I have a Sony DCR-TRV530 Digital Handycam. I am using its built in "on the fly" analog-digital signal convertor, with a video/audio RCA composite in from my VCR and a DV out via Firewire cable. My Firewire card is a cheap $30 Startech PCI card. So far I haven't had very good luck getting good quality captures, even after hours of research and testing. My question is: which step of the way is going to degrade my quality most? On my computer I've tried several capture programs, including the Ulead Video Studio 4.0 SE that came with my card, Windows Movie Maker (no good because of WMV format), MGI VideoWave III, and VirtualDub (for some reason it won't capture any frames even though Firewire is recognized and works under other programs). Does anyone have any suggestions at all? I have a very high end PC, so disk space, processor speed, etc. are not factors for me - I just want the highest quality video possible without having to buy a separate card or Adobe Premeire, etc.

I have a Pentium 4 1.4 GHz running Windows XP Pro, 400 MHz bus, 256 MB ram, 60 GB Hard Drive (FAT32).

Thanks ahead of time for your help!