Is there a way to transfer to computer from video camera beside .AVI

[sj022698]

Well, I came here fo help converting .avi files to be able to make a dvd. Well, my hard drive crashed so ALL my videos need to be retransferred. UGH.

However, I wanted to see if it was possible to transfer the Mini-DVs to my computer in a format ready for burning to dvds vs. .avi files and then having to take the next step to convert them?

Also, I know that different computers and setups will produce diffent times to convert but is there any ballpark of where it would probably to convert 7gb of video

[aedipuss]

tapes are 13GB/hr each when captured over firewire. no other way to do it without significant loss of quality. you could capture the output from the analog composite out, but, you'd need other equipment to do it.

[jagabo]

Some programs can convert DV to MPG while capturing. As pointed out, the quality will be reduced. But at ~8000 kbps it will still pretty and can be DVD compatible (~1 hour per single layer DVD).

[dfisher052]

I capture with Roxio 9 in MPEG format & then edit with Womble MPEG Video Wizard. Captures have always been excellent quality from a Canon GL2 3 chip camera.