Is it possible to record directly to a computer?

[RevenantOne]

I have recently acquired a Canon HR10 on the cheap. It writes to dvd and I realize that is not the optimum media for editing and creating produced videos. With that said, I realize there are other options out there, but this is what I've got.

So here are some questions I'd like some assistance with:

Is it possible to record directly to a computer, effectively bypassing the dvd option? It has HDMI, so could i connect it to a computer and record the video that way to a hard drive?

Can I use a regular DVD drive to copy the AVCHD videos from the DVDs to a computer so that they can be edited in Adobe Premier/After Effects or will I need a Blu Ray drive to even transfer the files?

Any tips on how to make movie editing easier with this camera would very helpful.

Thanks,

Keith

[minidv2dvd]

use option 2 - copy the files off the dvds to the hard drive and edit from there. normal dvd drive is all that's required.

not much you can do to make it easier to edit. converting to uncompressed avi is an option but files size becomes an issue, a purchased intermediate codec like cineform neoscene is one way.

if you listed your computer specs in your profile it would be a little easier to guess whether or not your computer is up to avchd editing.

oh and hi and welcome to the forum!

[RevenantOne]

Thank you, sir!

I'll add my specs for the editing machine to my signature. It is not complete yet as we are piecing that together right now.

Currently we have a spare Intel core 2 duo 3.2Ghz processor laying around and will be using 4 gig of ram with a 160GB Western digital SATA 1.5 HDD (again, i had it laying around). We don't have a mother board as of yet, though...

So is recording to a hard drive simply a bad idea or not possible? I've found some reference to it that people have done it but it seams like their experiences have been less than stellar. Any reason why? I've seen on some forums that other's say its just no possible.

Thanks,
Keith

[minidv2dvd]

if you purchase a card like this
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/
you can capture live video to the hard drive directly, but you have to cart around a complete pc setup wherever you want to shoot video.

not really convenient, and would make already recorded video look worse.

[edDV]

Oops wrong thread.

[lordsmurf]

I'd drop a 1TB or 1.5TB SATA drive into the system. Then do MPEG-2 to uncompressed.

To get the video properly off the disc and onto the hard drive,
do this: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video/edit-dvd-recorder.htm