MSP6 - is it to much for a novice?

[lenl]

I am just a novice at video editing and have been playing around with small captures w analog - Video studio 4, MGI 4, I enjoy it very much. I have recently purchased a 900Tbird system on ebay of which UPS trashed in transit (still waiting for insurance $ since Oct. 5 Th). I also bought a D8 sony 1/2-yr. ago so my plan is to install a firewire card in this new system. I am eyeing the ADS pyro dv bundled with MSP6, which seems like a great deal at $188.00 us. Am I getting over my head with MSP6? I read so many good things about it on this forum. I am planing to capture through the ADS dv card, edit in MSP6, and then back to the Sony via firewire where I will be able to store it on Hi8 tape (economic storage) or let the Sony convert it to analog so I can go out to vhs. How does my plan sound so far? Also can the MSP6 capture dv format, render scenes in dv, and output to dv so as to maintain the best quality possible. On the low end of the spectrum is the Dazzle DV editor which comes complete with the 3 port card, Ulead 4, and a firewire to ilink cable all for about $60.00us. This card comes with a lucent chip, which I think is a pretty decent chipset.

So far the majority of my knowledge on video editing has resulted from reading this forum, a plethora of information has amassed here over the years. Thank you

lenl

[KRSESQ]

You can download a trial version of MSP6 from the Ulead website. I tried it out and its pretty nice if you plan on being fairly serious with your work, like wedding vids, corporate vids, etc.

I like your archiving idea but why not archive on digital through the Sony? You won't lose a generation going from the hard drive to Hi8 analog. Use a higher quality Hi8 camera for field work (I'll take a good Hi8 camera with superior optics over a Digital camera with conventional optics anyday). Leave the digital unit hooked to the 'puter, use it for pass-through input and archiving and as a webcam.

Kevin

[Patrick]

It depends on how much time you want to spend learning.

I like your archiving idea but why not archive on digital through the Sony?

I'm sure what lenl means is that he plans to store digital video on Hi8 tape recorded with his Sony D8 camcorder.

I say go for MSP. The learning curve is relatively steep, but it's worth the effort if you plan to be ambitious with your editing projects.

However, if you decide to stick with a simpler editing program, check out Pinnacle Studio Version 7. I believe it offers more flexibility than most, if not all, of the other entry level products. For example, it allows you to do a video insert without destroying the existing ambient audio track. This is great when you have a talking head and you want to insert video of the subject matter while still hearing the "head". We take this ability for granted with the more expensive editing programs, and it's really frustrating to use a program that can't do this.

[lenl]

Yep to Patrick, thats my plan. Rather than save the finished dv movie to hard drive, Ill just place it to tape to do with it what I want.

As for the Pinnacle DV 7, it looks great! The problem these days is deciding amongst all of the great products that are out there going for reasonable prices. Especially when you have cash burning a hole in your pocket.

I dont want to suffer from buyers remorse you know!!

lenl