DV capturing questions

[myron]

I have a Sony DCR-IP220 digital video camera. All the video capturing I have done to date has been via ATI's MMC (either TV captures or my old Hi-8 camcorder connected into the ATI card via the 'purple adapter').

With the Sony I can connect it to the ATI purple adapter via a supplied s-video connector. I can also connect it to the computer via firewire - leading to the questions:
Isn't the s-video an analog conversion and the firewire a direct digital connection (and if so, would the direct digital connection be significantly better)?
How do I capture DV (MicroMV) via the firewire connection?
I believe that the camcorder is putting out MPEG when outputting previously recorded material through the firewire, does that mean you can't tweek settings related to capture? - myron

[admin]

The DV camera captures in DV format, which is held in an AVI file. It would be best to TRANSFER ("capture" is a misnomer) the DV footage to the PC through the IEEE1394/FireWire input with transfer software. It is not MPEG.

I still use S-VHS for my sparse shooting, and don't use DV because of it (no real need). I hear that SCENALYZER LIVE is a great piece of software to use for this. For transferring DV, I'd visit the DV forum at VideoHelp.com and read past posts from other users.

You cannot tweak the DV data at transfer.

HOWEVER, that being said, it is possible to connect a DV device to MainConcept 1.4 encoder, and the "capture" or convert the incoming DV data to a new MPEG-2 format file. Only do this if the DV is intended for straight conversion (no advanced editing in Premiere/Vegas). I'm still toying with that software and making a guide for it. It's testy little software, as fickle as a high school girl when it comes to dropping frames.