I'm a newbie at this and am looking for some help. Thanks in advance. I have
a HI8 video camera which has composite and s-video out connections only. My
new computer has all the common input connections. It came with a program by
Sonic which will capture video and audio from the camera using the composite
connection. I can then open the file it saves with WMM and edit it. Now a
couple of questions. Is the video quality as good as it's going to get using
this method? If not, would a dazzle 80 or 90 improve things? What about the
s-video connection, would that work any better? I'm after the best quality I
can get with my equipment and would like to hear any and all suggestions. I
want to burn the videos to DVD disks. What is the last word as to which
format I should save my files in?

I've changed my normal method of capturing my Hi8 tapes... I used to use a
Dazzle 80 into a USB connection....

today I dub it from my Hi8 camcorder to my mini-DV camcorder... I think the
camcorder conversion to digital gives better results... but I haven't tested
a Dazzle 90...

yes, you get higher quality using an S-video connection than an RCA cable...
either via the Dazzle or the dubbing from camcorder to camcorder...

I'm happy enough with camcorder dubbing to do my full library of Hi8 tapes,
copying them all to mini-DV tapes.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 website - http://www.papajohn.org
MM2 Tips and Tricks: http://www.simplydv.co.uk/simplyBB/viewtopic.php?t=4693
Online Newsletters: http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/PapaJohn/Index.aspx



"JimB" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:509C3739-931B-49E9-881C-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm a newbie at this and am looking for some help. Thanks in advance. I
> have
> a HI8 video camera which has composite and s-video out connections only.
> My
> new computer has all the common input connections. It came with a program
> by
> Sonic which will capture video and audio from the camera using the
> composite
> connection. I can then open the file it saves with WMM and edit it. Now a
> couple of questions. Is the video quality as good as it's going to get
> using
> this method? If not, would a dazzle 80 or 90 improve things? What about
> the
> s-video connection, would that work any better? I'm after the best quality
> I
> can get with my equipment and would like to hear any and all suggestions.
> I
> want to burn the videos to DVD disks. What is the last word as to which
> format I should save my files in?

Jim,
I have the Dazzle 90 and the Studio 9 software that came with it. I have
never had a problem with either. The capture device gives you the choice of
composite or SVideo (I choose SVideo) and connects to my PC via a USB 2.0
port. Studio 9 will let you capture to DV-AVI and multiple MPEG formats where
MM2 will only let you capture to WMV and you cannot turn off the "preview"
window. I have over 30 hours of video to capture before I can start putting
the movie together so I choose to capture with MM2 to WMV format and will
render to DV-AVI. Using PapaJohn's website I was able to create a custom
profile to boost the quality of the WMV format. Among other things, I bumped
up the bit rate to 7500Kpbs.

"JimB" wrote:

> I'm a newbie at this and am looking for some help. Thanks in advance. I have
> a HI8 video camera which has composite and s-video out connections only. My
> new computer has all the common input connections. It came with a program by
> Sonic which will capture video and audio from the camera using the composite
> connection. I can then open the file it saves with WMM and edit it. Now a
> couple of questions. Is the video quality as good as it's going to get using
> this method? If not, would a dazzle 80 or 90 improve things? What about the
> s-video connection, would that work any better? I'm after the best quality I
> can get with my equipment and would like to hear any and all suggestions. I
> want to burn the videos to DVD disks. What is the last word as to which
> format I should save my files in?