dvr to file

[hoodleehoo]

Okay, I need to take HD video from my DVR and get into a compressed video file on my laptop that I can edit. What is the easiest way to do that? I have a firewire port on my macbook, and a mini-dvi but no hdmi (although I have ordered a converter).

While it is a macbook, I am using windows 7 on it via bootcamp (because the software I'm using only works on windows).

I need it good quality, but I do need it compressed quite a bit.

Thanks so much!

[sanlyn]

I need it good quality, but I do need it compressed quite a bit.

You can have one or the other. Not both.

Chances are pretty high your HD DVR has HDCP enabled. HDCP is the big feature that all consumers insist on. They demand it. They won't buy anything that isn't HDCP compatible. What does HDCP mean? It means "High-bandwith Digital Content Protection". It's there to prevent you from making copies of anything you recorded. There are ways around this but you'll have to put time into it, connect some more wires, and spend some money.

[usually_quiet]

These are all Mac-compatible HD capture devices that can record video from your DVR's component video out using H.264 compression. Some of these devices have an HDMI input but you won't likely be able to record from an HDMI connection because if any of them detect HDCP, they will not record. Devices from Hauppauge can be used with third-party software from HDPVRCapture http://www.hdpvrcapture.com/wordpress/

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815131013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116089
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815131019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116030