My current situation is this:

I have about 5 VHS tapes, 30 VHS-C tapes, and 10 miniDV tapes. I would like to move all of the video onto my hard drive for 2 reasons. This first is so that it will be in a stable format with the ability to make multiple backups and the second so that we can watch video segments whenever we would like to on our HTPC conencted to our 65 inch TV. I realize there are a lot of programs and hardware solutions for going from video camera to DVD but this is an extra step for me as I don't want to end at a DVD I want to end at a format that is useable on my Windows Media Center PC.


Here is what I think I understand and some questions that I have:

1. The DV tapes are already in a digital format so is if I use something like Windows Movie Maker 2 to transfer footage from my camera to my PC do I get a bit for bit copy, in other words an exact copy or is there still a possibility for data loss?

2. I realize it would be fun and interesting to edit my movies and add titles, music, etc. but in reality I don't have time for another hobby so my goal now is to get the video to my PC with the possibility of editing in the future. What would be the best path to accomplish this? I realize it will be different with the analog tapes and the digital tapes. Here are my thoughts:

Digital - Do I start by transfering the DV to my hard drive as DV? I don't beleive this is a format that you can view in WMP so I would then need to convert the DV to a format that is viewable in WMP. This would be a 2 step process and would mean I would have 2 copies of the video in two formats but it would allow me to keep a "master copy" of uncompressed video for future use.

Analog - What is the best format for my initial conversion and how would I acomplish this?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

1. Yes...I haven't used it but Windows Movie Maker 1 or 2 should work fine and have zero data loss.

2. You should end up with .AVI files and Windows Media Player should play them with no problems.

Most computers can't capture analog video. You need a computer with a firewire port and some way to convert your analog video to digital video that can be captured by your firewire port. Many MiniDV and D8 camcorders had "pass-through mode" that will do that conversion. If you don't have a camcorder that has pass-through mode, I think somebody still makes and sells "Media converters" for around $200. I think I would try to find a used camcorder that had "pass-through mode".

Another option is there are a lot of people that have the equipment and would love to do the capture for a fee. Also Walmart and Walgreen's probably still do digital and maybe analog captures and also make DVD's.

Dave