Digital pass-thru questions

Good day -
When searching for digital pass-thru threads, I drop into conversations that are over my head.

I have an old Hitachi Hi-8 analog camcorder and a stack of Hi-8 tapes. Borrowing a Sony DCR-TRV22 for digital pass-thru to a PC. I've only got so many PC's with IEEE 1394 capability. One's running Ubuntu 10.04. Using Kino I can import a dv file from the Sony, but the color's not very good and the capture seems a little jerky. Also, one of the audio channels is a shrieking mess in VLC. The default Ubuntu MoviePlayer sounds OK. The PC is a Pentium 4 3 GHz with only 1GB RAM.

I have an Acer Core2 Duo running Vista 32-bit. It has IEEE 1394. 4Gb of RAM. Yes, I know, 32-bit can't address 4GB of RAM but before I swapped HDD's a few days ago this lappy was running Mint 12 64-bit. Although I haven't installed it yet, I bought Sony Vegas 11, the home version not pro version.

Do you think the laptop with Sony software might do a better job of digital pass-thru than the Pentium 4?

Also, are there other options besides Kino in the Linux/Ubuntu world?

Hey, guys -
Thanks very much for taking the time to answer newbie questions. This video editing stuff has a steep learning curve, and you can just keep going and going if you're willing and have the cash...

So, an update. The Acer laptop I mentioned was a dual-boot. I fixed the mbr using a Boot-Repair CD. Then, using a GParted LiveCD I deleted the Linux partitions and formatted the unallocated space as one big ntfs partition.

Rebooted. Vista works, and sees the 'new' ntfs partition.

Digital capture using the Sony DCR-TRV22 was incredibly easy. As soon as I plugged in the Sony the Windows Import utility offered to run. As long as there was no tape in the Sony, Windows picked up on the Hitachi Hi-8 camcorder on the far side of the Sony, and I was on my way with a bit less hassle than using Kino on the Linux PC.

Unless I did everything in just the right order Kino would balk, giving me that error message about 'raw1394 module not loaded'.

The Windows Import utility has limited options for the container. I chose '.avi'. The Acer laptop, with a Core2Duo and 4GB of RAM, didn't seem to even break a sweat.

The video is OK but not great. I can see an odd 'buzz-saw' pattern (don't know what else to call it) when the camcorder was panning. As long as I wasn't panning too quickly when shooting the original Hi-8 tape the 'buzz-saw' pattern isn't obvious.

And the right audio track is a screeching disaster in VLC, just like it was when I used Kino! The audio seems OK when I use the default Windows app.

So, I'm going to proceed with transferring, but I am definitely interested in any suggestions. I've got the Win-DV website up... it's a tiny application! Is Win-DV generally preferred over the default Windows app?

I'll go back to the Linux desktop PC and try OpenShot too. It's encouraging to make a little bit of progress! A week ago I was feeling pretty intimidated. A few modest successes makes me feel a little better.

Oh, I almost forgot about this... one of the reasons I went back to Vista was that I bought a copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD. I was hoping to capture the pass-thru signal using the Vegas software, then start learning about editing, etc. I can't figure out how to import using pass-thru. I bring up the Import tool, then start the Hitachi Hi-8. The Hitachi video will flash for a second, then Vegas says, "No tape in device" or something like that and goes back to a little dark-blue screen. I poked around in the "Advanced Import" settings. By flicking back and forth between "Import" and "Advanced Import" I could get the Hitachi feed to flash on the screen for a sec, then it kept going back to the "No tape" message.

Anyone know how to tell the Sony software that there's a digital pass-thru operation going on??

EDIT: I wanted to tell you guys something you already know, but I had to see first hand. Before I freed up HDD space on the Acer, I tried transferring the digital feed from the Sony directly to a USB-connected 2TB external. USB couldn't keep up. The video was herky-jerky. Now I know why they used IEEE 1394 instead of USB. However, I don't understand why the newer AVCHD camcorders can transfer across USB?? Is the AVCHD compression that much more effective?

Hi, Ungerman -
Thanks very much for the clarification on interlacing. I'd heard the term before but didn't know what it meant.

The last part that I described, where Sony Vegas Movie Studio isn't picking up the Hitachi feed. I didn't explain myself very well. The Hitachi is playing thru the Sony DCR-TRV22, so it should be a digital feed to Vegas. But Vegas seems to be looking for a tape in the DCR-TRV22, and won't lock on to the signal that's being passed thru. That's the problem I'm having. The default Windows Import tool does pick up on the Hitachi pass-thru, so it sure seems like there's gotta be a way to get Vegas to do it.

EDIT: I signed up at the Sony Forums, and asked about digital pass-thru there. Got some directions. If they work I'll post back here with the steps.

EDIT II: It worked. Here are the directions. I never woulda figured this out on my own...

In the VidCap utility, go to Options / Preferences / General and *UN*check "Enable DV device control".

What does it mean to "render"? I've imported all the tapes now using Vegas. They're all .avi. They all have that buzz-saw look to them when I play them back in Totem Move Player on our Linux PC. Is rendering the next step or did I miss my opportunity?

I tried playing them via our Western Digital media streamer (not the latest generation) and it couldn't read the format. I tried on a brand new Sony Blu-Ray/DVD player that has USB inputs but it couldn't read the files either.

I probably screwed the whole thing up. I don't mind starting over if that's what I have to do. I might try something like avidemux or similar to change the files to something else and see if those are recognized.

EDIT: I can pull up YouTube videos that oughta help explain rendering. Thanks!

Hey, thanks -
I know these are really newb questions but I've never done this before. I've read online stuff about video stuff, because I've been wanting to do this with the old tapes for years.

But you know how it is when you wade thru some multi-step directions when you don't have any hands-on experience... you try to keep up with the conversation but you don't understand one thing, then two things, and before you know it it's all gibberish. That's what happens to me anyway

EDIT: Since you folks have been so helpful, I have another newb question. If I want to use Vegas Movie Studio to edit out rough parts, maybe add some sound track, add some text, etc. (all things I've never done before either) is this done before rendering? Or after?

The Vegas software includes some guides. I'll read those. But a few other sources would be helpful.

Do any of you know of some online tutorials that spell out these basic steps? I hate asking all these newbie questions, one right after another.

Thanks!