HDV to PC

[uno]

I have for 5 years had a DV-camera. I have always used 16:9 format though it is not the true 16:9. Now I am thinking of upgrading to the true 16:9 and then I saw that there are also HDV. However it seems that HDV is not usable for editing yet as Blue ray/HD-burmers does not exist.
Does anyone know if it is possible to film in HDV-format and transfer the HDV tape to the PC and use it as one would use it if it was filmed in DV-format to have an AVI-file. Or do one get an MPEG 2 file on the PC which has to be converted to AVI? This must give a quality loss.

Later when it is possible to use the HDV-tape for editing I can use it and get the High quality of it on the Blue ray disc at that time in the future.

[jtoolman2000]

Any of the newer versions of non linear editors can handle HDV. Avid, Premiere, Ulead, Vegas, Liquid and others. You do need a VERY powerful machine to do it.
Dual processor with several gigs of fast ram. Even then you may not get full frame rate on your editor's preview window.Probably on the rate of 4-10 FPS and general editing will be super slow when compared with working with to SD video.
Rendering your project can take about 8x the length of the video, 8 min / 1min of edited video.

Right now You can only output back to your camera's tape and connect that to your HDTV for viewing.

It is reported that Ulead and DVD STudio Pro can create a 20 min (SL) or a 40 min (DL) HD project on regular DVD/R DL SL or DL disks. So i've heard. They can only be played in a HD/DVD player such as the new Toshiba otherwise you will have to wait for HD/DVD or Blue Ray burners to be able to do larger projects. The problem as you have noticed is that burners appear long before media is available and the media is usually priced at astronomical levels making it impractical to most users.

[EricS]

I have a sony HDV camcorder - you can record in HDV and the camera can downconvert and output DV.

[edDV]

I have a sony HDV camcorder - you can record in HDV and the camera can downconvert and output DV.

Great strategy, just keep the HDV tapes for future editing. Look for software that will apply the same EDL, or "project" to HDV.