I read through a bunch of threads, but I think I am suffering information overload and basically confused myself even more.
I have a Samsung SC-D372 and installed a firewire PCI card in my PC.
First problem, no matter what program I use, when I start to capture from the camcorder, the computer drops the connection to the camcorder. I plug it in, turn it on, and I can hear that ping from Windows XP letting me know something has been turned on. I can open WinDV or Ulead and it connects just fine, I can start playing the camcorder and see the movie on my PC (preview panel) but as soon as I hit capture that Windows "disconnected" ping is heard and it won't continue to capture. Sometimes I get a second of film captured.
After I get a movie to save through WinDV, I save it as an AVI. I am not sure if I should use type 1 or type 2 AVI. I was able to capture a minute of video, but the quality doesn't seem all that good, and the file is HUGE. It is 254MB for just a 1 minute capture.
From there I was able to use a crappy converter program I have for my Insignia media player, but the quality was horrible. From what I understand it is best to capture in AVI, edit as AVI, then convert from there to whatever media I want it to be in.
So basically I am looking for a program that can capture the MiniDV in different formats, convert between different formats, and edit different formats. I would like to be able to save my movies in high quality, edit them, splice them together, either e-mail them, save them, or burn them to DVD.
I guess I am looking for either an all-in-one program that will do everything, or various programs that will do them all individually.
All I am trying to do is take normal home movies of my Daughter and either e-mail them, save them, edit them, or burn them to DVD.
