windows to turn the camera off temporarily.
And there is no need whatsoever for OneDrive to be involved.
I say this as - like @ChrisMann - someone with experience of digital edit (and camera) systems since they were invented…
Yes - I just came back to mention this!
Here’s what you could try.
Put the SD card back into the camera and connect it to the PC with the USB cable.
Turn down the volume on your speakers to zero so you don’t get the “howlround” when Movavi tries to access the webcam.
Follow the procedure given on page 25 of the Movavi manual for “importing AVCHD video” - after choosing Import Video / Record Video, you should then be able to select the SD-800 camcorder instead of the webcam, from the drop-down list by “Video Capture Device”.
Then follow the remaining instructions.
But why should Movavi be involved at all? I am not editing videos, I merely want to look at them directly. If I do want to edit I want to do that from the videos already on my computer using drag and drop, so the webcam is not involved at all, although still there and live.
As regards turning the camera off in Windows, I have looked everywhere and nowhere can I find a temporary turn off. Unpin from taskbar yes, uninstall completely, yes. But I don’t want to do such things.
I have a Nikon camera which when working, conncted videos directly to my computer, plug and play, instantly. I have a Canon Camcorder which when working correctly, did the same and also I still have a Viofo dashcam which also does just that, not to mention the GoPro which is around here somewhere. If this Panasonic is all singing all dancing, and more, why is it necessary to send the dancers out onto the floor without their dancing shoes?
I am finding it very difficult to understand how this can possibly be an advance in the name of improved technology, especially as the company that made it totally refuses to supply the means to use it in the form of a suitable manual.
Even more difficult for me is the fact that I am sounding ungratefull and unreasonable when answering all these points, but what else can I do ?
Read the manuals?
I’m sorry if that sounds harsh - it wasn’t meant that way. It’s just that I have worked with many, many different camera and edit systems over the years. Each of them has its own idiosyncrasies and sometimes reading the manual is the only way to solve a particular problem.
As to why you need to use an editing programme, you don’t have to, as long as you understand the way the files are saved. AVCHD files were originally designed to be imported to edit systems and then provide much more information than a simple video file such as a .mov file.
So it’s easier to use an edit programme and then import the files than dig through the rather obtuse AVCHD folder and file structure and get the file you need.
No need to turn the webcam off in Windows, what I was suggesting was turning the sound down on your computer temporarily so that in Movavi you could selet the Panasonic as the video source without having the screaming noise (though I have no idea why it should behave that way!)
Ah OK I had misunderstood - I thought you wanted to shoot video clips of the dogs and then trim them to put online?
If you merely want to view them, that can be done in VLC - a totally free program. It can also convert them into a form that Windows will probably be happier with - .MP4.
It’s because the Panasonic uses a newer video format called AVCHD, which is more highly compressed thus allowing full HD video to be recorded but take up less space on a memory card. However, because of that more sophisticated compression, it needs software that understands its format in order to view and edit it.
if you mean the software, that was included with the camera, but because this camera is now 12 years old, unfortunately times have moved on and computers don;t come with CD-ROM drives any more.
I had assumed you would be able to use Movavi (and I think you probably still could if we figured out a procedure for you) - but had I thought we might need the Panasonic software I could have copied it off the CD-ROM and sent it to you online. Too late now - unless you know anyone who has a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive that can copy it to a USB stick for you?
No I don’t think you are ungrateful or unreasonable - we have just come up against a situation where the pace of change of technology is working against us.
Have a look at VLC (maybe with Eddie’s help) and see if that will suffice, if not we will think again.
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Sometimes I do but only rarely, I just want to make videos, view them on the screen and take snapshots from them. I hardly ever use Movavi but it is there if I need it.
I already have VLC, that is how I view the videos that are saved to the computer from the camera. But with this Panasonic all I got was a blank screen. If you are saying that the VLC link you posted is bang up to date and mine is not, fair enough, I will have to investigate it. The VLC version is 3.0.20 Vetinari
If this is 12 years old, how can it be more ‘advanced’ than my Nikon which was doing exactly what I needed until it packed up at the age of 9 years?
I have read the appropriate pages of the manual. It explains exactly how to view videos and stills ON THE CAMCORDER. We have done that, the problem arises in trying to transfer those directly to the computer, either by connecting the camcorder to it or removing and inserting the SD card. Neither works without some other intervention., be it via OneDrive or something else.
Whatever is needed between camcorder and computer it is not easier than transferring directly, which I now realise this apparatus cannot do, apparently.
I edited in the VLC version 3.0.20 Vetinari.
Should this be updated and if so, would it solve the problem?
I have that same version on my Mac Pro.
I can drag and drop the “Private/AVCHD” folder from a card copied to the computer into VLC, and it loads all the clips as a “playlist”.
Double-click one of those in the list and it plays - you can move forwards and back with the controls at the bottom.
You can then grab a still from the video using the Snapshot command on the Video menu. Choose what image format it should use, and where to save it, in VLC’s Preferences.
It’s a bit clunky, but it works, over here at least!
Your Nikon was a stills camera with video capability. The video side was not the main use of the camera, so they just used a basic video format.
The Panasonic SD-800 was primarily a video camcorder with stills as an afterthought - hence they used a newer video format for more efficient use of SD card space, given that users would be mostly shooting video.