caputure analog video and encode from cam

[greendesert]

I have a Sony camcorder DCR-HC36E which uses a tape to record.
When I downloaded the video to my computer it copied in raw dib format taking more than 3 GB
for 10 minutes of play. None of the software except Windows movie maker recognized this format so I used it to convert it to wmv and then to mpg. It was too cumbersome. And the software bundled with the cam is really bogus.

Can somebody suggest me one software which would both caputure and encode the files.

[jagabo]

That's a mini DV camcorder. The data on the tape is already digital. Capture it via the IEEE 1394 port (firewire) with WMM as DV AVI. That will give you an exact copy of what's on the tape. Just about all video editing and conversion software will accept DV AVI.

[gadgetguy]

I use WinDV to capsfer, Avisynth and/or Vdub to edit, and HCEnc and/or QuEnc to encode. All free, all do what they're supposed to do, and do it well.
Note DV-AVI uses about 13GB of hard drive space per hour of video.

[spanky123]

I second WinDV.

Then avisynth to frameserve to whatever encoder you like. See the tools section for mpeg-2/dvd encoders.

It's a good idea to use FitCD to help you create your avisynth script and get the resizing correct (with minimal error)