First-timer with questions . . .

Hi R

Yes

MPEG StreamClip and the MPEG-2 Playback component is the way I would
choose to do what You'r up to.

a. iMovie and iDVD is designed for steaming DV and via the FW-port. Nothing
else (excpt may be mpeg-4 (out of range error)).

b. By using DVD-disk or hard disk Cameras You get a quality loss in the
conversion to streaming-DV - thats why a miniDV Camera is to prefere.

I don't think You must have the pro licence BUT it is really worth it's $$.

Yours Bengt W

welcome r³ to the  boards ...

iM is a DV-editor, meant to copy (=import lossless) from miniDV camcorders via firewire ...

that said, your device, your way of import and the way of making your recordings 'handable' for iLife apps is ... less convenient..

the Sony has a usb2 connector only (no firewire, Sony lingo 'iLink'); you're writing in your specs 'G4' ... that could mean, your Mac has usb1 only ... video is gigs of data... via usb1...? sloooooow..

the process of converting is:
* purchase the mpeg2 playback component, install it...
* download Streamclip...
open your mpegs and simply choose 'dv-stream' as export option ...
finally, your files are now manageable for iMovie, iDVD ...

you will realize a (dramatic) loss in pic quality, due to the nature of mpegs... (=delivery codec, not meant for further processing...)

unfortunately, I have to tell you:
your device is no good choice, when it comes to editing, nor the use of iLife apps.. :-/

miniDV preferred ...

Hello R Cubed,

First, it took ten and a half hours through the provided USB cable; can this transfer be done through firewire?
Your camcorder comes with a docking station, which, to my knowledge, features only a USB port - on the other hand, Firewire transfer will not speed up the process much.
You should, though, be able to transfer your files much faster. Maybe the excessive amount of time comes from your copying the UNIX files (you'll need to copy only the MPEG-2 files), but that's guesswork on my part.

After reading through several discussions, my impression is that I must first use "MPEG StreamClip", followed by an "MPEG-2 Playback" add-on to QuickTime
This is basically correct, but needs to be rectified a little: MPEG Streamclip requires the MPEG-2 Playback Component in order to be able to convert your MPEG-2 files to DV format.

Are the instructions with SteamClip and MPEG Playback easily understood (I am a first-timer at this) or are there some tips I should know?
I do recall a help file (haven't used the app in a while), but the use of MPEG Streamclip is pretty straight forward. Matti Haveri is the local expert on Streamclip and you can find some of his advice here:
http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/%7Eshmhav/SVCDon_a_Macintosh.html#edit_convertMPEG

Is it necessary to purchase QuickTime Pro, or is there a significant benefit to having it?
While it is not necessary to purchase QT Pro, it's a good thing to have. Quicktime is a very powerful tool with which you can achieve a lot of things that iMovie just can't do (at least not without the help of third-party plugins)

MPEG Streamclip is not the only solution for converting MPEG files for use in iMovie. Here are some other options:

DVDxDV
http://www.dvdxdv.com/
DropDV
http://www.dropdv.com/index.html
DIVA
http://diva.3ivx.com/features.html
Toast Titanium
http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/overview.html

hope this helps

mish

.. are you saying that I won't be able to edit the clips in iMovie, and then put it all together and put it on DVD? I also have Final Cut Express and DVD Studio Pro..

you ARE able to edit the clips with iM and FCE... but BOTH apps require a conversion of your mpeg2 into 'dv-stream' before use... (FCE can handle dv only too...)

I'm not familiar with DVDSP... imho, it can handle mpeg2 directly, at least as .m2v files... but it is a (professional) DVD-authoring tool, no editor ...

Hello R Cubed,

MPEG Streamclip has basic editing functions, meaning you could do basic cuts, then export as a single MPEG-2 file. This file can then be authored in DVDSP.

If you need to do extensive editing, there's no getting around the conversion....

mish

good morning/evening mish,

.. as our DVD-expert, can you tell me: do such DVDcorder's rceording fullfill the standards of a 'normal' videoDVD?

I was told, such devices allow 'longplay' (.. even longer...) recordings, to fit more onto that tiny disks... so, if you use those mpeg2 directly in DVDSP... does that work?

Morgen Karsten,

do such DVDcorder's rceording fullfill the standards of a 'normal' videoDVD?
The OPs camcorder is actually an HDD model, but I,m pretty sure the MPEG-2 compression of HDD camcorders is compliant with DVD specs - the hardware compression they use should be the same as that of DVD camcorders, and you can pop the DVDs directly into a DVD player (the only difference, IMHO, is that the DVDs are multiplexed for DVD playback, whereas the HDD camcorder simply writes the "raw" .m2v files).

mish