Good Day, I want to take my D8 tapes & put them in my Pc so I can transfer them into DVD so I can watch them in my Living room DVD Player. I have the Following OUTPUT in my Sony Camera: S-Video Output/ I.DV Output/ Audio Video Output & USB Output. I have the following INPUT in my PC: USB / FIREWIRE & A Hauppage PVR card. I would like to know how to tranfer my D8 tapes in my PC then to DVD with very little Quality Loss. Thank You for Your Help...
The best way to go is firewire from your camera to computer. I assume your sony has a 4 pin/i-link output and your computer has a 6 pin or 4 pin firewire input. If your box has a 6 pin, you'll need a 4 pin to 6 pin firewire cable. If your box has a 4 pin, you'll need a 4 pin to 4 pin firewire cable, which may or may not have come with your sony camera. Your software should be able to control your camera from your computer through the firewire. You'll also need editing/capturing software (sony vegas, adobe premiere, pinnicle, nero, just to name a few) to capture, edit and burn to a dvd. A program like pinnicle or nero streamlines the whole process and can capture directly into dvd format, but neither is good for advanced editing. (I personally use Adobe Premiere for capturing/editing and Sony DVD architecht for burning) I would steer clear of conversion cards and usb devices, because those are converting analogue video to digital and can involve quality loss whereas firewire maintains your footage's digital integrity. With a high enough bit rate on your capture and dvd, there should be absolutely no quality loss. Even for converting analogue sorces like VHS and 8 you should use a deck or conversion device that uses firewire, which is the best choice for video capture/conversion. If you really don't feel like forkin over 5 bucks for a firewire cable you can always go with your card or usb(provided you can find a driver that works, god i hate usb...) but as I said, staying completely digital with firewire is the best way to go. Good luck!
