on 1/5/04 6:44 PM, Jeff Hubatka at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Jan 5, 2004, at 12:33 PM, iMac List wrote: > >> Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 07:45:29 -0600 >> Subject: Re: Transfer of old VHS-C video to DVD >> From: "R. A. Cantrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> on 1/5/04 6:44 AM, Mickey Winfree at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >>> I don't know >>> enough technical stuff (I'm a Mac newbie) to help you hook up your >>> camcorder to the computer. >> XLR8's Interview will hook an analog camera into a USB port. Easy to >> use and >> should be available on ePay or swaplist. I think I paid $30 new from >> XLR8. >> It came with a QT 5 Pro license. >> -- >> All the Best, >> >> R.A. Cantrell > > But transferring over USB would be quite time-consuming - digital video > takes up about 14GB per hour of uncompressed footage. > Look for a FireWire device, like the Dazzle Hollywood bridge. It's > still a little pricey, it almost might be cheaper in the long run to > get a digital camcorder to do the conversion. > I have converted some old home-movie VHS tapes to digital through a > Canon ZR40, edited in iMovie and burned via iDVD on my FP800.
Transferring from a VHS-C camcorder would take the same amount of time whether you did it through a $30 USB interface or a $300 FireWire interface. One hour of transferring for every one hour of footage. Both methods capture in real time, capturing as you play back from the camcorder or VCR. You're right that FireWire can transfer much more data than USB, so USB video inputs compensate by using a lot of compression, and by capturing to smaller videos, typically no bigger than 320X240. Besides low quality, another drawback of the USB video converters is that I don't think they can be used directly in iMovie. You'd have to do your video capturing in another program, then import the MPG (or whatever) files into iMovie, which would take additional time. The USB interfaces usually come with an alternate video editing program. I have an Interview and it came with something called "VideoShop". (I think that's what it's called, it's been a few years.) VideoShop is better than iMovie because you can import directly into it with the Interview. VideoShop is worse than iMovie because it is nowhere near as easy to use. There's a whole mailing list for people doing Mac video editing, if you ask there I'm sure people can recommend some specific products and programs to do just what you want: http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/MacDV.html -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
