I read a review on Amazon that gave some recommendations for settings.

I am a noob and I have read many posts but I remain confused on certain aspects. I have the HC96 camcorder and can you tell me what the difference and what is the recommendation between two of many choices.
Progressive scan or the default 60inf?
12bit (2 speakers?) or 16 bit (1 speaker) (I use the Sony ECMMS907 Digital Recording Microphone)
Finally out of this video capture software which is the best and why: the video capture software that came with the camcorder, Sony Video Capture 6.0 (I got the Sony Vegas movie studio + DVD PE), or WinDv (freeware)
Also with the Sony Vegas movie studio + DVD PE will it help make my videos become DVD's without (or at least little) video quality downgrade? Is there any way to make my avi. videos into DVD's without loss of quality? I thank you for any help you can provide.

Finally out of this video capture software which is the best and why: the video capture software that came with the camcorder, Sony Video Capture 6.0 (I got the Sony Vegas movie studio + DVD PE), or WinDv (freeware)
Also with the Sony Vegas movie studio + DVD PE will it help make my videos become DVD's without (or at least little) video quality downgrade? Is there any way to make my avi. videos into DVD's without loss of quality? I thank you for any help you can provide.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD PE, or WinDv will work well to transfer your video from your camcorder to your computer.

I do not know what the PE stands for with Sony Vegas Movie Studio, it may be a limited version, where did you get it?

You can make good DVD's from you DV AVI videos if you do it properly. You might want to read through this thread: Sticky: How involved is it to take footage from mindv and put it on DVDs??? (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t112471.html)


Rich

Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD PE, or WinDv will work well to transfer your video from your camcorder to your computer.

I do not know what the PE stands for with Sony Vegas Movie Studio, it may be a limited version, where did you get it?

You can make good DVD's from you DV AVI videos if you do it properly. You might want to read through this thread: Sticky: How involved is it to take footage from mindv and put it on DVDs??? (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t112471.html)


Rich
Thank you for your input poncho. PE is platinum edition. I have another question to add to my list. I filmed 10 minutes of some stuff on one MiniDV cassette and 30 minutes on anther. How can I combine the two films and put the combined footage on a MiniDV tape? Also a friend of mine wants a copy of the film and wants it either on a vcr tapes (regular video tape) or a DVD. Which will provide better video and audio quality so I may give my friend the better version? Finally if a minidv tape is the best median to watch the recorded film without any loss of quality (and if I am wrong please tell me) is there a vcr for minidv tapes so I and my family may watch without using my camcorder (thus wearing it down)? If there is then what is recommended (and cheap)?

I have another question to add to my list. I filmed 10 minutes of some stuff on one MiniDV cassette and 30 minutes on anther. How can I combine the two films and put the combined footage on a MiniDV tape?
You can do it with Vegas Movie Studio (VMS). Import your video into the collections and put them on the timeline and then use the save to tape feature.


Also a friend of mine wants a copy of the film and wants it either on a vcr tapes (regular video tape) or a DVD. Which will provide better video and audio quality so I may give my friend the better version?
A DVD would be much higher quality which you can create with VMS.


Finally if a minidv tape is the best median to watch the recorded film without any loss of quality (and if I am wrong please tell me) is there a vcr for minidv tapes so I and my family may watch without using my camcorder (thus wearing it down)? If there is then what is recommended (and cheap)?

Watching your tapes from camcorder is not the best way in my opinion. That's why I edit my videos and cretae DVD's. I also sometimes create .WMV files on a CD for playback to a computer. You can even put your video on the Internet for free on sites like YouTube. Here is a video I shot yesterday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFsSLXX_rL0 No, it is not the best quality, but it is free and several parents have already enjoyed watching it. If someone needs it on VHS I usually play back a DVD to a VHS recorder.

You need to read the VMS manual and help files and learn how to use it.

We have a Vegas Movie Studio, Vegas, and DVDA topics forum where there are some VMS users:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/f106

Edward Troxel Vegas Scripting and Newsletters is a wealth of information:
http://www.jetdv.com

Sony Movie Studio/VideoFactory Forums is also a lot of information:
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowTopics.asp?ForumID=12



Rich