DVD Ripping from DVD Camcorder for Digital Editing

[a19980623]

My question is very simple. I'm thinking of buying a camcorder and a new pc together. At first, I thought of mini-dv camcorders but then i saw the new dvd camcorders. So, my question is simple: with a dvd camcorder (probably the Sony DCR-DVD200), would i be able to record my video, then take the DVD disc and place it in the PC's DVD-ROM drive and import the video for non-linear editing (for example, AVID XPRESS 3.5 or Adobe Premiere)? I mean, i want to capture video for editing witout using iLink nor USB ports, so i can suc* on real time video transfer.

[rcb]

With that level of investment, good to see that you asking about first.

In it's simplest form, approach appears feasable. now, the "buts"..

Proprietary - potential limitations in h/w, s/w, media, format

Compatability - with edit/convert/author apps, also general versitality

Expense - both assets and consumables - tolerable?

Product life - will it last and take wear/tear, warranty, etc.

Support/upgrades - always a concern

Return policies - know details, allowable length of return time, restock chg

Ease of use - joy to run or pain in the rear, vidcam DVD stability

Zingers - the nasty hidden glitches that blindside you & yer purse.

If you can get the warmfuzzies on most of the above, chances are you will be a happy camper. OTOH, getting smitten with that gotahaveitnow malady often results in bad dreams, curled lips and occaisional hair loss along with a lemony smell that just won't go away.

[Richard_G]

Also bear in mind that the quality you get from a DVD camcorder will not be as good as what you will get from a miniDV. They store in a proprietry mpeg format which is compressed quite heavily to get plenty of time per disk. These things are being produced for the average punter who simply wants to watch what he has shot on his TV, not for the enthusiast who wants to be able to edit later.

Transfer using Firewire (Sony i-Link) is so simple and painless, it's by far the better way to go if you want quality video you can susequently edit.