I thought it was just me, but upon discovering this website and reading some posts, I realize this is a mostly universal problem. Has anybody out there found a way to transfer video from a camcorder to the HD, using a firewire, and getting at least the same quality as if you recorded onto VHS? (DVD quality should be expected, however). I've read some suggestions, i.e. using Virtual Dub, or changing the resolution in Movie Maker, but I need to hear from somebody who has actually made this work.
There's a free program Called WinDV for transferring from a miniDV camcorder to your PC. It doesn't edit or encode, but you can edit with your program of choice afterwards. http://windv.mourek.cz/
Thanks! A stop-capturing button would be nice on this program, but it did transfer my video beautifully! Seems almost too simple to do anything else, but I am pleased with what I got.