Pinnacle SDV8 vs. SDV7

[tr0ss]

Perhaps there has already been discussion on this topic, but I could not find it in the search. Can anyone tell me what version 8 has over version 7?

I am a newbie with video capturing, but can someone tell me which format it's best to capture my video to (via firewire card)? Will Pinnacle convert this format to MPEG? Or will I need something like TMPGEnc?

Thanks in advance for the help

[curritch]

trOss. Studio 7 captures from miniDV tape, edits, creates edited files (mpg,avi,etc) and puts data back to tape. Does not import mpg2 files. Works well but mpg2 quality considered inferior so most S8 users also use TMPGEnc for mpg encoding. There is a recent patch, though, that supposedly improves mpg quality.
Studio8 does all that and provides authoring and burning capability for VCD, DVD, etc. Also allows importation of mpg files.
I have both and have found S7 to be very good except for mpg quality. But that may have been improved as noted above.
My experience to date with S8 (2 weeks) indicates that it works OK with avi files but is flaky when trying to work with TMPGEnc mpg files. Internal encoder seems OK though. Editing and menuing capability is OK.
If you are not already a TMPGEnc user then S8 may be OK. If are a TMPGEnc addict then I would wait until S8's first patch which will probably be out in a few weeks.
Pinnacle has very active forum's for both.
PS. I don't believe that you are given any option as to capture format when capturing from miniDV via firewire. It captures at 720X480 (NTSC) which is the same as DVD. Again either S7 or S8 will produce mpg2 but many prefer, and will continue to prefer, TMPGEnc.