[wdatkinson]

I just purchased a new Mac Pro quad-core to do some video work. Right now, I have a Hi-8 video camera, so I'll do my importing from that. Perhaps in the future, I'll get a firewire camera, if this works out.



My question is this: What is the best way to get the video off of that camera and into my Mac? Is iMovie and iDVD the applications of choice assuming I don't want to spend alot of money?

I created a DVD a year or so ago via iDVD and iMovie with videos from my digital camera. The movie would play fine on the Mac but once burned to a DVD and put into an actual DVD player, it would start, stop randomly throughout the movie. On suggestion, I tried different manufacturers of DVD dics, etc, but never found a good solution.

Right now, I have the EyeTV box, which I've used to import movies before from a VCR. Just looking for a good and non-expensive way to do this. I'm not opposed to buying something extra, if its the way to go.

[rab777hp]

iMovie is a cheap very good way to go about videos, however, iMovie '08 loses many capabilities from iMovie HD, iLife '08 users have the option of downloading iMovie HD, you can then decide which you like better, or if you want to use a combination of both, they are both designed for different things, iMovie HD for feature length films, and iMovie '08 for small snippets of an event. If you want to spend some money, then Apple's Final Cut Pro is a good tool, used even by professional film makers.

[wdatkinson]

Here's what's I'm doing:

I'm an instructor at a local police academy. We're taking videos throughout recruit training and then at the end we'll put them together to make a video for presentation during graduation. So it sounds like iMovie will fit the bill just fine, from what you're saying.

Is there a particular choice in getting the video off of my camera? Should I continue to the the eyeTV, or is there a better option? I no longer use eyeTV for its actual purpose since they don't support my current television provider. I've considered selling it and getting something else to aid in my video work.

[rab777hp]

Use iMovie for getting film of of your camera, it will make sure the movie quality, aspect ratio, and everything are designed for your camera.

[rab777hp]

The post i put above is for digital cameras, i think that you are using a film camera, am I correct? In which case the EyeTV box would work, however and alternative would be Hammacher Schlemmer's $200 VCR to PC video converter, it requires a Windows computer, if you don't have one, you could consider virtualizing windows, using boot camp, or using a emulator (no windows required) These options are a bit pricy, (the cheapest option being using code weaver's $70 cross over as an emulator) The VCR to PC converter is high quality, and if you already have a PC it's easy to use, however buying a copy of xp or vista can be expensive, so i think you might be better of with the eyetv box if your budget is low.

[DickT]

You could look at this http://daystartechnology.com/AppleMacProducts/XLR8MacintoshProducts/MacUSB2VideoCaptureOSX_PS.html

[Tom_Diola]

Does the EyeTV have a USB interface or Firewire?

[wdatkinson]

The EyeTV is a USB device. Its the EyeTV 250....