Since you are working with analog content you will need to get a video capture device. I use a usb capture device by KWorld with my old camera. Analog capture can be a real pain. Capture in small chunks or else the audio may lose sync with the video. When you capture the video select MPEG2 not AVI. MPEG2 is much smaller any you will not get better than VCR quality anyways. As for your hard disk you can use a removable drive, but when working with a particular file make sure it is on your main hard disk. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Thanks for the quick response. I am a little unclear on the capture function. I am able to stream the video & audio via a usb connection from the camera to my computer. Do I also need an additional piece of hardware? I was hopeful that I could simply save the streamed audio & video to storage for later work. Is that possible? Do I need to use PD8 in the process of transfer & storage?
I appreciate your help!

Hi Jayhawk1

If you can stream your video tape via USB to a hard disc here's what I do.

I have an external hard drive connected via USB where I tranfer the files (clips) for storage before I work on them.

To work on the files in PD8 you will need to "import media" via the the "media room" (yellow folder) click on it and browse for your external drive.

You can then do any editing you need to to do and when you save your project it will be saved as a .PDS file. If you go to DIRECTORS CHAIR - EDIT - PREFERENCES - FILE you can select your external HDD to be your "import or export" location.

To work on a "saved" project in PD8 go to the white folder to the right of the directors chair at the top of the PD8 screen. Click here and you will find your projects.

When you have completed your project you can then "produce" it. You will then be able to save the file and rename as necessary. The format will depend on your choice at the time of production.

I hope this helps

Robert

If I were you I would watch the video tutorials on using PD. They are very helpful and will save you a lot of time.

My old camera did not have USB capability so I had to stream my video like I was playing them back on TV. I used my capture device to hook up my camera to the computer and I used PD's capture feature to record or digitize the analog data from the camera. It seems like you will will be able to your USB connection to import your data as previously stated which is a lot easier and faster.

Be prepared to use a lot of hard disk space one hour of "high quality" DVD footage will use about 4 GB of data (a normal DVD is 4.7 GB and it can only hold about 1 hour of video using PD's DVD HQ setting).

Make sure you save your files often using the save as method. Save after every major step (or every 10-15 minutes at least) and each save should have its own file name (party 1a, party 1b, etc.). Before doing any editing make sure all your resources (videos, pictures, music, etc.) are saved in the same folder. This will make keeping track of everything much easier. Finally, when a project is finished make sure you use the "Pack Project" feature. This is something you can look up later in the process. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Hi Jayhawk1,

I notice you said you are entirely new to entirely new to video transfer and editing, so I assume you are looking for detailed information or a bit more than just a "heads up".

I did a search on Google and came up with a few very informative articles. Here is one of them.

http://www.unterzuber.com/vhstodvd.html

May I suggest you read a few of these first and get familiar with processes, terminology etc. This should also give you a very good idea of options, equipment and your preferred set up.

After you have done this as preparation, then it would be a great idea to look at the video tutorials as suggested by James.

Regards, Con
Windows 7 - i7 860, 8Gb RAM, 2 x 1 TB HDD, GTS 250 1Gb Video