I thought I was a techo-geek, but apparently I'm now old and stupid. Help!

[cheapie]

I bought a Sony DCR-HC96 (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DCR-HC96-Digital-Handycam-Camcorder/dp/B000E0I5AI) and need help figuring out what to do with the stuff I've recorded on the MiniDV tapes.



This is what I understand to be the process. Please let me know if I'm incorrect or if there are better solutions.

First, I will be using my wife's Mini Mac and transferring the video content over using a Firewire cable. I still need to buy the cable but don't see any problem there.

If I'm not mistaken, I move the content over by opening up the capture program and simply playing the tape on the Handycam.

Second, I will then use iMovie to create a movie, content, menus, etc.

Third, I will buy a standalone DVD recorder for the Mac and then burn the content onto the DVD using iMovie, or the software that comes with the burner.

Is the above accurate? Will the output from iMovie be uncompressed and look good on my TV when I play the DVD?

TIA!!!!

[Devhux]

I'm not familiar with Macs, although here's a few points that I can (pretty much) assume:

1) Once you hook up your camcorder via Firewire, there is no need to touch the device any more. Just open up your capture program (iMovie?) and there should be a Capture option. From there, you can control the camcorder directly from within the application (I presume you'll see a preview window of what the camcorder is playing back).

2) I believe the Mac Mini does indeed have a DVD burner, so you won't need a standalone recorder.

3) I can't see a problem in terms of compression -- there's bound to be enough options in iMovie that allow you to specify the output type (iPod, web, DVD) so video quality should be good for viewing on your TV. Of course it won't be HD-quality, but it still should be of good quality.

[ShawnLee]

I've got nothing to add to your dilemna but I recently felt the same way.
"Man, a few years back I was among the top of the comp-nerd crop. Not the absolute top, but at least better than ninety percent of the people out there. Now, I can't even figure out AIM."

But then, AIM's an AOL product, and I guess I should take comfort in not using it right.

[eSDee]

Yes you can capture directly into iMovie via firewire. Actually most digital camcorders can be controlled by iMovie itself, so you won't have to press play or stop on the camcorder itself. Either way, capture with iMovie. Once you have it in iMovie it will be uncompressed video. After you edit it the way you want, you can either export to iDVD if you want all the menus and other crap, or if you just want the video only on the DVD, you can export to different video formats. iDVD will take the video uncompressed, then compress after you have finalized the theme. If you don't want to use iDVD then you can export to DV format, which is the highest quality. Use your burning software to create the DVD with this file, and it will compress it for you.

The video will will not be uncompressed, but it will be encoded in mpeg2 format, and should look really nice on your TV.

[LPMiller]

yeah, what they said.

[cheapie]

thanks all! i think the mac might be old enough that it's not equipped w/a burner but i'll check.

[cheapie]

it doesn't have the superdrive in it. which means i'll have to get an external one.

this one looks like the best one for a mac: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRFWU2D112/

[cheapie]

i just used imovie to pull the clips from the sony. it works beautifully. now i just need to figure out how to make the movie before i finally pull the plug on a dvd burner.