On Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:03:27 -0500, "J.T." wrote:

>I would like to enter the world of DV non-linear editing. Starting
>primarily with family events, but would like to progress to producing
>broadcast-quality, cable commercials for small businesses. I am going
>to purchase a new computer in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. I
>would like some advice on the system to purchase that would cover the
>demands that I have mentioned.

Among ready-to-go mass-market possibilities, I know of
only one (possibly...) good solution, the two Sony VAIO
DV-editing computers. (For serious work with these, you
should immediately add a large UDMA HD - and this may
"max out" these computers, from what I gather...) If you
can build your own, you can assemble a first-rate DV
editing computer fairly inexpensively, based on the
Celeron 300A clocked at 450MHz, a good mid-tower
case/supply, a FireWire card (DPS Spark works well for
me, but Canopus cards are held in high regard...),
maybe three large HD's (one for programs, two for video
[having two makes it easier to keep the drives "clean"
for video files...] - IBM Deskstars [8, 10, 14, 16, etc.]
or the Maxtor 17 appear to work well for NTSC mini-DV),
and suitable editing software (Premiere [either 4.2 or
5.1], Media Studio, etc.]). A 17" monitor is minimum for
this, and two 17" monitors works well for me, using Win
98. 128-megs minimum RAM...

>I need everything - The computer, DV camcorder, software and resources
>to gain the knowledge necessary to perform these tasks.

The least-expensive really good 3-chip mini-DV camcorder
is the Sony TRV-900. With more money, I would consider
the Sony VX-1000 or the Canon XL-1. With less money, I would
look at the Canon Optura (I have looked at only the first
two, and have the VX-1000...). As for experience with
editing, nothing beats hands-on experience, with the early
help of someone familiar with the software. Spark comes with
a video-tape tutorial on getting started with Spark and
Premiere, though I found it only moderately helpful...
There is also for Premiere the "Classroom in a Book - for
Windows", which I have not tried.

>I would also be interested in the best ways to enhance and transfer 8mm
>film and VHS to DV.

The TRV-900 has analogue inputs, which allow you to copy
non-DV material to mini-DV tape. Sony will also soon
introduce a stand-alone A-D/D-A converter which you can hook
directly to the computer with FireWire.

>Is there software and hardware that would allow you to produce an
>interactive family album of stills and movies, and output it to a
>DVD-RAM disc.

I'm not familiar with this, but for DV-DVD video transfers,
I gather the cost is VERY high at the moment, as are
DVD-disk writers, alas... When this becomes cheap, it will
be the ideal medium for distributing videos (the resolution
is much higher than the current standard, VHS tape).