Ralph Bowman wrote in message <34D54E4A.6B22@qnet.com>...

>I am stuck on this subject and trying to get unstuck. We who shoot in
>Hi-8. 1. Down load to computer with a $1500+ JPEG board then edit? 2.
>Down load to BETASP then edit(at service co.?) 3. Edit to SVHS for your
>master? 4.Edit to another Hi-8 deck for your master? Then put how
>expensive a TBC/ProcAmp inbetween? Will the third generation always look
>like the second copy of a VHS? OR dump HI-8 altogether--and go Digital
>and firewire to Spark and back out to SVHS? BETASP? for the master? With
>a TBC/Proc Amp inbetween? What will the third generation look like then?
>SVHS?
>I guess I am getting tired of seeing so so results for my investments. I
>am willing to spend more, but for what results? Hey, thanks to anyone to
>will throw a few insights my way.
> Ralph Bowman

I shot Hi-8 for a couple of years - passable image quality from the
original, but it looked like BIG BUCKS would be needed to edit it
while maintaining good quality through to the master... Along came
mini-DV camcorders and Spark FireWire computer editing, and I am
happy (well, the set-up of the computer system did take a bit of a
struggle, and the system is not without its quirks - but the results
are well worth the problems, especially given the price...;-). The
original footage shot on mini-DV easily beats most Hi-8, even with
the single-CCD VX-700, and that quality level remains through the
editing process and back out to the mini-DV tape master. I have been
even happier with the Sony VX-1000 3-CCD camcorder, and I am now
glad to have walked away from my Hi-8 footage (at least for now...)
and to have gone to DV - the system may not be all-out pro, but it
is close enough for me, at a (relatively...;-) bargain price.
--
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether