[PatsPalace24]

Just a quick question. I have a Sony Handycam SteadyVision Hi8 Camcorder, and am constantly taking ski videos on it. I am trying to put these videos onto my Powerbook and edit them in either iMovie and Final Cut, but do not know where to start. I have seen the things that have inputs for the Composite cables (white and yellow ones), which my camcorder has, but they are fairly expensive. I could maybe get a TV tuner I hear, which would be nice. Any suggestions on this? Finally, I just saw that my camcorder has S-Video Out, so is it possible to use a S-Video to USB 2.0 cord? But the main thing about any of these options is will iMovie recognize my camera? I don't need super quality, but I need iMovie to recognize it. Any help? Thanks

[CitrusHead]

I don't know of any USB solution, I think you're only gonna be able to get your video in through the FireWire port. I use a Sony Media Converter DVMC-DA1 (also DVMC-DA2) which converts the analog signal to digital and gives you Firewire output. The DVMC-DA1 is recognized by iMovie but you won't have playback control of the camera through iMovie interface (no big deal for me) Not sure but I think that may not be an issue on the -DA2.

I'm sure you can find one on ebay.

[tooki]

For just a little more money than a DV converter box, you could just buy a Sony Digital 8 camcorder, which can play your Hi8/8mm cassettes with no adapters, and will output right to a FireWire port that is 100% compatible with iMovie.

tooki