How to camcorder to usb

[Pattie J]

Hi there, can anyone tell me how I can take a home made family video on a camcorder, and turn it into a movie, BUT store it onto a USB, instead of DVDs.  I have previously made many home videos and have them stored on Dvds, but how do I store them on usb with menus etc, so the usb can be just plugged in and played.    Surely there is a program out there somewhere. DVDs are becoming out of date for storing family memories.    Thanks in advance for any help. cheers Nanna Patsy

[Bill Sprague]

The first part of your question is easy.  In Premiere Elements you use the "Export and Share" function, make viewing quality choices and create a universally standard "MP4" file.  It normally works better to create the file on you computer's disk.  Then you copy it to your USB drive. 

That standard MP4 file can play on anything from computers and YouTube to newer TVs, even smart phones. 

The second part of your question is harder.  It is not within the MP4 system to make DVD like menus.  None of video editing programs I am aware of can make menus.  There may be an exception, but I don't know what it is. 

As DVDs and menus fade, we can have shorter videos with creative titles.  A USB drive with a collection of short videos will show as a list on newer TVs where they can be selected and played with the TV's own remote.

[Peru Bob]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Pattie+J  wrote

how do I store them on usb with menus etc, so the usb can be just plugged in and played.

If viewing on a computer, you can create an iso file on the USB drive (instead of burning a on a DVD) and open it with a program like VLC.

If you want to play it on a TV with menus, however, I've been looking for years for a solution and haven't found one.