On Fri, 15 Dec 2000 12:14:16 GMT, "John" wrote:

>An Observation
>As a lurker with five years using liner editing equip. in the VHS medium, it
>seems to me that NLE is still in the dark ages.
[.....]
>Is this a dream or what??

Nope! I have been doing the above for a couple of
years now...

>I would like to edit my vhs tapes.
>I SHOULD BE ABLE TO

>1) Transfer the video into the PC, no matter how long it is, without dropped
>pixels or frames.

Easy, in Mini-DV format...
It is practical to put 320-gigs of video storage
in moderate-sized computer cases, enough to store
about 25 hours of high-quality video.

>2) Store the original capture as a master.

Easy, in Mini-DV format...

>3) Copy the master as a edit master without data loss.

Easy, in Mini-DV format...

>4) Edit the edit master and put together the final video as I want it to
>appear.

Easy, in Mini-DV format...

>5) Export the final video to some storage media, tape, disk, without any
>data loss.

Easy, in Mini-DV format...

>6) End up with a tape or disk that can be played on any deck and any TV.

Easy, in Mini-DV format... Copy the Mini-DV master tape to
VHS tape (DVD-writing is for the future, alas, and VHS
format has half the horizontal resolution potential of
Mini-DV, but when we can write DVD economically......;-).
And, the Mini-DV master (or perfect copy) can still be
played easily on almost any TV when best-quality viewing
is desired.

>7) The final video should be as good as the original, if not better than the
>original.

Easy, in Mini-DV format, using a good NLE program
(one that permits color-correction, sharpening, etc.
with practical processing speeds...).

>After reading this NG for two weeks, it seems that we are nowhere near to
>having a workable system in place at this time.

It has been around for some time: the Canopus Raptor
on a PC, with Sony converter box or camcorder used
for analogue input conversion and for full-size,
full-speed hardware overlay of video in the editor's
preview window. BTW, we have been building dual-monitor
NLE systems based on the Raptor and Premiere for sale,
and just happen to have one of these stable systems
ready to go, with basic instruction and help getting
started - holler if interested....;-)