Dealing w/file size when capturing AVI

[RWANDREWS]

What are the usual ways of dealing with the 4GB file size max in WIN98SE when capturing AVI? I understand (maybe) that about 13 GB per hour is normal to capture AVI with CANOPUS AVDC100 or 50. I want to capture Laserdisc movies & Hi8mm stuff to burn to DVD-R on my WIN98SE sys.

I am planning to buy a CANOPUS to replace my unsatisfactory Instant DVD USB capture box. I believe I will convert to MPEG-2 using TMPG. Do I need to purchase the upgrade in order to convert raw AVI to MPEG-2 ?

I understand I probably need to format my drive to NTFS instead of FAT 32, but I saw in a MS FAQ that programs that do NOT operate under WIN 2000 cannot access NTFS files. Am I mistaken? Do I need a dual boot system? Am I going to have conflicts trying to use various video programs for editing, authoring, burning, etc?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Nolonemo]

You can't use NTFS on Win98. Most capture programs will split the video into 4GB chunks. I was no Win98 for a while, and the chunks joined seamlessly when I edited in Vegas Video. So unless you really want to upgrade the OS (I went from Win98 to Win2k and am kicking myself for not doing it earlier) don't worry about it.

I think you have to upgrade to get MPEG-2 encoding in TMPGEnc after the 30 day demo period expires.

No opinions about Canopus. I use MiniDV cam (Sony TRV-18) with analog throughput to cap old tapes. You might want to spend the extra $$ and end up with the camera.