On Fri, 02 May 2003 16:29:12 GMT, "Eddie Puryear" <eddiep@houston.nospamrr.com> wrote:

>I just want a quick and easy way to backup my Digital 8 tapes on my Sony

>TRV730 to my hard drive via firewire then to DVD-R via my Sony DRU 500AX. No

>editing needed at this point, I just want the best quality transfer to DVD

>possible to avoid wear and tear on the original HI 8 tapes. In DVD format

>for standalone players of course...

The best way to back up DV tapes is by making DV tape

copies. You can buy an inexpensive used D8 or Mini-DV

camcorder specifically for this purpose, and, using the

FireWire connection, make exact copies. With two copies,

it is likely that by intercutting them later on the computer

that you could recover subsequent damage, if any, unless

it was catastrophic... When you make a DVD (unless you

are making DVD-ROM copies of files - which requires 3 disks

per 1-hour tape), you are further compressing the video,

and the result will not be an exact copy. BTW, DV tapes

(possibly particularly D8 recordings...) are VERY durable.

You do not need to worry about "wear" unless you are

playing them a LOT...