DV Camcorder / PC Editing (1 Viewer)

[Mark Brandt]

I’ve recently purchased a Canon Elura 2MC DV camcorder and would like to edit home movies on my PC. While I’m a self-confessed home theater geek, I’m completely new to this stuff. So, I’m turning to the collective expertise on this forum for some pointers…
Equipment:
Canon Elura 2MC DV Camcorder
- In/Out IEEE 1394 (currently w/o a cable)
PIII 450
- Win 98
- 6 gig hard drive
- 256 memory
- 12x cdr/rw
I know that I’ll need a larger hard drive, firewire / capture card and editing software, but I have no idea where to start. The Canon came with no software whatsoever. Right now, I’d like to edit on the PC, and then record the edited footage back to the DV tape. My ultimate goal is to burn home movies to SVCD (with an eye for a possible DVD burner in the future when prices come down). I’ve looked for DV forums, but haven’t found any that were helpful. I’ve started exploring www.vcdhelp.com but it’s a bit daunting. Of course, I want to do all this as economical as possible. So my questions are???
1) What firewire / capture card do I get?
2) What editing software should I use?
3) What size hard drive am I going to need (any specific recommendations)?
4) Do you know of any online forums that would help me?
Thanks for your time…
Mark

 

[Jeff Kleist]

1) What firewire / capture card do I get?
I'd recommend the Pinnacle DV 200, or the Canopus DV Raptor
2) What editing software should I use?
Adobe Premiere, comes bundled with both cards
3) What size hard drive am I going to need (any specific recommendations)?
The bigger the better. DV is 1GB/4min or so. I'd recommend at LEAST 40GB, 80+ preferable.
4) Do you know of any online forums that would help me?
http://www.dv.com/community/