Ques re digital video download/ DVD creation

[Kikotillie]

I have searched and read until I get too confused and then I start over - however, would you tell me please if I now have the correct info -
We have an older Sony analog HI-8 camcorder.
I have a friend with a newer digital camcorder that will accept analog pass through.
Is this "all" I need to do:
Hook my analog camcorder to her digital camcorder,
the digital camcorder to our (details below) PC, then
using Adobe Premiere Elements, download our video from the HI-8 tapes, and then again using Adobe PE, create the edited video and finally burn it to a DVD.

What steps, if any, am I missing? Anything particular I should be aware of? Thanks for any help!

Celeron 2.80 GHz
512mb ram
160gb HD
BenQ DVD Dual DW1610

[harley2ride]

It will either work, or it won't! Sounds like you have the right idea.

[edDV]

What steps, if any, am I missing? Anything particular I should be aware of? Thanks for any help!

Celeron 2.80 GHz
512mb ram
160gb HD
BenQ DVD Dual DW1610

A passthrough capture from Hi8 (or any other NTSC input with 7.5 IRE black) will capture black 7.5% high vs the DVD standard. As is, you would need to adjust the TV brightness and contrast to match direct camcorder playback levels.

Proper technique would be to process black levels either in analog (before capture) or in the digital domain. Black needs to be lowered 7.5% to meet the DVD MPeg2 spec of 0 IRE black. See this link for more info.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=277980

Otherwise, passthrough capture works fine.

Note this is not an issue with PAL capture since black is already at 0 IRE.

[Kikotillie]

Yoiks!

Ok my brain hurts....I sort of understand this, thanks for the link.
I guess I will download a demo of Adobe PE and try a bit of video, to see if I can figure it out and make it work. Test DVDs on the way!!

Thank you very much for the helpful tips!

[slacker]

Contrary to popular belief, analog / digital passthru DOES have it's qwerks (querks?). For example, in some instances if you start your capture app FIRST, and THEN press PLAY on your camcorder in VCR mode (rather than the other way around), some editing apps (after capture) will LOSE your audio. This occurs in WinDV and the Sony Vegas apps (DirectShow issue maybe). On the other hand, something like WinDVD Creator works fine regardless. Whatever app you choose, you may want to put this note in your troubleshooting folder. HIT PLAY ON YOUR CAMCORDER FIRST!

[edDV]

One additional issue.

You may need to turn off IEEE-1394 device control (usually under preferences) for some capture applications when using analog pass-through. Turn it on again when you want to capture-transfer from the camcorder.

PS: I've never observed the audio loss in WinDV or Vegas. Maybe it's a Type1/Type2 issue?